Desi ‘Bridgerton’ Fans Slam Indian Culture’s Inaccuracy

When a work of fiction, or any other form of art, attempts to portray a foreign culture or tradition, it should be thoroughly researched. Indeed, a slight misrepresentation can offend people who identify with the community, leading to a lot of backlash, especially when the internet and media are so proactive these days.

This is precisely what happened with the second season of the popular TV show “Bridgerton”.

The show tried to be inclusive by including people of Indian descent. However, he reportedly failed to accurately portray on-screen culture. The show features an Indian family, the Sharmas, with three South Asian actors namely Kate Sharma (played by Simone Ashley), Edwina Sharma (played by Charithra Chandran) and Lady Mary Sharma (played by Shelley Conn) in the lead roles.

However, aside from their colorful clothes, their undying love for tea and the Haldi ceremony, they got it pretty wrong.

And as we live in the era of social networks, Internet users have given their opinion without mincing words.

As far as I know, there is no “Hindustani” language or “Maruli” instrument. There is Hindi and the murali (flute) of course. I wonder if the creators of @bridgerton shouldn’t have at least researched and checked the correct terms before introducing brown characters into #Bridgerton pic.twitter.com/XOBLD467lY

– Teacher. Pragya Agarwal (@DrPragyaAgarwal) March 25, 2022

So #bridgertonS2 cast two South Asian women in major roles, give their characters the surname Sharma, they supposedly speak Marathi and Hindustani but they call their father “appa”, and the older sister calls the younger “bon”.

Confused a lot? #bridgerton pic.twitter.com/668uGsM4uN

— Sunny Singh (@ProfSunnySingh) March 26, 2022

It’s hard to pick a favorite goofy Indian reference on Bridgerton 2, but mine has to be Edwina asking Anthony if he’s read “Guhleeeb”. pic.twitter.com/XJYjX8OwM0

—Amaal Akhtar (@begumakhwrote) March 27, 2022

pls what language is hindustani????? 😭 #Bridgerton pic.twitter.com/D17xMyHvWV

— Ave👾 (@nottodayimbored) March 25, 2022

The annoying thing is that white characters – written by white OR poc – will have names and mannerisms specific to the CITY they live in and Bridgerton has Sharmas who speak Marathi and Hindustani and call their father Appa and their Didi sisters

— juju (@beetrotchip) March 27, 2022

The most historically inaccurate part of #SouthAsianRepresentation in Bridgerton for me is how two Indian women fresh off the boat from Bombay nibble and chew on all that tasteless British food without once asking for pickles, chillies or even damn pepper. Gross sinful omission.

— Nirdiganta (@SevenDeviled) March 27, 2022

hindustani is not a language but a nationality @bridgerton

— rey 🥨 (@sheepymozzarela) March 26, 2022

I don’t watch Bridgerton but I’m annoyed that they refer to “Hindustani” as the language and people on reddit/Google say that’s correct. Personally, I don’t remember anyone ever referring to Hindi/Hindi-Urdu as Hindustani, except maybe in old books. Feels *very* colonial. Ugh.

— Ren (@the_rebel_ren) March 27, 2022

Watch Bridgerton because…don’t ask me.

Indian family wid Sharma father n Sheffield mother r part of British aristocracy. But even if I forget this track, Sharmas calls their father Appa and calls Bon from the younger sisters while living in Bombay

Crush everything you’ve ever heard of India!

— Pratyasha Rath (@pratyasharath) March 26, 2022

Some supported the show with explanations and said they did a pretty good job of showcasing diversity.

1) Hindustani is a language
2) In the 1800s, calling Hindi as Hindustani was really a thing
3) The maruli stuff I will concede was dumb
4) Just because they are Sharmas and call their father as Appa, it doesn’t mean they can’t know Marathi/Tamil
5) Their father could be Tamil and mother Marathi https://t.co/AwYxQXD4Ho

—Sampada Moghe Pandey (@SampadaMoghe) March 28, 2022

In response to the debate between North and South India in my mentions, I really liked that the show featured Tamil women portraying characters from Maharashtra but who were fluent in Hindi and Marathi and had been trained in classical music.
Unity in diversity.#bridgerton pic.twitter.com/H4CEkNpLHG

— 🐝Promenading Anthony’s Pinnacle🐝 (@chaoticguitar) March 28, 2022

All of these criticisms of Bridgerton are fair enough, but I just want to point out that there were actually Indian women in Regency England moving around in high society, so the show doesn’t completely make that up.

— Zaalim Samaj (@EmpressMarket) March 25, 2022

The fact that one of Bridgerton’s writers was of Indian descent and offered to have the Sharmas and all the other amazing life-affirming things – the haldi ceremony, Kate’s love of chai, oil capillary, etc. – shows how important it is to have a diverse creative team

—Sim (@SimKSandhu) March 27, 2022

While some felt the glitches were detrimental to the experience, others backed it up with solid explanations. What do you think?