India’s Got Latent, Samay Raina’s YouTube series, is renowned for pushing the envelope with its edgy and frequently dark humor.
Comic Samay Raina, who also joins on the judges’ panel alongside other comics and content artists, developed the online talent contest India’s Got Latent. Tanmay Bhat, Raghu Ram, neurologist Dr. Sid Warrier, and Balraj Singh Ghai joined him on the most recent episode. In one episode snippet, a competitor named Bunty Banerjee mentions the birth of Dua, the daughter of Deepika and Ranveer Singh. Deepika Padukone recently became a mother as well, correct? She states in the video, “Great, now she knows what depression really looks like.”
The joke that divided the internet
The founder of the show, Samay, and other panelists, such as Raghu Ram and Tanmay Bhat, are shown laughing and yelling in shock. Tanmay initially puts his head in his hands before turning to face Samay and giggling. Samay chuckles and cheers the humor as well. “I am not trying to insult breakup-wala depression,” the candidate continues, stopping then continuing, “I am.”
Fans’ reactions
Social media users criticized the joke for “trivializing mental health” when it was posted on Reddit. As one user put it, “This! Choose me with the utmost respect.” Someone more commented, “It’s not about Deepika, but a woman’s mental health being made fun of in the national television, all for male validation by a female comedian.”
Some even justified the joke, claiming that it was no more offensive than the other edgy content on the show and that the only reason people were upset was because it featured a famous person like Deepika Padukone. “People are finding it unfunny because it trivializes a common mental health condition and that too in a dumb way, comparing apples to oranges,” one commenter responded. It is unintelligently punching down.
The judges’ response to the joke also infuriated the fans. “Even the judges are literally saying, ‘omg mental health pe joke maar diya denk hehe haha hassi ke favvare,'” according to one response. Sometimes the panel has the most stupid opinions, such as “come on comedy ke naam pe kya kar rahe ho” (what are you doing in the name of humor), despite how funny they are at other times.
Deepika Padukone has openly discussed her struggles with depression and anxiety. She established The Live Love Laugh Foundation in October 2015 with the goal of raising awareness of mental health issues in India. She started the More Than Just Sad campaign the following year to help general practitioners handle patients with anxiety or depression.
