Popular American sitcom The Big Bang Theory is in trouble as a political analyst has filed a lawsuit against Netflix over an episode in the show. The political analyst Mithun Vijay Kumar claims that the episode has offensive remarks against Bollywood actor Madhuri Dixit, known for her performances in Devdas and Sailaab.
He wants Netflix to remove the first episode of Season 2 wherein Kunal Nayyar’s Raj Koothrapalli and Jim Parson’s Sheldon Cooper compare Bollywood actors Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Madhuri Dixit.
Cooper calls Aishwarya Rai “a poor man’s Madhuri Dixit” in the scene. To this, Koothrapalli replies, “Aishwarya Rai is a goddess, by comparison, Madhuri Dixit is a leprous prostitute.” Kumar calls these remarks as being “highly derogatory and offensive towards Indian culture and women” in this notice. The notice has been sent to Netflix’s office in Mumbai.
The notice further said that such content can have an adverse impact on society and perpetuate harmful stereotypes and discrimination against women. It further said such content promotes sexism and misogyny.
The political analyst shared the notice on his Twitter account and wrote that he was deeply disturbed by this exchange between the two characters as he was a fan of the Devdas actor since his childhood. Kumar wrote in his tweet, “As a fan of Madhuri Dixit since childhood, I was deeply disturbed by the dialogue. I found it highly derogatory and offensive towards Indian culture and women.”
He also said that streaming companies should be held accountable for the kind of content they distribute. Kumar wrote, “So I asked my lawyer to send a legal notice to Netflix, requesting that they remove the episode from their platform. It’s important to hold media companies accountable for the content they distribute, and I hope that Netflix India will take this matter seriously.”
Recently, I came across an episode of the show Big Bang Theory on Netflix where Kunal Nayyar’s character uses an offensive and derogatory term to refer to the legendary Bollywood actress @MadhuriDixit. As a fan of Madhuri Dixit since childhood, I was deeply disturbed by the… pic.twitter.com/pvRCKd5Ne4
— Mithun Vijay Kumar (@MVJonline) March 22, 2023
The Big Bang Theory was created by Chuck Lorre and Bill Prady and was aired on CBS between 2007 and 2019. The show focused on socially awkward friends Leonard, Sheldon, Howard, and Raj whose lives take a turn when a free-spirited Penny moves into an apartment across their hall. The show featured actors like Johnny Galecki, Jim Parsons, Kunal Nayyar, Simon Helberg, Kaley Cuoco Sweeting, Mayim Bialik, and Mellisa Rauch in pivotal roles.
Source: businesstoday.in