Dhruv Rathee skewers Samay Raina, Kapil Sharma's ‘chichorapanti' in new video, names comedians who do a better job

YouTuber Dhruv Rathee is the latest voice adding to the debate around India's Got Latent and the many FIRs against Samay Raina and Ranveer Allahbadia. He released a new video on Wednesday night and jumped into the conversation that the show has sparked, engulfing the entire nation, media, and social media. Dhruv, while agreeing that the government has no business ‘banning’ online content, did skewer comedians who don't shy away from taking the ugly route with their jokes.

Dhruv Rathee's take

Dhruv called the joke cracked by Ranveer on the show, ‘bhadda’ and ‘obscene’ but also called out the hypocrisy of those abusing him while using ‘maa behen ki gaali’ themselves. He also brought up the often-peddled idea that web series, movies, jokes do not affect anyone's mindset. He said that no one's psyche and morality are embedded in their genes, and we learn our values from what we see around us.

(Also read: Emotional Samay Raina addressed India's Got Latent row on live show, thanked audience for paying lawyer's fees, says fan)

“Samay Raina's show is also full of abusive words and vulgarity. In the name of comedy, they call a woman ku**ya (bi*ch),” Dhruv said, calling back to the roast of comedian/actor Kusha Kapila by Samay Raina, which left her hurt and upset. He also gave the example of how Russian women are facing harassment in India after comedian Harsh Gujral repeatedly made jokes about their ‘rate’. He even showed clips from Kapil Sharma's show where he did the same. He showed another clip of Kapil forcefully hugging a woman on the show and called it ‘chichorapanti (lewd behaviour) ka ek aur example’.

Dhurv said that such jokes and comments normalise such behaviour among men, who use the same words for women in real life as well. Dhruv added that the purpose of such joke is simply to shock people and get a reaction out of them.

The YouTuber also made an appeal to comedians, asking them to punch up rather than punch down with their comedy. He gave examples of comedians who are doing a better job, naming Gaurav Kapoor, Abhishek Upmanyu, Manik Manha, Kunal Kamra. But did appeal to them to stop using abuses in their work too.

What's the controversy?

The controversy began last week when Ranveer Allahbadia made jokes to a participant on a comedy show about parents. The joke was quickly condemned by social media users, public figures and political leaders.

Multiple police complaints were filed against Allahabadia and Samay Raina, who hosts the show India’s Got Latent. Both of them, along with some other participants on the show, were summoned by police for questioning and the issue was also raised in Parliament.