Famous comedy group AIB’s Tanmay Bhat has received the much needed support from writer Chetan Bhagat and legal expert over the raging controversy in connection with his Sachin Tendulkar-Lata Mangeshkar video.
Amidst widespread criticism, Bhagat tweeted, ” You cannot arrest people for making jokes. Even if the jokes are bad. Really.”
You cannot arrest people for making jokes. Even if the jokes are bad. Really.
— Chetan Bhagat (@chetan_bhagat) May 30, 2016
Supreme Court lawyer Sanjay Hegde too tweeted supporting the comedian.
Hegde said, “Law has no place for hurt feelings of followers of any living person no matter how iconic. Taking offence doesn’t make you right.”
Law has no place for hurt feelings of followers of any living person no matter how iconic. Taking offence doesn't make u right #TanmayBhat
— SANJAY HEGDE (@sanjayuvacha) May 30, 2016
Meanwhile, the controversial censor board chief Pahlaj Nihalani told NDTV that Bhat shouldn’t get the bail as he was a ‘repeat offender.’
Bhat is being investigated by Mumbai Police after he posted a new video of a mock conversation between two legends – singer Lata Mangeshkar and cricketer Sachin Tendulkar.
Later on Monday night it emerged the video had been taken down by YouTube (see below).
This came after Mumbai Police said that they were planning to contact Google and YouTube requesting them to remove the video (below).
Earlier on Monday Bhat had posted the video, captioned “‘Sachin vs Lata Civil War”, on Facebook on May 26, along with this disclaimer: “I make such nonsense on my Snapchat.”
His Facebook post said, “Sachin vs Lata Civil War (I make such nonsense on my Snapchat – follow me there – ID: Thetanmay) (Also I obvously love Lata and Sachin, just having some fun)”
But the video did not appear to go down well with many social media celebrities as they began to ‘roast’ Bhatt for mocking the legends.
In response, a visibly unnerved Bhatt tweeted, “Roast wale din yaad aa gaye by god.”
Raj Thackeray’s political outfit, MNS, threatened to launch protests against Bhat and even file an FIR.
The MNS threatened that it will not allow Bhat to host any shows in Mumbai.
Mumbai Police said that the Special Branch was inquiring into the complaint against AIB
Roast wale din yaad aa gaye by god pic.twitter.com/VgEPkaZy9e
— Tanmay Bhat (@thetanmay) May 29, 2016
https://youtu.be/r-vw2o30Q5Y
Among those who criticised the famous stand up comedian included actors Anupam Kher and Ritesh Deshmukh.
Here are some Twitter reactions.
It's okay to subject people to humour, even legends like Lata & Sachin. But please show me the humour in that Tanmay video. It's just abuse
— The Bad Doctor (@DOCTORATLARGE) May 29, 2016
Am absolutely shocked. Disrespect is not cool and neither is it funny. https://t.co/ymYPi9hxuv
— Riteish Deshmukh (@Riteishd) May 28, 2016
In attempting to bring out the ugliness of Sachin and Lata, Tanmay Bhatt brilliantly succeeded in bringing out his own ugliness
— The Bad Doctor (@DOCTORATLARGE) May 29, 2016
In his comments, Kher had said;
I am 9 times winner of #BestComicActor. Have a great sense of humor. But This's NOT humor. #Disgusting&Disrespectful https://t.co/sTuTfbAOrU
— Anupam Kher (@AnupamPKher) May 29, 2016
But the actor was soon reminded the vulgarity he and Riteisb Deshmukh had resorted to in several movies.
User Joy Das tweeted;
9 Times winner of Best Comic Actor Anupam Kher and Riteish Deshmukh demonstrates how good humor should be pic.twitter.com/1sQxt3992P
— Joy (@Joydas) May 30, 2016
Another prominent personality slamming Bhat foe the Sachin-Lata video was socialite Suhel Seth.
He said;
But Seth too was reminded about his previous stand during the Congress regime on freedom of expression.
Subramanian Swamy’s parody account on Facebook posted the following screenshots of two BJP supporters who had slammed Seth in July last year after he had allegedly made lewd comments about women of Delhi.
And this wasn’t the only inconsistency social media users detected over AIB video controversy.
Another social media user posted the following link of a conversation between two women, one of them (Rupa) is now a BJP convert, while the other an active BJP supporter, over the issue of freedom of speech.
User Farhan Shaikh wrote on Facebook.
“We are so getting used to ‘Whose side you are on?’, that even a Snapchat story is now all about taking a stand Plus, who defines who gets included in the category of National Icons?
“A player who refused to comment or speak against the team mates who indulged in match fixing, and later sneaked in a Ferrari as a gift to save taxes (only to sell off the gift in Mumbai!). A singer who famously protested against building a bridge at Peddar Road to ensure that she stays away from noise and pollution, which lead to scrapping of a long planned project, making a mockery of the system.
Go, take a stand now.”
Many would argue that the conteoversy over the AIB video was blown out of proportion and it was the expected pitfall of giving God-like status to living himan beings in India.