Raj slams Bigg Boss for Marathi insult

Piqued that one of the participants on reality show Bigg Boss 5 was given a Maharashtrian name while enacting the role of a servant, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray on Saturday asked Colours, the TV channel on which the show appears, to apologise for insulting the Marathi manoos.

Piqued that one of the participants on reality show Bigg Boss 5 was given a Maharashtrian name while enacting the role of a servant, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray on Saturday asked Colours, the TV channel on which the show appears, to apologise for insulting the Marathi manoos.

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“They have insulted the Marathi manoos and need to tender an apology on the programme itself,” said Thackeray, who recently sent letters to creative heads of advertising agencies and television channels asking them to desist from highlighting Marathis in poor light.

In an episode telecast on Friday night, actor Amar Upadhyay was deputed as a personal servant for other housemates — Shakti Kapoor and Siddharth Bhardwaj, who named him PK Lele.

“Just because Lele is a Maharashtrian surname, does it mean all servants are Marathis?” Thackeray said.

When asked about MNS’ recourse if the demand is ignored, Thackeray said: “We will not disrupt their program since it will add to their ratings and attract more viewers. We will tackle the issue in our own way after the show gets over.”

"The channel had no intention of hurting any community, including the Marathi sentiments... Any further reference to the mentioned part will be removed from the episodes," he wrote.