What is funny about ridiculing Lataji? : Javed Akhtar

“That Chap Didn’t Know What Lata Mangeskhar Means To Us,” Says An Angry Javed Akhtar Who Called Up Lataji After The Insulting Video

Poet-lyricist-thinker Javed Akhtar, who is a die hard Lata Mangeshkar fan is appalled by the video mocking the singing legend and cricketer Sachin Tendulkar.

“This chap(Tanmay Bhat) has the mind of a cockroach. Humour is something we all appreciate. But what is funny about ridiculing Lataji? The video is cheap and unworthy of  getting any attention.The chap had not bargained for the backlash. Since he had gotten away with so much crassness in the past  he thought he would get away this time. But there are celebrities. And then there is Lata Mangeshkar. You can’t get away with ridiculing her,” says Javed Saab who called up the Nightingale on Monday .

“She asked me what’s in this video that has offended her well-wishers so much. I told her not to even go there. I advised her not to look at it. And she mercifully agreed. I can’t bear to think what she would have thought at the grotesque parody,” Javed Saab can barely contain his disgust.

He wonders at the much-vaunted talk in our country about freedom of expression. “That freedom comes with a lot of responsibility. You can’t go out on the street and strip yourself naked to prove your freedom of expression.

You can criticize Lataji’s flawless songs and singing if you are so crazily inclined, you can comment on Sachin’sbatting. But you can’t make obscene comments on their age and looks. That is not funny by any yardstick.”

Javed Saab feels the roaster got roasted because he miscalculated his joke.”

This guy—I don’t want to give him publicity by taking his name—doesn’t know what Lataji means to us. He thought he would get away with it. But everyone I’ve spoken to since the past two days has expressed only dismay and disgust.”

Javed Saab final words on the blasphemous video. “It has destroyed that stand-up comedian’s career and also provided proof of the pathetic standards of humour in our country.”