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KBC 13 Episode That Showed ‘Midbrain Activation’ Pulled Down After Open Letter to Amitabh Bachchan

KBC 13: The episode featured Amitabh Bachchan engaging with a blindfolded young girl claiming to read a book just by 'smelling' it. In his open letter, the rationalist wrote how such practises about 'midbrain activation' are used to fool the gullible parents and makes India a laughing stock in front of the whole world.

Published: November 30, 2021 11:33 AM IST

By India.com Entertainment Desk | Edited by Vineeta Kumar

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KBC 13: The channel has pulled down a portion of one of the recent episodes of Kaun Banega Crorepati 13 after a rationalist wrote an open letter to Amitabh Bachchan objecting to the kind of content that was ‘encouraged’ during the episode hosted by the actor. The KBC episode that featured ‘Midbrain Activation’ showed a blindfolded young girl being able to read a book just by ‘smelling’ it. This practice of ‘activating mid brain’ to ‘see’ things without actually seeing them from eyes has been deemed a ‘scam’, an ‘unscientific practice’ by many scientists on several platforms all over the world.

Sony TV, which airs the show, acted immediately to the letter sent by Mangaluru-based rationalist and president of the Federation of Indian Rationalist Associations, Narendra Nayak. In his open letter, Nayak mentioned that broadcasting such unscientific practices gives the world a chance to laugh at India and several organisations use such practices to exploit gullible parents by making fraudulent claims of being able to ‘increase children’s brainpower by activating their mid-brain.’ He wrote:

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By giving publicity to such claims, you are bringing down the reputation of our nation and the world will laugh at us who are saying that children can see without light from the object falling on their retinas.

In the segment that’s now deleted from the episode, Bachchan is seen trying to engage with the child who claims to read the book just by smelling it. The actor also playfully asks the girl if she has memorised the words in the book in advance so she’s able to read them blindfolded.

The channel released an official statement responding to Nayak’s letter mentioning that they have ‘sensitized the team to be more vigilant’ in the future about such subjects. Here’s what the full statement reads:

Thank you for your viewership. We would like to inform you that that the said episode has been pulled off from all platforms, we have suitably edited the scenes. Further, we have sensitised the team to be more vigilant and avoid such interactions for all future episodes. At Sony Pictures Networks India (SPNI), our endeavour at all times has been to ensure that the content is within the framework of the laws of India. SPNI is sensitive to the sentiments of our viewers. We place great emphasis on providing wholesome quality entertainment and we take care to ensure the sensibilities of our viewers are not affected.

Nayak can approach the Broadcasting Content Complaints Council within 15 days after receiving the response if he doesn’t find the action satisfactory. Bachchan has not spoken on the issue yet. Watch this space for all the latest updates on KBC 13!

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