On Thursday, comedian Rahul Dua apologised to dentists and physiotherapists after having insinuated that they are not ‘real’ doctors in a recent Youtube comedy video.
The video, which now stands deleted, showed Dua interacting with his audience. He stumbled upon an audience member by the name of Rashi, who happened to be a doctor by profession. Rahul Dua said, “Thank you for whatever you have done in the last one year (referring to the work done by health professionals to contain the Coronavirus pandemic.) Thank you very much.”
“Are you the main frontline worker or you are a dentist?” he asked. And the crowd burst into laughter, reiterating the problematic stereotype that ‘dentists’ are not ‘real doctors’. While addressing Rashi, the comedian confirmed, “So, you are a real doctor. Even she is saying that she is an actual doctor. So nice of you guys.”
Rahul Dua then moved to the other section to engage with his audience members. At that point, a man in the crowd yelled, “Even he (referring to another audience member) is a doctor. Ask him which one?” The comedian responded, “The way it has been set up… I can guarantee that this guy is a physiotherapist.” He further continued, “I don’t know why physiotherapists call themselves doctors. After all, it is just an expensive massage.”
Rahul Dua issues apology, deletes video after outrage
His comments however did not go down well with some dentists and physiotherapists. On Thursday, comedian Rahul Dua posted a 1-minute-long video on Instagram and apologised for the remarks he made during the video.
“The crowd work video that I uploaded today was not appreciated by a few people. Several dentists and physiotherapists took offence to the (remarks made during the) video. It has always been my objective to make people happy, make them laugh, give them a good time and not hurt their feelings,” he emphasised.
“I don’t want this balancing act of rendering some people happy and others unhappy. So I am deleting the video. Spreading unhappiness is not my job. So I am deleting the video. You know it was a crowd work video and not a rehearsed set. I did not mean anything that I had said. In fact, I frequently visit dentists and physiotherapists. Peace. Hope you continue to support me and my work,” he added in his 1-minute video.