“Why do you need to talk in Bengali?” — Tollywood star Prosenjit Chatterjee’s remark at a promotional event for a Hindi film has sparked a meme fest, with references from his past works and public interaction leaving the internet in splits.

From popular Baishe Srabon scenes to an old video of Prosenjit championing the use of mother tongue, the internet is flooded with memes and reels mocking his controversial statement that did not sit well with fans in Bengal.

It all started last week, when a journalist asked Prosenjit questions in the Bengali language at trailer launch of the upcoming film Maalik. His response — “Why do you need to talk in Bengali?” — soon landed him in the crosshairs of netizens, with many accusing him of being condescending.

A flurry of memes followed. A Facebook post shows dialogues from the 2020 film Dwitiyo Purush translated into Bhojpuri, making for a hilarious yet pointed commentary on linguistic pride.

Scenes from 'Dwitiyo Purush' translated into Bhojpuri Facebook

A Facebook user was quick to draw a hilarious parallel between Prosenjit’s comment and a memorable scene from Srijit Mukherji’s Baishe Srabon, where Parambrata Chatterjee’s Abhijit lashes out at Raima Sen’s Amrita for speaking in English.

Another meme juxtaposed the actor’s recent remark with a past instance where he had championed the Bengali language, pointing out the stark contradiction.

In one satirical picture, the Khakee actor was portrayed as Michael Madhusudan Dutt. For the unversed, the 19th-century poet turned away from Bengali in pursuit of European literary recognition.

At the Maalik event that led to the controversy, the first question the Bengali journalist asked was how Prosenjit’s cop avatar in Maalik differs from his previous portrayals of policemen in Bengali cinema. The second question was how he feels about Rajkummar stepping into the shoes of Sourav Ganguly in the upcoming biopic on the legendary Indian cricketer.

A viral video carried an edited scene from Prosenjit’s 1988 film Baba Keno Chakor, replacing the original dialogue with his recent words at the press meet —“Why do you need to talk in Bengali?”

A content creator even performed a skit mimicking the moment on stage and mixed it with a clip from the song Ami Hero Hobo from the actor’s 2005 film Shakal Sandhya.

Even though the internet is abuzz with debates over his remark, Prosenjit is yet to issue a statement regarding the gaffe.

The upcoming gangster drama film Maalik, starring Rajkummar Rao, will hit theatres on July 11. Directed by Bhakshak helmer Pulkit, the film was previously slated to hit theatres on June 20.

Maalik is produced by Kumar Taurani and Jay Shewakramani under the banners of Tips Films and Northern Lights Films. Sachin Sanghvi and Jigar Saraiya serve as the music composers for the upcoming film, while Amitabh Bhattacharya serves as the lyricist.