Parched actress Tannishtha Chatterjee walked out of the hit TV show Comedy Nights Bachao — after filming only a couple of segments of the show on Tuesday — protesting against how the show had turned the act of roasting into “bullying”, with the hosts making fun of her dark skin.
Wrote the actress on Facebook on Wednesday, “It began with ‘aap ko jamun bahut pasand hoga… kitna jamun khaya aapne bachpan se?’ They could identify me only with that (dark skin).”
Tannishtha’s attempts to explain to the show’s producers that being roasted is different from bullying went in vain, and she walked out. The actress has since found support from many online, including actress Nandita Das, who wrote on her own profile, “I feel sad for those who stoop so low. It is time we speak up against any discrimination which is on the basis of colour, caste, class, creed and gender. This is not about Tannishtha being ‘roasted’, but it is about the kind of world we are creating and want to be part of.”
Actress Nandita Das condemned the incident on Facebook.
Krushna Abhishek, one of the hosts of the show, says, “Perhaps Tannishtha hadn’t anticipated what was coming her way and I don’t blame her for that. Everybody knows what our brand of humour is. We do a bit of tang khichai, which she probably wasn’t ready for.” He added that he and co-host, Bharti Singh ask producers to tone down content, when they feel it is too “risqué”.
However, some feel that focussing on the physical attributes of a person in comedy — especially skin tone — only perpetuates harmful stereotypes, such as, those with fair skin are somehow “better”.
“The national TV channel is setting a bad example. They are disguising the roast show as a comedy show. Seeing this, kids would go to school and make fun of a dark-skinned girl,” says actress Vishakha Singh.
National award-winning actress Priyamani adds, “It’s wrong to make fun of skin colour, even on comedy shows. It’s probably just a mindset that fair skinned people look good on screen, but look where Priyanka Chopra is now! I’m proud of my skin tone and would not change it for anything.”
Krishna Abhishek, host of Comedy Nights Bachao
Tannishtha perhaps hadn’t anticipated what was coming her way and I don’t blame her for that. Everybody knows that in our brand of humour we do a bit of tang khichai which she probably wasn’t ready for.
Channel apologises
Dear Ms Chatterjee, It is rather unfortunate that what you had expected to be a fun and novel experience turned out to be traumatic for you on the sets of ‘Comedy Nights Bachao’... As far as this episode is concerned, we have ensured that the content is free from anything that may be deemed offensive. It was never our intention, nor a practice for us or the makers of the show to offend anyone at all with the jokes. We have taken this up seriously with the creative team and the Production House to ensure that the show is produced in line with the vision of the channel. Please accept our apologies for any hurt that was unwittingly caused.
—With inputs from Sushmita Murthy, Anupama Subramanian and Janani K.
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