India’s Got Latent, comedian Samay Raina’s show, has yet again drawn criticism. Standup comedian Bunty Banerjee, who earlier ignited controversy for mocking Bollywood actress Deepika Padukone’s depression battle, is now being trolled for joking about the Kolkata's heinous R G Kar rape-murder case that led to massive protests and candle march across West Bengal.
She performed in the show’s latest episode in the presence of judges including Raina, comedian Tanmay Bhat, producer and actor Raghu Ram, neurologist Dr Sid Warrier, and Balraj Singh, the owner of Habitat (the show’s venue).
In the viral clip, Bunty Banerjee introduces herself as a Bengali who grew up in Bihar. “Whenever there’s a tense situation, the Bengali in me sleeps and Bihari wakes up,” she says.
Bunty went on to ask the audience, “Any Bengalis in the house.....See, sab so rahe hain. Nahi. Thak gaye honge na candle march karte karte (Bengalis are sleeping! Let them. Must be tried by holding candle march protests).” The panel bursts into laughter.
The video irked several netizens, leading to a backlash.
A user wrote, “Insensitivity aside, the joke (if it was a joke) was so lame. Are the judges laughing with her? Or laughing at her?”
Another user commented, “So this lady, claiming to be a comedian, at one point of her show,mocks depression and at another point ,ridicules Bengalis for holding candlelight marches to protest heinous crimes. It's appalling that people think such cringeworthy behavior deserves applause. The joke's on them.”
“Shame on the girl and the judges who laughed at this joke. I don't have any problem with the sleeping joke but what the hell she meant by candle se dance karke thak gaye honge?” another user wrote.
