CARACHI: More than sixteen years after its initial release and four years after the show’s conclusion, The Big Bang Theory found himself in deep water after an offensive joke about Bollywood actor Madhuri Dixit resurfaced. And faced with the repercussions for the The Big Bang Theory the joke is OTT streaming the giant Netflix, in the form of a legal notice. Here’s everything you need to know about the controversy.
It all starts with Indian political analyst Mithun Vijay Kumar who, in a legal notice, demanded that an episode of the series be removed for being offensive and defamatory. He also claimed the episode and promoted joke sexism and misogyny. The episode in question in the first episode of season two in which Raj and Sheldon compare Bollywood actors Ashwariya Rai and Madhuri Dixit. Sheldon calls Rai, “a poor man’s Madhuri Dixit” to which Raj agrees and calls Rai a goddess and Dixit a “leprous prostitute”.
Recently I came across an episode of Netflix show Big Bang Theory where Kunal Nayyar’s character uses an offensive and derogatory term for the legendary Bollywood actress @MadhuriDixit. As a Madhuri Dixit fan since childhood, I was deeply disturbed by the… pic.twitter.com/pvRCKd5Ne4
— Mithun Vijay Kumar (@MVJonline) March 22, 2023
As to why Kumar sent the legal notice to Netflix against The Big Bang Theory, he took to Twitter to explain his reasons. “As a fan of Madhuri Dixit since childhood, I was deeply disturbed by the dialogues. I found it very derogatory and offensive towards Indian culture and women. So I asked my lawyer to send a legal notice to Netflix, asking them to remove the episode from their platform It’s important to hold media companies accountable for the content they distribute, and I hope @NetflixIndia takes this matter seriously.
It’s unclear why Netflix is held responsible for The Big Bang Theory joke when the show aired on CBS throughout its 12 seasons.
