Zee5, the Indian video on service demand run by Essel Group, today launched the teaser of its new movie ‘Comedy Couple’ which is set to premiere on 21st October, exclusively on ZEE5 Premium. The promo of the yet to be released movie attackted sharp criticism on social media after the lead actor in the movie Saqib Saleem is seen making a ‘gaumutra’ jibe in what he tries to pass off as comedy.
“Comedy Couple”, co-starring Shweta Basu Prasad, is based in Gurgaon against the backdrop of the burgeoning stand-up comedy scene in the city. The teaser of the movie opens with Saqib Saleem (Deep) and Shweta Basu Prasad (Zoya), as they take to the stage for their comedy act. Saqib begins the act by sharing his theory about relationships by breaking it into three stages. And while doing so, Saqib says: “Get me a cold drink, do you have cold water? Leave the rest-do you have gaumutra? I am even ready to drink gaumutra, at least all my sins will be washed off.”
Twitter handle ‘Gems of Bollywood’, irked by the movie makers for pushing Hinduphobic content and mocking the believers of Hinduism and the sacredness of cow, called for boycotting the movie. It said: “One more behuda (ridiculous) Gaumutra joke after Pulwama suicide bomber Aadil Dhar”, and said that the movie should be boycotted.
https://twitter.com/GemsOfBollywood/status/1314834710791516161?ref_src=twsrc%5EtfwIn its subsequent Tweet, Gems of Bollywood urged Zee5 to ensure that the Hindu hate does not appear on its platform or else “Comedy Couple may tragically decouple your business gains”, warned the Twitter handle.
https://twitter.com/GemsOfBollywood/status/1314836413154648067?ref_src=twsrc%5EtfwIt is pertinent to note that Islamists and Hinduphobics have often used the ‘gaumutra’ jibe to mock Hindus and their faith. Last year, in the aftermath of the dastardly attack on the CRPF convoy on February 14, 2019, a video was released by the Jaish-e-Muhammad group in which the terrorist who carried out the egregious attack against the security personnel, killing 40 of them, made a gaumutra jibe as a reference to Hindus.
Zee5 runs into trouble for its Hinduphobic series ‘Godman’
This is however not the first time Zee5 has ran into trouble. Earlier this year, a controversy had erupted over the blatant Hinduphobia pushed by OTT platform Zee5 through its new Tamil web series ‘Godman’. Several Hindu groups, including prominent voices BJP MP Subramanian Swamy, social media users had raised their voices against the anti-Hindu web series claiming that the series aims to cast Brahmins and Hindu saints in a bad light. The uproar had compelled Zee5 to suspend the release of the web series.