After actress Tannishtha Chatterjee slammed comedy TV show for making fun of her skin tone, the channel has apologised to her, saying it has taken up the matter with the creative team of the show.
As a part of the promotions for her recently released film "Parched", Tannishtha along with director Leena Yadav and co-star Radhika Apte went to show "Comedy Nights Bachao".
The actress, in a lengthy Facebook post, wrote about her frustration with the way her dark skin tone was targeted by the comics on the show.
"To my utmost horror, I soon realised that the only quality they found worth roasting about in me was my skin tone. It began with 'aap ko jamun bahut pasand hoga zaroor! Kitna jamun khaya aapne bachpan se?' And went on in that direction," she wrote.
The 35-year-old actress said she initially tried to go along with the show but could not tolerate the "offensive" jokes after a point.
"I could not believe I was sitting in a nationally televised comedy show in 2016 in Mumbai amid such regressive( I can't call it humour), and blatantly racist content. Though I was feeling suffocated, I decided to give it another chance, and sat through another equally offensive segment."
Replying to her Facebook post, Colors wrote that it has always addressed pertinent social issues and was sad that she had a traumatic experience on the show.
"It is rather unfortunate that what you had expected to be a fun and novel experience turned out to be traumatic for you on the sets of 'Comedy Nights Bachao'.
"...It was never our intention, nor a practice for us or the makers of the show to offend anyone at all with the jokes. We have taken this up seriously with the creative team and the production house to ensure that the show is produced in line with the vision of the channel. Please accept our apologies for any hurt that was unwittingly caused," the post undersigned by the channel's spokesperson read.
The actress, however, said it her anger was because she was the subject of the joke, but because the lines stemmed from the land of prejudice.
"@ColorsTV thank you for reaching out. But it's not about me. And this is not personal. It is about a prejudice. I wish they had made fun of me," Tannishtha wrote.
Meanwhile, many people from the industry including actor-filmmaker Ajay Devgn, who has produced "Parched", Nandita Das and Hansal Mehta have shown support for the actress for speaking out on the issue.
"There has to be a limit. I have not seen it (episode). I need to see to comment correctly on it. Sometimes sense of humour goes overboard, there has to be limit.
"We all have sense of humour and we all accept jokes on self. The person who cracks the jokes has to draw a line. I think the mindset needs to change;" Ajay told reporters at an event here.
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