Now here’s the joke that Akshay Kumar made on a laughter show. We will tell you later on whom the joke was made, we don’t want you to make a judgement right at the beginning.
On the show, mentors and judges have to ring a huge bell that is on an elevated platform (judges ring a bell to appreciate an act).
Akshay “jokingly” tells one of the participants, “XYZ, Aap bell bajao, main aapko bajata hoon”.
Anything wrong with it? Well, its a comedy show (The Great Indian Laughter Challenge)!
Now this joke of Akshay Kumar has created a controversy.
Why?
Because the person on whom the joke was made is a woman – comedienne Mallika Dua.
And her father is a renowned journalist – Vinod Dua.
Vinod Dua wrote on Facebook, “I am going to screw this cretin (stupid person) Akshay Kumar for telling his co-worker Mallika Dua that ‘Aap bell bajao, main aap ko bajata hun’ (You ring the bell, I will bang you)… This is his sense of humour and language… (sic)” However, the post was deleted soon after by Facebook.
Although this incident and the comment was edited out of the episode, the 28-year-old comedienne shared the clip on Twitter, before deleting it later. She wrote, “Hey! Quick question. Does anyone find 5:26 funny? Charming? Entertaining? Family entertainment. GEC. (sic)”
Obviously, Mallika and Vinod Dua’s comments didn’t go down well with Akki’s (pet name for Akshay) fans.
- One person pointed out how Mallika herself has been a part of a video where she played the role of a “Tinder Aunty” where she can be seen making fun of men.
- Another lady wrote, “Not that I’ve slightest concern for Akshay Kumar, but in current Mallika Dua controversy, I don’t think “bajao” had any sexual undertones (sic).”
- Another comment said “Its all about gender. If a woman makes a joke, its comedy. But if a man makes the same joke on woman, than it becomes sexist (sic).”
“The lady is no saint. You should see the language and context she speaks in her other videos on YouTube. Internet videos has no censorship.
Has Vinod Dua seen the videos created by Mallika Dua? Did he check the type of abusive language she used? Double standards on freedom to abuse others. Why?” said one comment.
However, one use said , “Unacceptable behaviour! Male actors still get away with making sexually colored remarks under the guise of ‘comedy’. #MeToo (sic).”
In the past, Akshay Kumar has stood up for his co-stars when he felt they were being insulted in the name of comedy on reality shows. He had once criticised Siddharth Jadhav’s alleged racist comments about his Housefull 3 co-star Lisa Haydon on Comedy Nights Bachao.
I guess Akshay didn’t realize that his joke would offend women. Wonder what Twinkle Khanna has to say about this?
