'Bhangi' remark: Rajasthan SP summons Salman, Shilpa Shetty, interviewer Komal Nahta

Last month, actors Salman Khan and Shilpa Shetty Kundra got embroiled in a controversy over their alleged derogatory remarks made against a community. Now, they have been summoned by the superintendent of police of the Churu district in Rajasthan, as reported by ANI.

An FIR was filed against both the actors by the Rojgar Aghari Republican Party of India at Mumbai’s Andheri police station last month for using the word ‘bhangi’ in an allegedly derogatory manner. Few theatres in Jaipur showing Tiger Zinda Hai (2017) were also vandalized by members of a Valmiki group as a mark of protest against the actor.

Khan used the word bhangi (a scheduled caste community) while speaking about his film Tiger Zinda Hai, along with Katrina Kaif, on the TV show hosted by veteran film critic and trade analyst Komal Nahta.

While referring to some dance steps, the actor had said, “[Those steps] look good on some. Some people don’t have the body language to carry off some stuff. If I am given some steps, I would be like, 'main toh bhangi lag raha hoon yaar isme' [I look like a bhangi trying to perform these moves].”

Surprisingly, Nahta, too, has been summoned by the SP although his question wasn’t related to the derogatory word.

Shetty, on the other hand, had made the remark a few years ago on a TV channel which is defunct now. The matter came to light after a part of the interview went viral on social media last month. Shetty is seen in the video saying, “I look like a bhangi at home.”

But she had soon apologized for the statement through a couple of tweets.