The AIB Roast of actors Ranveer Singh and Arjun Kapur
In the middle of a fierce debate over an expletive-laced, no-holds barred "roast" of two film stars, a tweet by a member of India's censor board has provoked outrage.
Ashoke Pandit, a filmmaker, is being pilloried for his tasteless tweet on Karan Johar, who conducted the AIB's roast: "Karan Johar could have easily shown his position while performing *&$ to his mom at home instead of making it public.#AIB Porn Show."
The backlash was instant. "Filmmaker & censor board member @ashokepandit tweets filth about @karanjohar. Is this acceptable? He should quit or be removed," tweeted Salman Soz, a spokesman of the Congress.
Mr Pandit did not withdraw his comments, instead he defended them, saying, "I stand by my tweet. If you depict masturbation on stage it is porn. Will you see this with your parents and family? It's a shame to call it charity. Karan Johar, Arjun, Ranveer are icons."
Speaking to NDTV on his way to Pushkar in Rajasthan, Mr Pandit said, "Don't teach me what is humour - I am the king of comedy. I have done many comedy shows. I am the King of Comedy."
The roast, the first of its kind in India, featured a panel of eight and 'Roastmaster' Karan Johar skewering 'Gunday' actors Ranveer Singh and Arjun Kapur and subjecting them to jokes - seen by some as vulgar and offensive - about their on-screen and off-screen lives. 4,000 people attended the roast in Mumbai and the money it earned - said it be around Rs 40 lakh - went to charity.
Reflecting the sharply divided response to the show, at least three hashtags are trending on twitter - #AIBRoast, AIB National Shame, We Stand by AIB Knockout. (
AIB Knockout Divides Twitter)
Two complaints have been filed in Mumbai alleging obscenity, and the Maharashtra government first said it would investigate the show, before apparently changing its mind.
Cultural affairs minister Vinod Tawde yesterday said the government would investigate the vulgarity charge. He later tweeted that there would be no moral policing and the government would only check if the organisers had a performance license.