A man who describes himself as a fan of Madhuri Dixit since his childhood has sent a legal notice to Netflix in India, demanding the removal of an episode of the American sitcom The Big Bang Theory for containing derogatory remarks against the actor. Mithun Vijay Kumar, who is an author and social activist according to the legal notice, has objected to a dialogue from the show in which one of the characters refers to Madhuri Dixit as a “leprous prostitute.” The notice said that the complainant was concerned about such content “perpetuating harmful stereotypes and discrimination against women.”
The Big Bang Theory revolves around the lives of four scientists living in California in the United States, including Rajesh Koothrappali, an astrophysicist of Indian origin played by Kunal Nayyar. The legal notice refers to a scene from the first episode of the show’s second season, titled ‘The Bad Fish Paradigm,’ featuring an exchange between Rajesh and another character, Sheldon Cooper. While watching the title song from Kaho Naa... Pyaar Hai starring Ameesha Patel, Sheldon asks if the woman is Aishwarya Rai, to which Rajesh replies in the affirmative and calls her an “amazing actress.” Sheldon then calls her “a poor man’s Madhuri Dixit,” to which Rajesh takes exception. “Aishwarya Rai is a goddess. By comparison, Madhuri Dixit is a leprous prostitute,” says Rajesh. Sheldon then responds by commenting that Rajesh wasn’t very familiar with Indian cinema.
“This content is not only insensitive but also promotes sexism and misogyny, which is unacceptable in any form,” the legal notice said. Alleging that Rajesh’s remark “insults the modesty of Bollywood actress Madhuri Dixit,” it demanded that Netflix immediately remove the said episode from the platform, warning of legal action if it failed to do so.
Recently, I came across an episode of the show Big Bang Theory on Netflix where Kunal Nayyar's character uses an offensive and derogatory term to refer to the legendary Bollywood actress @MadhuriDixit. As a fan of Madhuri Dixit since childhood, I was deeply disturbed by the… pic.twitter.com/pvRCKd5Ne4
— Mithun Vijay Kumar (@MVJonline) March 22, 2023
In a press statement, the complainant alleged that the term was “not only offensive and deeply hurtful but also showed a lack of regard for [Madhuri Dixit’s] dignity.”