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Comedian Shyam Rangeela, whose video imitating Prime Minister Narendra Modi (with a mimicked version of Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi making a ‘guest appearance’) went viral on social media has alleged that Star Plus refused to air his act recorded for the channel’s reality show ‘The Great Indian Laughter Challenge’.
Rangeela, unlike other contestants who had to give auditions, was invited by the channel to participate in the reality show after his videos mimicking Modi and other politicians went viral on social media.
In a statement to The Wire, Shyam told, “I got a chance to be a part of this show because of my mimicry. But when I gave my first performance while mimicking Modiji and Rahul (Gandhi), I was informed to do some other act. Then I was informed that I can’t do the Modi act and can mimic Rahul. So, I started making another script. But after a few days, I was again told not to mimic Rahul also. In the end, I performed the same script in my own voice – with just two days’ rehearsals and got eliminated.”
He further added, “The production team told me that the decision to not air my act was taken because the channel feared that it will offend some people and they might protest against them.”
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The comic said he did not know how the video with the original skit landed online. He said he got to know that the previous one was available online after someone tagged him on Facebook.
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