Asked not to mimic PM Modi, Rahul: Comic Shyam Rangeela

New Delhi, Oct 26 (PTI) Stand-up comic Shyam Rangeelasaid he was asked not to poke fun at Prime Minister NarendraModi and Congress vice-president R...

New Delhi, Oct 26 (PTI) Stand-up comic Shyam Rangeelasaid he was asked not to poke fun at Prime Minister NarendraModi and Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi when he did askit for a comic reality show, judged by actor Akshay Kumar.

Rangeela, who has become popular for his mimicry ofpolitical leaders on the social media, was invited to performon the show "The Great Indian Laughter Challenge".

He said though his stand-up was appreciated he was askedto prepare fresh material in a short time as the channel didnot want to offend anyone.

"Before they called me to perform on the show, they knewI specialised in mimicking politicians like Modiji and RahulGandhi. Intially, they said not to mimic Modi but were okaywith poking fun at Rahul," he told PTI.

Rangeela claimed after a month of shooting, he was askedto shoot with new gags as the channel would not air the Modi-Rahul jokes on air.

"Later, they said I can't mimic either of them. Theyasked me to prepare a new skit in five days - withoutmimicking Modi-Rahul. I told them I would not be able to putup a fresh stand-up in such a short time. But I did preparesomething and did the shoot. It was not impressive enough asit led to my elimination from the show," he said.

The comic said he did not know how the video with theoriginal skit landed online. He said he got to know that theprevious one was available online after someone tagged him onFacebook.

"Someone tagged me with the video on Facebook and I washappy it had gone viral. But I don't know who put it out. ButI think it must be someone from the production team."Rangeela said he does not want to be a part of thecontroversy.

"I was really hassled the two months that I was there. Ihave told the channel that I don't want any more trouble. Butwhat happened with me was wrong," he said.

It was this video that sparked another controversy,involving Akshay's alleged sexist comments at one of theshow's mentor Mallika Dua.

According to reports, Mallika wanted to ring a bell toappreciate Rangeela's mimicry, a practice followed by theshow, but Akshay is alleged to have said, "'Aap bell bajao,main aap ko bajata hun'", which led to her father, journalistVinod Dua, slamming the actor on his Facebook page.

The word 'baja' is a colloquial term in Hindi which maycarry sexual or violent undertones.

Mallika, along with comedians Zakir Khan and HussainDalal, was reportedly fired earlier this month.

The channel was not available for a comment. PTI RDS BKBDSBK.

This is unedited, unformatted feed from the Press Trust of India wire.

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