Pankaj Tripathi recently shared his views on the controversy surrounding Samay Raina and Ranveer Allahbadia in the India’s Got Latent show. He spoke about the importance of understanding the cultural values of one’s society and warned against taking pride in speaking senselessly. 

According to the veteran actor, “fame is temporary”, and the obsession with virality shouldn’t be taken too seriously today.

In an interview with SCREEN, Pankaj said, “This is the world of the internet, and every person has an opinion The thing with the internet is that a lot of people become popular faces all of a sudden. They find name and fame, but where is the sensibility? Do they have the required intelligence, in terms of literary knowledge, social behaviour, etc? Society is a lot of things, and one needs to know the cultural value of the society we are living in.”

Pankaj also noted, “Just because there is no clear censorship, it doesn’t mean you can say anything in the name of entertainment. See, it is okay to have fun saying nonsense, but it is not okay to have pride in uttering nonsense. But more importantly, it should never be purely nonsensical.” 

He further advised, “Don’t give so much importance to all this (fame and virality). Anyone can get viral, but just like a viral illness, it will be there for a few days, and then… we move on.” “The why and how of success determines a lot of things. Of course, I am not arguing about who is right or wrong… but, if you have the power of the word, and people are influenced by what you are saying, then it is important you shoulder that responsibility with a lot of care

For context, Ranveer Allahbadia has been under fire for his comments on India’s Got Latent. During a recent episode, he reportedly asked a contestant a disturbing question and suggested an inappropriate act in exchange for Rs 2 crore. The backlash intensified when he asked a controversial question: “Would you watch your parents have sex every day for the rest of your life or join once to stop it forever?”

This led to a police complaint being filed against Ranveer Allahbadia, Samay Raina, Ashish Chanchlani, Jaspreet Singh and Apoorva Mukhija. The FIR accuses them of promoting obscene and sexually explicit content on the show, citing multiple sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).