Author and political analyst Mithun Vijay Kumar sent a legal notice to remove the first episode of the second season of The Big Bang Theory. The series is currently streaming on various platforms. The legal notice was received by Netflix India. In his notice, Mithun slammed the makers of The Big Bang Theory 2 for insulting Madhuri Dixit in an episode where the characters named Sheldon (Jim Parsons) and Rajesh (Kunal Nayyar) were arguing over her and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan.
The character of Rajesh, played by Kunal, called Madhuri a 'leprous prostitute’ in comparison to Aishwarya. Netizens criticised the makers of The Big Bang Theory 2 after the blunder was brought to notice years after its release. Reacting to the matter, Aishwarya's mother-in-law Jaya Bachchan slammed Kunal and told a leading daily, "Is this man (Kunal Nayyar) insane? Badi gandi zubaan hai. He needs to be sent to a mental asylum. His family should be asked what they think of his comment."
In the first episode of The Big Bang Theory season 2 titled The Bad Fish Paradigm, the characters named Sheldon and Rajesh were arguing over Aishwarya & Madhuri. The discussion started when Raj was listening to Kaho Na Pyaar Hai's title song picturised on Hrithik Roshan & Ameesha Patel. However, Raj & Sheldon wrongly referred to Ameesha as Aishwarya. Their discussion took an ugly turn due to the factual mistake. During their talk, Sheldon said Aishwarya is a poor man’s Madhuri Dixit. Raj, an ardent fan of the former beauty queen, called her a Goddess and said Madhuri is a ‘leprous prostitute’ in comparison to Aishwarya.
Mithun said in his statement, "It is important to hold companies like Netflix accountable for their actions and to ensure that they are sensitive to the cultural values and sentiments of the communities they serve. I strongly believe that streaming service providers have a responsibility to carefully curate the content that they offer on their platforms. It is their duty to ensure that the material they present does not include derogatory, offensive, or defamatory content. I was deeply troubled by the use of a derogatory term in one of the shows on Netflix - Big Bang Theory. This term was used in reference to the acclaimed actress Madhuri Dixit, and it was not only offensive and deeply hurtful but also showed a lack of regard for her dignity."
Madhuri is yet to react to the whole controversy.
(Source: ETimes)
