Tanmay Bhat from the comedy troupe All India Bakchod (AIB), is in trouble for what appears to be the third time this year. This time, one of his jokes was a tweet sent out to Bollywood actress Priyanka Chopra referring to her accent. While it was all in jest, Chopra’s fans did not take the joke too lightly.
On Wednesday afternoon, Bhat had tweeted about Chopra’s accent owing to her portrayal of an American-Indian FBI agent in TV show Quantico.
When I say @priyankachopra‘s name in my head I now automatically pronounce it like “Priyaaaanka Chopruh”
— Tanmay Bhat (@thetanmay) July 27, 2016
Priyanka Chopra took it all in jest, responding to his tweet with equal sarcasm.
I’m supposed to have the accent @thetanmay what happened to u? Lol https://t.co/xwu6a5KWhi
— PRIYANKA (@priyankachopra) July 27, 2016
While it all went down fine, fans of Priyanka Chopra erupted with responses berating the comedian. From calling him names to making jokes about his weight, Tanmay Bhat got trolled by fans, prompting even Priyanka Chopra to clear the air that it was just a joke between two friends.
For Bhat, this is not the first time he received scathing remarks about his jokes. In May, Bhat had made fun of cricketer Sachin Tendulkar and singer Lata Mangeshkar, using social media app Snapchat’s face-swap filters. He made fun of the singer’s age, calling her a 5,000 year old whose wrinkled visage looked like she had been kept under water for several days. Impersonating Sachin Tendulkar, Bhat mocked the fall out between Tendulkar and former cricketer Vinod Kamble. His joke triggered right-wing political parties to register police complaints for mocking a senior singer of such high standing. His jokes, however, escalated a debate on freedom of speech – questioning how far Tanmay Bhat had gone with his jokes.
Tanmay Bhat getting trolled by fans for making fun of a famous actor like Chopra is reminiscent of what singer Sona Mohapatra faced when she spoke up against Salman Khan going free after he allegedly ran over people on the pavement. Fans of Salman threatened Mohapatra with dire consequences highlighting the downside to an otherwise fun online platform.