Netflix India signs up with Aditi Mittal, counters sexism

After Aziz Ansari, Hasan Minhaj and Vir Das, it is stand-up comedian Aditi Mittal's turn to do a special stand-up show with Netflix. The show titled Things They Wouldn’t Let Me Say will debut on the online video-streaming giant on July 18 across 190 countries.

That's right! @awryaditi is coming soon to Netflix with "Things They Wouldn't Let Me Say". pic.twitter.com/qh3QzhNJSg

— Netflix India (@NetflixIndia) June 12, 2017

This show is a big deal for the Indian comedy scene as after Vir Das being the first Indian to have a special on Netflix, Mittal has become the first Indian woman to have a stand-up special on an online video-streaming platform.

Earlier this year, Amazon Prime Video, Netflix's arch rival, had signed up with Only Much Louder (OML) to have 14 stand-up comics on board for a series of 60-80 minute specials. Thirteen of these have already been released. The only hitch—all of the comics are male. While in a country dominated by male comedians, this doesn't come as a surprise, Amazon came under a lot of fire on social media for the sexist approach. But like everything else on the internet, this was soon forgotten, until Netflix signed Mittal in a boss move.

.@awryaditi is phenomenally talented. The only token gesture is if we manage to get a signed autograph from Dr. Mrs. Lutchuke.

— Netflix India (@NetflixIndia) June 12, 2017

That's alright, we did! :)

— Netflix India (@NetflixIndia) June 12, 2017

Netflix even gave epic replies to trolls and negative commenters.

Mittal, meanwhile, was delighted to get the opportunity to have her stand-up showcased on a platform like Netflix. According to a Hindustan Times report, she was quoted as saying, “Having a platform like Netflix is a dream come true for anyone in entertainment and comedy today... The journey of this show has been absolutely exhilarating. I hope Netflix fans all over the world will enjoy the show as much as I have in making it."

In annother interview with The Quint, when asked if her special can be seen as a way to combat sexism in comedy, Mittal said, "It's not a my-dick-is-bigger-than-yours kinda thing at all. I've got an opportunity to do something and this is like a dream come true, to be honest. A lot of thought has gone into the way Netflix is presenting it, the way they're packaging it, they've been awesome about it."