Big Bang Theory's Madhuri Dixit remark: Netflix directs petitioner to producers Warner Bros for further action

Streaming giant Netflix, which was slapped with a lawsuit over an offensive remark on actor Madhuri Dixit in one of the episodes of The Big Bang Theory, has redirected the petitioner Mithun Vijay Kumar, a political analyst, to the producers, Warner Bros for further action.  

The OTT platform, according to a report in HT, has informed the producers, Warner Bros, about the charges and said they are expected to take the next step in the matter. 

Last month, Kumar had written to the steaming platform claiming that one of the episodes in the popular US sitcom, The Big Bang Theory, had offensive remarks against Bollywood actor Madhuri Dixit.  

He asked Netflix to remove the first episode of Season 2 of The Big Bang Theory wherein Kunal Nayyar’s Raj Koothrapalli and Jim Parson’s Sheldon Cooper compare Bollywood actors Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Madhuri Dixit. 

Cooper calls Aishwarya Rai “a poor man’s Madhuri Dixit” in the scene. To this, Koothrapalli replies, “Aishwarya Rai is a goddess, by comparison, Madhuri Dixit is a “leprous prostitute”. Kumar said these remarks were “highly derogatory and offensive towards Indian culture and women”.  

Kumar, in his notice, said that such content can have an adverse impact on the society and perpetuate harmful stereotypes and discrimination against women as such content promotes sexism and misogyny. 

The political analyst shared the notice on his Twitter account and wrote that he was deeply disturbed by this exchange between the two characters as he was a fan of the Devdas actor since his childhood.  

Kumar said: “As a fan of Madhuri Dixit since childhood, I was deeply disturbed by the dialogue. I found it highly derogatory and offensive towards Indian culture and women.” 

Reacting to Netflix’s latest action, Kumar said that he expects the producers to take a sensible step towards the same.  

“As a sensible streaming service provider that understands cultural sensitivities, Netflix has informed the original producers of the show regarding the gravity of the issue raised by me. I hope Warner Bros will take appropriate content moderation measures and ensure that their content is free from such abusive language towards people and cultures,” Kumar told HT. 

The Big Bang Theory, which was created by Chuck Lorre and Bill Prady, premiered in 2007. Its last season was aired in  2019 after a successful 12-season run. 

The show revolved around Leonard Hofstadter (Johnny Galecki) and Sheldon Cooper (Parsons), both physicists at Caltech, who live together in an apartment. Other characters included Penny (Kaley Cuoco), Leonard and Sheldon's friends and coworkers, aerospace engineer Howard Wolowitz (Simon Helberg) and astrophysicist Raj Koothrappali (Nayyar). The show is one of the most-watched sitcoms on Netflix.