Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah: Dilip Joshi says he was forbidden to repeat controversial ‘paagal aurat’ line

Dilip Joshi, aka Jethalal from the popular show Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah, became the subject of memes with his iconic line - “Aye, paagal aurat (Crazy woman)!” However, in a recent chat, he revealed that the line stirred up a controversy.

In a special podcast with stand-up comedian Sorabh Pant, Dilip shared that he improvised the line. While it gained a lot of popularity, he was asked never to use it again because certain people took offence.

“Yeh jo ‘paagal aurat’ wala tha, woh maine improvise kiya. On set koi aise situation aayi thi, the way Daya reacted, toh scene karte karte mere mooh se nikal gaya, ‘Aye, paagal aurat!’ Matlab, ‘Kya, kuch bhi bol rahi hai!’ But baad mein, uspe kuch women’s lib ya koi movement tha, mujhe bataya gaya, ‘Aage se, aap yeh nahi bolenge’ (I improvised the ‘paagal aurat’ line. There was a situation on the set and the way Dayaben reacted, it slipped out of my mouth while doing the scene, ‘Crazy woman!’ I meant, she was saying something ridiculous. But later, there was some women’s liberation movement or something, and I was told never to repeat it again),” he said.

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Dilip clarified that the line was to be taken in a light manner and was in no way derogatory but some people misinterpreted it. “Haalanki woh kisiko neecha dikhane jaisa nahi tha (It was not meant to be disparaging), it was said in a lighter note. But I think some people took it in a wrong way and didn’t like it,” he said.

Meanwhile, during the chat, Dilip also said that the writing of Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah has taken a hit due to the pressure of producing daily episodes. Comparing the writing process to a factory, he said, “Every day the writers have to find new subjects. After all, they are also human beings. I agree that all the episodes cannot be of that level when you are doing a daily show for such a long time. I do feel that certain episodes are not up to the mark as far as the humour is concerned.”

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