Am I Overreacting, or Does Bollywood Really Misrepresent Bengalis?

As a Bengali, I can’t help but feel attacked by the way Bollywood portrays us. A recent example that hit hard was on The Kapil Sharma Show—Krushna made fun of the iconic song Ekla Cholo Re, and it was disheartening to see Kajol (who is Bengali herself!) laughing along.

Now, let me clarify—Bengalis love a good joke and are all about witty banter and intellectual conversation. “Adda” is an actual tradition in our culture where we gather, debate, and joke around with friends. So, humor isn't the problem—disrespectful humor is.

This incident even led to well-known Bengali author Srijato taking legal action against the show. It feels like Bollywood just doesn’t get us. For instance, Alia Bhatt’s character in Rocky Aur Rani Ki Prem Kahani felt like a poor attempt. Her “Bengali” was broken throughout, and there was a line where Ranveer Singh's character referred to Rabindranath Tagore as “Dadaji.” This is the same Tagore who wrote our national anthem and won a Nobel Prize!

And don’t get me started on how Bengali women are often portrayed as if we’re all into black magic or something. There are some good representations of Bengalis in cinema, but they’re so rare it feels like an exception.

Anyone else feel like Bollywood misrepresents their community too?

Edit: After reading the comments, I’ve reconsidered my stance on the Rocky matter. In the grand scheme of things, it’s not as offensive or disrespectful as I initially thought, and I’ve changed my mind.

The main reason I made this post was to highlight the incident on The Kapil Sharma Show and the broader issue of misrepresentation of Bengalis and other communities in cinema.