KARACHI: Over sixteen years after its initial release and four years after the conclusion of the show, The Big Bang Theory has found itself in deep water after an offensive joke about Bollywood actor Madhuri Dixit has resurfaced. And facing the repercussions for the The Big Bang Theory joke is OTT streaming giant Netflix, in the form of a legal notice. Here is all that you need to know about the controversy.
It all begins with Indian political analyst Mithun Vijay Kumar who, in a legal notice, demanded that an episode from the show be removed for being offensive and defamatory. He also claimed the episode and joke promoted sexism and misogyny. The episode in question in the first episode of season two in which Raj and Sheldon are comparing Bollywood actors Ashwariya Rai and Madhuri Dixit. Sheldon calls Rai, “A poor man’s Madhuri Dixit” to which Raj concurs and calls Rai a goddess and Dixit a “leprous prostitute”.
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
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 dialogue. I found it highly derogatory and offensive towards Indian culture and women. 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 @NetflixIndia will take this matter seriously.”
It is unclear why Netflix is being held accountable for The Big Bang Theory joke when the show ran on CBS throughout its 12 seasons.
