The scene has sparked controversy (Picture: Netflix/Twitter)
Netflix has been hit with a legal notice about one moment in The Big Bang Theory, which is said to make ‘derogatory’ comments about Indian actress Madhuri Dixit, comparing her to Aishwarya Rai-Bachchan.
The first episode of season two sees Kunal Nayyar’s character Raj Koothrapalli and Jim Parsons’ Sheldon Cooper commenting on both actresses.
At one point, Sheldon calls Aishwarya a ‘poor man’s Madhuri Dixit’.
Replying, Raj says: ‘Aishwarya Rai is a goddess.’
Sheldon then says: ‘Sorry I didn’t mean to offend you, obviously you’re not that familiar with Indian cinema’.
Indian political analyst Mithun Vijay Kumar has now hit out at the comments, and asked Netflix to remove the episode.
Kumar wrote on Twitter: ‘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 dialogue. 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.’
Viewers have labelled the comments about Madhuri Dixit as ‘derogatory’ (Picture: Dominique Charriau/WireImage)
The scene sees Aishwarya called a ‘goddess’ (Picture: GUILLAUME HORCAJUELO/EPA)
The legal notice, which Kumar attached on Twitter, reads: ‘My client is deeply concerned about the negative impact that such content can have on society, particularly in perpetuating harmful stereotypes and discrimination against women.
‘This content is not only insensitive but also promotes sexism and misogyny, which is unacceptable in any form.’
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Aishwarya’s mother-in-law, Bollywood actress Jaya Bachchan has also reacted to the comment, telling Times of India: ‘Is this man [Kunal Nayyar] insane?
‘He needs to be sent to mental asylum. His family should be asked what they think of his comment.’
Metro.co.uk has approached Netflix for comment.
The Big Bang Theory is available to watch on Netflix.
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‘I was deeply disturbed by the dialogue.’