‘The Big Bang Theory’ episode could be removed from Netflix

Netflix could remove an episode of The Big Bang Theory over a “derogatory” remark made about Bollywood star Madhuri Dixit.

Last week, Indian political analyst Mithun Vijay Kumar claimed he had issued a legal notice to the streaming service, asking it to remove the first episode of season two, in which Raj Koothrapalli (Kunal Nayyar) and Sheldon Cooper (Jim Parsons) compare actors Aishwarya Rai and Madhuri Dixit.

During their conversation, Sheldon refers to Aishwarya Rai as a “poor man’s Madhuri Dixit”. To which Raj replies: “Aishwarya Rai is a goddess. By comparison, Madhuri Dixit is a leprous prostitute”.

In a Twitter post shared on Wednesday (March 22), Kumar described the comments made against Dixit as “offensive and derogatory”.

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

“So I asked my lawyer to send a legal notice to Netflix, requesting that they remove the episode from their platform. It’s important to hold media companies accountable for the content they distribute, and I hope that @NetflixIndia will take this matter seriously.”

Recently, I came across an episode of the show Big Bang Theory on Netflix where Kunal Nayyar’s character uses an offensive and derogatory term to refer to the legendary Bollywood actress @MadhuriDixit. As a fan of Madhuri Dixit since childhood, I was deeply disturbed by the… pic.twitter.com/pvRCKd5Ne4

— Mithun Vijay Kumar (@MVJonline) March 22, 2023

Kumar added that failure to remove the episode will “result in legal action being taken against” Netflix “for promoting sexism and discrimination against women”.

“As a responsible and leading streaming service provider, it is your duty to ensure that your content is free from any such remarks or actions,” read the legal notice from Kumar’s lawyer. “My client demands that you immediately remove the said episode from your platform and ensure that such objectionable content is not present in any of your shows or movies.

The Big Bang Theory aired its final episode in May 2019. The following year, a producer on the sitcom revealed that it had planned to continue for an additional two years before Parsons quit the show.