Maniesh Paul says TV channels pushed him to mock Katrina Kaif's Hindi on stage

Maniesh Paul says television channels pushed him to joke about Katrina Kaif's Hindi while he hosted award shows. He says he turned them down every time.

In a recent interview, the actor and host said Katrina came to the award nights he hosted and felt at ease when he was on stage. He said the reason was simple: he never made fun of her Hindi. He called the habit of asking her to say Hindi words a "very boring concept".

His reply to the channels never changed. "You want three minutes of laughter, I will get it done, but in my style," he recalled telling them. He added that nobody has to be made uncomfortable for an audience to laugh.

Gossip got the same treatment. Paul said he was given lines about celebrities' breakups and link-ups, sometimes while both people were at the same event. He would agree at the time and then skip those jokes. In the end the channels let it go, because his segments still worked. Families watch these shows, he pointed out, so he makes sure he never demeans anyone.

Paul and Katrina worked together on Tees Maar Khan. He remembered being thrilled whenever she came on set and fighting with others over who would get to interview her. Today he calls her a friend and describes her as "really warm".

Katrina herself was recently trolled online over her appearance. Speaking about criticism on social media at an event in London, she said, "I think we really need to be careful of letting the narrative on social media affect our self-worth and our value, because there are so many opinions out there."