29 September,2016 11:00 AM IST | | Mohar Basu and Letty Mariam Abraham
After calling Lisa Haydon a black African, comedians in Krushna Abhishek's show 'Comedy Nights Bachao' plumb new depths by joking about actress Tannishtha Chatterjee's skin colour
Tannishtha Chatterjee
After Tannishtha Chatterjee spoke up against her roast on Krushna Abhishek's show, 'Comedy Nights Bachao Taaza', director Leena Yadav has said "it isn't one person's fault".
Speaking to hitlist, Leena said, "Clearly, there was nothing else to talk about other than the colour of her skin. Tannishtha can blame Krushna, and he can say she did it for publicity, but I know she is not speaking up for this one issue; she is against the mentality. It is my fault that I took my actors to a show I have never watched before. If our sensibilities were not in sync with that of the show, we shouldn't have gone."
Krushna Abhishek, comedian
She mentions the problem also rests with film promotions. "It has a set pattern. On one hand, there is such good content and on the other, all we want to do is to fill spaces. It is a trap within a trap and there is no one person to be blamed. It is not as trivial where one man's word is pitted against the other. There is a larger issue. I am terribly disturbed about this," she says.
In her open letter on Facebook, Tannishtha wrote about facing humiliation on the show for her complexion. As it went viral, the channel posted an apology online: "It is rather unfortunate that what you had expected to be a fun and novel experience turned out to be traumatic for you. 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. (Read More)"
Leena Yadav
Krushna, however, is not apologetic. "I am shocked. Tannishtha met me first when she entered the venue. Ours is a popular show and we assumed they have seen it before. They shouldn't have come to the show if they weren't familiar with our format," he says.
The stand-up comic adds that Tannishtha's humour is "classy and British", but his is desi. "Yesterday, she didn't object, why is she talking today? She was not enjoying. Radhika Apte and Leena Yadav were enjoying. The ladies danced with me. Hamare idhar yehi chalta hai. You can't expect pasta on Mohammed Ali Road," Krushna says.
