Even a month after the Tardeo police summoned filmmaker Karan Johar and actor Arjun Kapoor in connection with the FIR lodged against them for being part of the controversial All India Bakchod (AIB) ‘Roast’ held on December 20 in 2013, both the celebrities couldn’t be contacted.
The show ‘Roast’ is inspired by US celebrity roasts where celebrities are invited on the show and several jokes are cracked at their expense.
Senior lawyer Abha Singh representing the complainant Santosh Daundkar said, “The Mumbai police has taken a lot of time to issue the summons. They should not get star-struck. They should expedite the investigation process. The case will come up in the high court on January 13.”
The particular show was held at Worli and its video vent viral on YouTube a month later. Objections were raised against the show for its “vulgar” content and Mr Daundkar after being unable to get an FIR registered by the Tardeo police went ahead and approached the Girgaon court in February 2014. The court ordered the police to register an FIR.
Apart from Mr Johar and Mr Kapoor, 14 others have been booked in the case. The police has recorded statements of about 12 persons. Among the other accused are actor Ranvir Singh, Deepika Padukone, Alia Bhatt who have been booked for laughing which is being seen as being part of their act.
The accused include Jayantilal Shah, president of the National Sports Club of India (NSCI), Ravinder Aggarwal, secretary general of NSCI, organisers of AIB Roast programme, film critic Rajeev Masand, and popular stand up comedians such as Rohan Joshi, Tanmay Bhatt, Gursimran Khamba, Ashish Shakya, and Aditi Mittal.
The accused have maintained that the show was for the purpose of creating humour and aimed at a private audience, who did not find it offensive.
