While everyone was wondering what will be Twinkle Khanna's response on the ongoing battle between Akshay Kumar and The Great indian Laughter Challenge colleague Mallika Dua, the writer, film producer and former actress has finally responded. After taking time, Twinkle backed her husband saying that his humour was taken out of context. However, her clarification didn't go down well with Mallika's father and veteran journalist Vinod Dua who called her an ''embarrassed wife''.
"I would like to address the controversy on the sets of ‘The Great Indian Laughter Challenge'. The show has a bell which the judges ring after a contestant's exceptional performance and (when) Dua went forward to ring the bell, Kumar said, ‘Mallika ji aap bell bajao main aap ko bajata hun (You ring the bell, I will bang you)'," Twinkle wrote on Twitter. "A pun on the words and actions related to ringing the bell. It's a colloquial phrase that both men and women use - for instance, ‘I am going to bajao him/her' or ‘I got bajaoed', all without sexist connotations,'' she further added.
Now, Mr Dua in a Facebook post has hit back at Mrs Funnybones. ''Ms.Twinkle Khanna responds to the laughter challenge controversy. It is a prosaic excuse from an embarrassed wife. Be that as it may, the point has been driven home. This chap will be careful in the future before making depraved statements like “Mallika ji aap Bell bajao, mai aapko bajaata hoon”. We don’t wish to pursue the matter any further,'' he wrote.
Twinkle also urged people to stop involving her in this debate."I have always stood up for the freedom within comedy including defending AIB's (All India Bakchod's) infamous roasts on numerous occasions in the past and that is my stance even today, so kindly stop tagging me in this debate," she said. "Vinod Dua, Mallika Dua's father, had written a post - it's been taken down now - stating, ‘I am going to screw this cretin Akshay Kumar'. Should Mr Dua's statement also be taken literally or interpreted in context? Words, especially humour has to be seen in its right context," she added.
Mallika, a former judge of the Star Plus show, and her father raised concern regarding Akshay Kumar's remark earlier this week by sharing a video over social media which was reportedly a leaked portion of an episode shoot held around a month ago, and it was never aired by the channel. It showcases Mallika's fellow judge Zakir Khan telling Akshay Kumar that they will also accompany him to "ring a bell" as a mark of appreciation for Rangeela for his act mimicking Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi.That's when Akshay Kumar says, "Mallikaji, 'Aap bell bajao, main aap ko bajata hun' (You ring the bell, I will bang you)."
This is how Twinkle Khanna said 'she is done' with the row. People called out the tweet as insensitive and slammed the author for not acknowledging his 'inappropriate behaviour'.
Mallika Dua, Zakir Khan and Hussain Dalal were mentors cum judges of the reality show. However, after low TRPs, the trio was replaced by Shreyas Talpade and Sajid Khan.
(With IANS inputs)
