Amid Ranveer Allahbadia row, Marathi YouTube channel BhaDiPa cancels episode after MNS objection

Chetan Dhotre, city unit president of the MNS Film Wing, said his party has warned the makers of BhaDiPa against recording and airing content on February 14 as its previous episode allegedly had “vulgar content”.

“No one ever expected that Ranveer Allahbadia would make a vulgar statement on the show ‘India’s Got Latent’. It was shameful. Similar work is being done by Marathi content providers through its show ‘Atishay Nirlaj Kande Pohe’ on YouTube. This is disrespectful to Marathi-speaking people,” he said.

Dhotre alleged that BhaDiPa has been producing content that goes against cultural values for the sole purpose of increasing ratings. “This trend…is on the rise. We will not allow it to happen in Pune. They should be involved in clean entertainment which will be supported by MNS but the vulgar statements in the show will not be tolerated now. We are condemning the channel and its producer for hosting a show with vulgar content,” he said.

“The MNS will stop these shows on its own. Marathi people attending or viewing the show should think about these things, considering Marathi culture,” Dhotre stated.

The BhaDiPa team informed The Indian Express that they cancelled the upcoming episode and announced the decision over social media on Tuesday. The team’s statement read, “We cancelled the show because we wanted to be responsible given the current climate, we don’t want to harm people’s sentiments nor risk the safety of our audience and talent.”

The show was planned on February 14 for a live audience ahead of being uploaded on the YouTube channel.

The statement added, “We are assessing the situation and will re-evaluate our programming once things normalise because we have a large family audience and want to keep their best interests in mind. We have been in touch with MNS to resolve the issue.”

Meanwhile, the Maharashtra Cyber Police have booked Ranveer Allahbadia, Samay Raina and other artists for allegedly making and broadcasting obscene content. Earlier, the Assam Police too filed an FIR against them. Allahbadia has approached the Supreme Court seeking relief.