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Podcast host Ranveer Allahbadia appeared on a show hosted by comedian Samay Raina where he cracked a joke that was decidedly crass and wholly unnecessary. Not surprisingly, there were strong reactions to what he said, though it was meant to be seen by a limited number of people who subscribe to the channel to watch the show. FIRs have been filed in two different states, and singer B Praak has cancelled his upcoming appearance on Ranveer’s podcast. In addition, he may lose brand deals and has already lost the most valuable currency today, social media followers. As soon as the issue began to spiral, Ranveer posted a video where he apologised for what he said and added that he overstepped and misspoke. Samay Raina, who is the host, has taken down all the videos of the show after coming under intense criticism and scrutiny.
While the joke was problematic and frankly reeked of a desperate attempt to sound cool or attempt dark humour, it’s worth pausing to think if we are getting offended too easily these days. When did we become simultaneously intolerant and sanctimonious? We take someone’s mistake and either turn it into a witch hunt, a meme fest or make it into a news story that juggles for airtime with matters of national importance. A man had a serious lapse of judgement and in a matter of hours, singers, film producers, forgotten TV actors, the police force from two states, and even the Chief Minister of Maharashtra were voicing their outrage and initiating legal action. In a country where men and women with criminal records are elected to parliament to make crucial decisions for our country, a thoughtless joke has caused more consternation than all of our ongoing problems. One can’t help but worry about whether this incident will be used to justify increased censorship and government control on new media, and content creators who enjoy huge popularity based on their direct connection with an audience.
This controversy is not the first of its kind though. The AIB Knockout roast in 2015, which was attended by multiple Bollywood celebrities received a lot of negative feedback for the strong language and jokes that people found offensive. There were FIRs filed and the group had to finally remove the video from YouTube. The web series Tandav, starring Saif Ali Khan, found itself mired in controversy, after portions of the show were considered offensive to the religious sentiments of a section of the audience. Trolling was followed by FIRs being filed against the actors, producers and director of the show. The then I& B ministry even summoned the team behind the show after national outrage. Last year, Nayanthara starrer Annapoorani: The Goddess of Food, was removed from Netflix after protests by right-wing groups who claimed that it was disrespectful to certain religious sentiments.
Interestingly, India’s Got Latent has also been criticised on multiple occasions in the recent past. Whether it was Samay Raina’s roast of Kusha Kapila, Uorfi Javed walking off the set when a contestant compared her to adult film star Mia Khalifa, or stand-up comedian Bunty Banerjee mocking Deepika Padukone’s struggle with depression, the show has often blurred lines between humour and bullying. Which makes you wonder, why no corrective action taken earlier?
As a species, we love discussing the nitty gritty of someone’s else’s personal life, taking an almost voyeuristic interest in any less-than-desirable details people in our family, friends, work colleagues and celebrities we know nothing about. Social media and all-day news channels amplify this human impulse by turning every minor event into a huge controversy and encourage to us react with a post, reel or tweet to share our outrage. But if crude jokes can get you arrested, what does that mean for freedom of speech in our nation?
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