4th Dimension

After reading my previous post on joke outrage on a YouTube show, a reader informed me that the outrage happens because of the internet…I said, No!! it's not medium or even content, it's people and culture!!! If there is one thing India loves more than Bollywood, it’s being outraged by Bollywood. It’s a national sport, right up there with cricket and arguing with relatives about politics. Every few years, a film comes along that sends the moral guardians of the nation into a collective meltdown. The offense? Maybe a hint of cleavage, an actor uttering a forbidden word, or—heaven forbid—a woman experiencing sexual pleasure without looking guilty about it. The response is as predictable as a Salman Khan movie: protests, vandalism, court cases, and the inevitable PIL (Public Interest Litigation, or, as it should be called, Public Interference Lunacy). Before Satyam Shivam Sundaram, Raj Kapoor had already scandalised India with Bobby (1973) and Mera Naam Joker (1970). Bobby had pa...

We Indians love a controversy. And this time, it wasn’t over politics, cricket, or Bollywood—it was over a joke. A joke so inappropriate that it sent the internet into full meltdown mode. At the center of it all? India’s Got Latent, a dark-humor, satirical version of India’s Got Talent, hosted by Samay Raina. The show was known for its edgy jokes, sarcastic commentary, and unfiltered humor—not like our average family-friendly entertainment. Everything was going fine until Ranveer Allahbadia (BeerBiceps) asked that question which broke the internet. Even for a show that thrives on dark humor, this one was a nuclear-level misfire. Within days, the clip went viral, and outrage poured in. Politicians jumped in, lawyers filed complaints, news channels found their new prime-time topic, and Ranveer found himself the target of an FIR. In fact, this wasn’t the first time India saw moral policing disguised as law enforcement. Back in 1951, Jawaharlal Nehru introduced the First Amendment, limitin...