Bollywood is Not Amused by AIB’s New Sachin and Lata ‘Roast’

AIB’s Tanmay Bhat posted a video ‘roasting’ Lata Mangeshkar and Sachin Tendulkar. Bollywood did not take it well.

Tanmay Bhat, Sachin Tendulkar and Lata Mangeshkar (Photo Courtesy: The Quint)

It seems as if AIB has a bit of a penchant for getting into trouble over celebrity ‘roasting’. It happened last year with Arjun Kapoor, Ranveer Singh, Karan Johar et al and now, it seems as if Tanmay Bhat’s new video is fresh fodder for yet another controversy.

Tanmay has recently posted a video on his Facebook page, using Snapchat’s unique face-swap feature, and has ‘face-swapped’ Sachin Tendulkar and Lata Mangeshkar. The video is titled ‘Sachin v/s Lata Civil War’ and has been posted with a disclaimer, “Also, I obviously love Lata and Sachin, just having some fun.” The video shows the comedian ‘roasting’ them with little digs like ‘You are 5000 years old so shut up’ and ‘Jon Snow also died and so should you.’

This, however, did not go down well with Bollywood and many came out to say AIB should apologise for “disrespectful” comments against the legends.

Anupam Kher tweeted about the actor’s humor ‘NOT’ being funny!

Riteish Deshmukh and Celina Jaitley also had opinions to express on the issue.

A Good Time for Bollywood to Understand Humour?

Dear Mr Kher and other custodians of Bollywood’s humour, thank you for bringing up the issue of bad comedy; it is indeed a grave problem in our secular (read sickular) democracy.

If nine-time recipient of the award for ‘Best Comic Actor,’ Anupam Kher were to write a book (which we hope will be titled the Constitution of Humour ) edited by Pahlaj Nihalani, we presume that according to it, humour is ‘good’ when it is at the expense of minorities (Homosexuals, blacks, women). The book will tell us how when humour targets celebrities we worship, like Lata Mangeshkar and Sachin Tendulkar, it becomes blasphemous, bordering on sedition.

You tweeted, Sir Kher, that you are a man with a “sense of humour” and a recipient of “nine awards” for comedy. Let’s look back on the days when comedy was unabashedly sexist, racist and demeaning– a time when you were at your comic best.

You participated in rib-tickling ‘comic’ performances targeted blatantly at homosexuals (Dulhan Hum Le Jayenge), you mocked at the idea of education in Dil Wale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge and your not-so-funny impersonations of women in several films were tolerated silently by us.

And we’re the ones who are intolerant?

Nevertheless, AIB has had a history of unsavoury experiences with the industry. Before the (in)famous roast, their sketch on Yash Raj Films’ obsequiousness was given a humungous thumbs down by the Supreme Leaders of the industry.

AIB was forced to yank it off their channel: the usual practice in a tolerant nation.

So are we saying that Bollywood can’t appreciate a joke? While that’s not an allegation we’re willing to make, we’re giving them full marks for hypocrisy.