Sony TV’s Super Dancer Show: Vulgar questions asked to a 5-year-old participant; NCPCR issues notice

A five-year-old child, who was a contestant in a television reality show on Sony Pictures Network was made to answer vulgar questions. These questions were sexually explicit and vulgar. After the video went viral on social media, the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) issued a notice to the makers. On July 25, the commission demanded that the clip be taken down.

As per the viral video, the minor child was a participant in the famous dance reality show on Sony TV, ‘Super Dancer’. The judges were actor Shilpa Shetty, director Anurag Basu, and choreographer Geeta Kapoor. These judges kept asking the child questions that were sexually explicit and had double meanings.

Action by NCPCR

News Agency ANI reported, “NCPCR has written to Sony Pictures Networks over a video on social media showing a clip from an episode of the children’s dance show Super Dancer -Chapter 3 which aired on Sony Entertainment Television where judges were allegedly seen asking a minor “vulgar & sexually explicit” questions regarding his parents on stage. The Commission has asked them to take down the episode and submit an action taken report in the next 7 days.”

In this letter addressing the Grievance Officer of Sony Pictures Networks, Shaeesta Naqvi the NCPCR, instructed Sony Pictures Networks (Set India) to delete videos from a dance reality show where the judges asked a child participant sexually explicit questions. In the clip, the judges were seen asking the minor child participant vulgar and sexually explicit questions regarding his parents on the stage.

The commission added that all the questions asked to the minor child were inappropriate and disturbing in nature.

Taking cognisance of the matter under Section 13 (i)(j) of CPCR Act, 2005, the commission said the channel had violated provisions under the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015 and the Information Technology Act, 2000. The commission also observed that the content presented in the video violated the guidelines laid down by NCPCR under “Guidelines for Child And Adolescent Participation In The Entertainment Industry And Any Commercial Entertainment Activity”.

NCPCR instructed the channel to immediately take down the episode.  And also demanded an explanation on why such questions were asked to the minor child participant in a kid’s dance show. The commission also instructed the channel not to stream any such content on the channel in the future.

The vulgar questions asked

The video was also shared by the famous Twitter handle, The Gems of Bollywood with the caption, “Child is made to deliver vulgar remarks on parents on stage in a kid show Everyone laughs and the episode is available for all ages on YouTube! #BollywoodKiGandagi are not role models. They are biggest enemies of Vishwaguru vision. Destroyer of our kids”

The full video is available on YouTube which is even more disgusting to watch. The minor boy is punt into a situation and the judges are seen asking vulgar questions back to back. The parents of the child are also present on stage, who are uncomfortable.

However, the part was posted and promoted, instead of dropping it in the first place.

The video begins with the child farting on camera and was supported with the voiceover in the background. When the artist arrived on the stage in a Lungi, one of the judges, Bollywood director Anurag Basu asked him if he was wearing anything under it. The child replied that he was wearing underwear, and everyone laughed. He later said, the underwear he was wearing was just like his father.

The judges did not stop here, as Basu asked the child, whose underwear was better, his or his father’s. To which the child replied, it was his as his father’s underwear stinks. Later Shilpa Shetty jumped into the conversation, asking why he would smell his father’s underwear at the first place. The child replied that he did not voluntarily smell but ‘died of the stink’, and the judges laughed again.

The Awkward parents 

Initially, the parents of the child were laughing at his responses, but later on, they were slightly embarrassed and awkward, especially the minor’s father.

This conversation gets worse from here as the child says,  “My mother spanks my father after pulling down his pants,”

After his performance, the parents were called on the stage. When the child was asked about his age, he said he was five years old and said he loved his parents and often gave them kisses to show his love. Basu asked if his father had kissed his mother. Again, the question could have been avoided. The child said, “No, my father woos my mother on the bed.”

Notably, all these portions of the conversations could have been dropped easily but were still aired by Sony Entertainment.

The vulgarity in TV reality shows

There is a list of instances where TV reality shows have portrayed minors in a bad light. Be it involving them with sexually explicit content, content making, dancing, debating, etc. For instance, take this clip posted by Gems of Bollywood, where a minor girl is showing some moves just like an adult.

The same Super Dancer showed a minor girl with objectionable moves. Sharing the video of Twitter Gems of Bollywood wrote, “ This is what baby girls are being made to do in name of ‘talent’ Where will this talent take them? Super Dancer is being aired on TV where kids from 4-13 participate. A complete Bollywood fest with songs, dances, judges, producers, and directors all from the industry”