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Veteran actor Shashi Kapoor passed away yesterday at the age of 79. The Bollywood actor who was well-known and popular in India was the first Indian actor to go international and work in Hollywood and British films. However, as condolences poured in there was one blooper after the other. A typographical error by an Indian news channel in one of their tweets led to a facepalm moment when Congress leader Shashi Tharoor was named instead of Shashi Kapoor as the person who died. So much so that Shashi Tharoor had to take to Twitter to dispel the rumours as his office started getting condolence calls. However, this was not the only case of mistaken identity, BBC News also ran a tribute clip for Shashi Kapoor but the pictures accompanied to the bulletin was of Amitabh Bachchan from Kabhie Kabhi and Rishi Kapoor instead of Shashi Kapoor. It was a major goof up and blunder on the part of BBC News which left Twitterati immensely upset.
The video of the clip broadcast on the television went viral and people on social media demanded an apology from the news organization for the blunder. The video that was shown had clippings of Amitabh Bachchan and Rakhi from the film Kabhie Kabhie which actually did have Shashi Kapoor in it, and Rishi Kapoor from the same film was used. Rishi Kapoor’s stills were from the song Pyar kar liya to kya from the same film. Shashi Kapoor Dies: Quick Facts About the First Indian Actor who Went International
Hang on @bbcnews Shashi Kapoor has died not Amitabh Bachan or Rishi Kapoor, who you’ve weirdly used to illustrate the story. pic.twitter.com/48jo6DGjU6
— Media Diversified (@WritersofColour) December 4, 2017
We’re getting condolence calls in the office! Reports of my demise are, if not exaggerated, at least premature. @TimesNow #ShashiKapoor https://t.co/nbtZGcdQTa
— Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) December 4, 2017
@TimesNow Why god why……. Kya foonk ke bethe ho bhai..???? @ShashiTharoor pic.twitter.com/LaYsg4bkRR
— Nishant Singh (@thehungrytide) December 4, 2017
The mistake committed by BBC News did not sit well with the people on social media who were miffed with the fact that a news channel of such repute can commit such a stupid mistake and insult such as veteran actor, many saw it as racist. Sample a few tweets below. Shashi Kapoor Is Dead but his ‘Mere Paas Maa Hai’ Dialogue From Movie Deewaar Makes Him Immortal
Shocking to note @BBC insults a veteran actor Shashi Kapoor by showing clips of @SrBachchan & @chintskap whilst reporting his death today!!!@BBC must apologize!!! Clearly they have no clue.
RIP Shashi Kapoor 🙏🙏🙏 pic.twitter.com/XMT4QJCy53
— GABBAR (@Gabbar_food) December 4, 2017
C’mon!!! We don’t all look the same!! 🙄🙄🙄
— Hafsah Aneela Bashir (@Hafsah_A_Bashir) December 4, 2017
But they both brown with black hair therefore same person 🙄
— Hafsah Aneela Bashir (@Hafsah_A_Bashir) December 5, 2017
And to be fair, they both have the letters ‘A’ in their name so relatively easy mistake to think they are both Sashi!
— Hafsah Aneela Bashir (@Hafsah_A_Bashir) December 5, 2017
@paulroyall I hope you now have a photograph of the real Shashi Kapoor? Poor man can’t even rest in peace because the BBC credited another ‘brown person ‘ with his work. #NotTheSame
— Graeme (@Lurganexile) December 4, 2017
Did BBC News at 10 cover the Shashi Kapoor story but just showed footage of Amitabh Bhachan and Rishi Kapoor? I’m no Bollywood expert but that’s what it looked like to me. My sister thought Amitabh had died as well!? 😳
— Trishna Bharadia (@TrishnaBharadia) December 4, 2017
I was sitting there thinking “why the hell are they showing classic footage of Amitabh @SrBachchan“….and then realised that the person responsible for obituaries @BBCNews may indeed not be able to tell the difference…
— Katherine Schofield (@katherineschof8) December 4, 2017
Lack of knowledge & research…if you dont know the news in and out dont telecast….reporting standards should be strict and punishable
— Swapna Kashyap (@SwapnaKashyap) December 5, 2017
Shame that such an iconic actor from the golden age of Bollywood gets this treatment pic.twitter.com/Ky2VCdHkiY
— Tahira Mohammad (@tahiramp1) December 4, 2017
Why diversity is so important in newsrooms!
— Sangeeta Bhabra (@SangeetaITV) December 4, 2017
Paul Royall, Editor, BBC News at Six and Ten responded to the tweets that were doing the rounds and issued an apology. He wrote, “#BBCNewsTen is very sorry wrong images were used to mark the death of Shashi Kapoor. Not our usual standards and I apologise for any upset.”
#BBCNewsTen is very sorry wrong images were used to mark the death of Shashi Kapoor. Not our usual standards and I apologise for any upset.
— Paul Royall (@paulroyall) December 4, 2017
BBC News ten apologized through Paul Royall but the blunder is not something that can be overlooked. Shashi Kapoor was a veteran actor who acted in more than 150 films in his career; he was the first Indian actor to work in international projects and established Prithivi Theatre in Mumbai. His work and his achievements cannot be disregarded and brushed under the carpet. Not cool BBC, not cool at all.
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