HOMOPHOBIC

Disgusting, Homophobic Tweet by New Censor Board Member

“Karan Johar could have easily shown his position while performing sex to his mom at home instead of making it public.#AIB Porn Show.”

In another tweet, Pandit questioned whether police had given permission to All India Bakchod to stage the event “even after they knew what B stands for?”

The response on Twitter was immediate, with several users slamming Pandit for his tweet against Johar.

Salman Anees Soz, a spokesman for the opposition Congress, demanded that Pandit should be removed from the Censor Board for his remarks. “Filmmaker & censor board member @ashokepandit tweets filth about @karanjohar. Is this acceptable? He should quit or be removed,” Soz said in a tweet.

Sachin Kalbag, editor of Mid-Day, tweeted that he “did not expect this from you. Deeply saddened.” Kalbag further tweeted that people knew what to watch with their families and even the organisers of the AIB Roast had said it “was for adults only”.

Numerous Twitter users described Pandit’s tweet as crass and offensive. User Sharmishtha Pal posted: “Wowwwwww.. just wowwwww!! And here we knew that India was such a liberal and tolerant and progressive nation!”

Pandit was recently inducted into the Censor Board after former chairperson Leela Samson and nine other members quit the panel. Critics of the BJP have accused it of packing the board with people who are members of the party or close to it.

The AIB roast, videos of which have been posted on YouTube, evoked mixed responses from viewers, including consternation from people who are not used to the show’s no-holds-barred approach to humour.

The show started with Johar announcing, “Let the filth begin.”

Everybody got skewered in this Roast – from the two Bollywood actors to panel members to Bollywood stars like Deepika Padukone, Sonakshi Sinha, Anurag Kashyap and Alia Bhatt sitting in the front row. Even the audience members got their share of volleys.

What is a Roast? Consider it as the exact opposite of a toast. The guest of honour is skewered as a lot of fun is had by all present. There are no holy cows and everybody is a fair game. The quality of jokes? The filthier, the better as long as they are funny.

After a lot of editing, this “rude, filthy, offensive” video (their words, not ours) is now on Youtube for all to see.

Karan Johar – who was anointed the roast master and introduced as Prop, Bollywood Inc – set the tone when he introduced all those present. Rajeev Masand was called a ‘sellout’, Raghu Ram a ‘loud, classless tumour’, and Ranveer and Arjun ‘just about famous’.

Despite one video cautioning viewers that it was “filthy, rude and offensive”, a Mumbai resident on Monday filed a police complaint against Johar and actors Arjun Kapoor and Ranveer Singh for using “filthy and abusive language” on the show.

Police have launched an inquiry following the complaint. The Maharashtra government has started a separate inquiry, and Cultural Affairs Minister Vinod Tawde said the Culture Department will examine the videos to determine if they are “vulgar”.