Veteran actor Shashi Kapoor, popularly regarded as Bollywood’s “crossover star” (in BBC’s own words), passed away in Mumbai at the age of 79, on Monday, 4 December. While Kapoor was well known in the West, and was especially popular in Russia, the BBC made an embarrassing gaffe while reporting his death.
In a news segment about his demise, the channel aired footage of Rishi Kapoor and Amitabh Bachchan instead, even as the anchor described Kapoor’s illustrious career.
The channel has faced flak on social media from fans who deem this an insult to the yesteryear star.
Some thought it was BBC viewing all brown men as the same.
And some others were left genuinely confused.
Looks like a research intern at the renowned news channel has trouble coming their way! What’s curious is that the BBC chose to air clips of two different people, so it seems like they couldn’t tell Amitabh and Rishi apart, even by looking.
Incidentally, the song playing in the clip is Kabhi Kabhi Mere Dil Mein, from the film Kabhie Kabhie which starred all three actors – Shashi, Rishi, and Amitabh. You just had to pick the correct clip from the movie, BBC!
But BBC is not alone. Other media houses have made cringing errors too.
Times Now tweeted out a condolence message mentioning Congress MP Shashi Tharoor.
Tharoor also tweeted his condolences and made light of the goof-up of the over-enthusiastic journalists who made calls to his office.
Kapoor died of a prolonged illness. He had been hospitalised at the Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital in Mumbai. According to reports, he was administered several rounds of dialysis while at the hospital.
He is survived by his sons, Karan and Kunal, and daughter, Sanjna.
Kapoor married English actor Jennifer Kendal in 1958, who unfortunately died of cancer in 1984.
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