Last week, the cast of Baby John came on The Great Indian Kapil Show as guests. During the show, the host asked a question from the ace director that sparked a major controversy.
Last week, the cast of Baby John, including Varun Dhawan, Keerthy Suresh, Wamiqa Gabbi, and director Atlee, came on The Great Indian Kapil Show as guests. During the show, the host asked the ace director, “Atlee sir, you have become such a huge director-producer now, but when you meet a star for the first time, do they ask, ‘Where is Atlee?’” After the episode aired on Netflix, Kapil Sharma’s statement sparked a major controversy on the internet.
Atlee’s response to Kapil Sharma’s statement
It seemed that the host was asking about Atlee’s popularity outside the South Indian film industry, where he has had major success. However, Atlee may not have fully understood the question and responded, “In a way, I understood your question. I will try to answer. I am really grateful to AR Murugadoss sir, because he made my first film. He asked for the script but didn’t judge how I looked or whether I was capable. He liked my narration. I believe we shouldn’t judge by appearance but by the heart.”
While Atlee’s response was praised by fans, Kapil Sharma’s question led to online backlash. Social media users accused him of mocking Atlee’s skin colour.
Chinmayi Sripada criticizes Kapil Sharma
Singer Chinmayi Sripada also criticized the comedian, calling his comment ‘racist’. She posted asking if Kapil Sharma would ever stop making ‘crass and racist jibes’ under the guise of comedy. She wrote, “Will they never stop these crass and racist jibes at his skin colour in the name of ‘comedy’? Someone with the amount of influence and clout like Kapil Sharma saying something like this is disappointing and unfortunately, not surprising.”
Will they never stop these crass and racist jibes at his skin color in the name of ‘comedy’?
Someone with the amount of influence and clout like Kapil Sharma saying something like this is disappointing and unfortunately, not surprising. https://t.co/63WjcoqHzA
— Chinmayi Sripaada (@Chinmayi) December 15, 2024
Later, Kapil Sharma finally addressed the controversy and clarified that he never commented on the director’s looks. He responded to the online trolls by urging viewers to watch the full video and not spread hate. He wrote, “Dear sir, can you please explain to me where and when I talked about looks in this video? Please, don’t spread hate on social media! Thank you. (Guys, watch and decide for yourselves, don’t follow anyone’s tweet blindly).”
Directed by Kalees and produced under Jio Studios, Baby John serves as a remake of Atlee’s 2016 Tamil film Theri, and stars Varun Dhawan, Keerthy Suresh, Wamiqa Gabbi, Zara Zyanna and Jackie Shroff.
