Dhruv Rathee has got valid concerns

India cannot be compared to the USA or Europe, where art is seen as art, and people don’t take to the streets engaging in hooliganism after watching influencers like Elvish Yadav. We have deeply entrenched issues - rape culture, domestic violence, rampant sexism, and violent casteism on a disturbing scale.

Dhruv Rathee makes a strong point, and his decision to limit his critique to India rather than drawing comparisons to the West is a responsible one. When we say “India is not ready,” it’s not about a lack of understanding it’s about how our society internalizes and manifests what it consumes..

In India, audiences watching B-grade films often perceive them as a reflection of reality, fueling incidents of sexual violence. Bollywood, too, has played its role in corrupting impressionable minds, exacerbating an already flawed social fabric. Now, with figures like Samay Raina in the mix, it’s just another layer of decay on an already rotting culture.

I’m not against Samay Raina, when he says “take it as a joke,” he genuinely means it. But the problem is that in India, media and entertainment don’t just reflect culture; they shape it. Once you step outside a handful of metropolitan cities, you’ll see that much of our society remains backward, rape-minded, orthodox, and deeply problematic. It cannot be equated with the West, where cultural maturity and social conditioning create a starkly different environment.

In India, people don’t just consume conten, they absorb it, normalize it, and act on it. B-grade films aren’t just mindless entertainment; for many, they become a distorted reality, fueling sexual violence. Bollywood, too, has long been responsible for warping minds.

Somehow, the right wing resists modernization, fearing that voices like Samay Raina, who bring in Western ideas, will erode traditional values. At the same time, the left wing doesn’t want him to push modernization too far, knowing that in a country where large sections of society remain deeply regressive, certain ideas can have dangerous consequences when taken literally, and jokes are often ‘punching down‘ we all know.

India’s problem isn’t just about understanding satire it’s about how entertainment seeps into the collective psyche. In a socially fragile environment, where many still normalize misogyny, caste violence, and archaic traditions, media isn’t just consumed; it becomes a blueprint for behavior. That’s why, unlike the West, where satire and dark humor exist in a stable social framework, in India, they often serve as fuel for an already volatile cultural landscape.