Controversies continue to follow Actor-comedian Kapil Sharma, now that he has reunited with Sunil Grover, putting an end to a long stretched controversy between the two comedians, a brand new controversy has came his way.
Kapil Sharma’s The Great Indian Kapil Show, airing on Netflix, and is a Celebrity chat show, and has just received a legal notice for allegedly hurting the religious and cultural sentiments of the Bengali community and for disrespecting Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore.
It is alleged that during an episode, offending comments were made on Rabindranath Tagore.
The Controversy
The episode went on air on October 26 and featured Do Patti team, inlcuding stars Kriti Sanon, Kajol and Shaheer Sheikh.
In one of the skits in the episode, Krushna Abhishek imitated Jackie Shroff in Bengali accent. The gag was seemingly done for Kajol, who is a Bengali. Tagore’s iconic patriotic song Ekla Chalo Re was spoofed to make people laugh.
As part of this episode, Krushna sang Ekla Chalo Re with some reworded phrasing and said, “Akela nahi chalne ka. Ek din main akela chal raha tha aur paanch kutte mere piche pd gaye. Main jaanta hoon maine kaise apne aapko bachaya hai.” This spoof has not gone well with the Bengali community who called it defamatory and offensive.
Legal Notice Issued
Legal notice has been issued to Great Indian Kapil Show and Netflix. A legal notice by Bongo Bhashi Mahasabha Foundation alleged that disparaging remarks were made against the Nobel laureate which risk offending religious and cultural sentiments.
The legal notice claims that it produces across certain sections of an act on the show that somehow would offend Tagore, a poet and cultural icon of reverence, and Bengalis from all over the globe. Dr. Mondal was disappointed with the fact that the Bengali culture depicted on the show reflected cultural and religious sentiments.
The Bengali community has taken offence over “disrespectful” comments made by Kapil regarding the laureate, and have demanded apology from the makers. They have also demanded to cut objectionable portions from the episode.
Well, the company had already responded to a legal notice over the programme stating that the comedy programme is purely intended for entertainment purposes and that parodies and sketches prepared are devoid of any intention to target an individual or community.
Maker’s Clarification
In response, the producers of The Great Indian Kapil Show stated that they never intended to defame Tagore or hurt any community.
They clarified that the show is merely an entertainment-based comedy platform carried out solely for an amusing form of fictional sketches and parodies that makes light humor without targeting anybody with some bad intentions.
They reinstated again that The Great Indian Kapil Show was all about light-hearted comic timings only. Further, they claimed that the shows were parodies and fictional sketches that did not target any individual or community in a negative way.
Salman Khan Team Denies Ties With The Show
Actor Salman Khan, was said to be associated with the show through his production house SKTV, and was rumoured to get a legal notice regarding this controversy. However, Salman’s attorneys have released a clarification.
They released a statement that neither Salman nor his production house has any association with The Great Indian Kapil Show on Netflix.
We have no association with The Great Indian Kapil Show on Netflix. Certain sections of the media are reporting that Salman Khan/SKTV have also received the notice which is wrong as we are not associated with The Great Indian Kapil Show on Netflix,” says the official statement.
The Great Indian Kapil Show 2, with Kapil Sharma, is still on the air every Saturday at 8 PM on Netflix. It also includes Krushna Abhishek, Sunil Grover, Rajiv Thakur, Kiiku Sharda, and Archana Puran Singh.
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