A still from AIB Knockout - The Roast of Arjun Kapoor and Ranveer Singh
Before AIB released the edited YouTube version of their roast of actors Arjun Kapoor and Ranveer Singh, they issued a statutory warning that it was going to be 'filthy.' For those who have watched the far more brutal Comedy Central skewerings of the likes of Charlie Sheen and Pamela Anderson, this may not have been a roast so much as a quick saute. But for others watching India's first roast ever, it was plenty offensive. Online, the jokes have divided Twitter opinion with trends for and against AIB.
Actor Salman Khan is rumoured to be upset over jibes at his sister Arpita, who is Arjun Kapoor's ex-girlfriend, and many tweets slamming the roast have been put out by his fanclubs with the trend 'AIB National Shame.' The digs at Arpita, made during the live show in Mumbai in December, were not included in the edited version, and there has been no official response from either Salman or Arpita. (Also Read: At AIB's Knockout Roast, Arjun Kapoor and Ranveer Singh Were Funnier Than the Roasters )
Others have tweeted in support of AIB, with the trend 'We Stand By AIB Knockout.' Many of these tweets are from fanclubs of Ranveer and Arjun.
At least four actresses who found themselves pummeled at the show appear to have taken it in good humour. Ranveer's current and ex-girlfriends Deepika Padukone and Anushka Sharma, and Arjun's supposed girlfriend Sonakshi Sinha complimented the actors and the roast on Twitter. Actress Alia Bhatt, who was picked on for her ignorance of general knowledge, tweeted links to the AIB roast videos. (Also Read:
No Issues Celebrating Body, Just Want Respect Off-Screen: Deepika Padukone on Cleavage Row )
Some of the anti-AIB tweets have called out Deepika and Sonakshi for praising the roast despite having taken on a national daily and actor-producer Kamaal R Khan respectively for offensive tweets. (Also Read:
Sonakshi Sinha Slams Kamaal R Khan For Offensive Tweets, Calls Him 'Waste of Space')
Sonakshi Sinha, Alia Bhatt and 'roastmaster' Karan Johar have both responded on Twitter:
On February 2, the Maharashtra government said they would investigate if the roast used obscene language and content but later revised their statement saying the probe would only look into whether AIB had the necessary clearances for the show.
A tweet from AIB read:
Meanwhile, the hashtag #AIBRoast has been trending since the YouTube version was released on January 28. It has been watched over eight million times so far.
The AIB roast, hosted by 'roastmaster' Karan Johar, was filmed in a Mumbai stadium with an audience of 4,000 and raised Rs 40 lakhs for charity. AIB is a comedy collective of four - Tanmay Bhat, Gursimran Khamba, Ashish Shakya and Rohan Joshi. The roast panel also included fellow comics Aditi Mittal and Abish Mathew as well as film critic Rajeev Masand and former Roadies judge Raghu Ram.