[Thad E Ginathom]

probably 100%

Not quite. I don't watch it, except for specific items of interest that turn up in threads, like the amazing Skoda Yeti test.

But then ...I don't watch TV!

[Dry Ice]

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[sumitkalindi]

The problem with this episode is they were very off from their usual stuff and the whole story actually never became interesting. Maybe they did this as they needed to come to India, and they actually fear driving in India.

[ajmat]

Viewed the episode on youtube - thank got I never bought it on itunes as I would normally do

1: It really shows the Brits in a poor light - totally ignornat of the local market
2: not much focus on the cars until the last segment
3: Delhi party was pointless and a bore - however I liked the way they made the posh Delhi-ites cringe

There was no challenge per se nor too much of a drive.

They should have taken an amby, a nano , may be a herald and do an interesting route with it!

[jalex77]

Originally Posted by Animesh

I just thought it was funny and nothing more than that. Posting the snapshot here. Mods: Please remove it if this is offensive.

Lol, "Remove it if this is offensive". When they can just go ahead and Go Racial, Humiliate, Inuslt and disgrace India alongside a whole lot of other "Third World Countries" on their show, like they just did in the India Special. And they have been doing that for quite some time now in the recent years, I just cant help but laugh at your request to the mods. As if you have done something wrong.

In other words you just quoted along with a picture how cheap these guys are for real.(Its more offensive to see the show than see someone reveal what they did on the India Special, Jeremy with no pants in one scene in front of women.) Gosh and I used to love Jeremy at some point of time in the past. Hammond's right, He sure is an Orangutan, Maybe on dope.

Sorry to say, But Top Gear has turned into a Racial show and has nothing to do with automobiles anymore. I've already sent a complaint to BBC.

[Animesh]

The India Special was indeed a drab and makes it very convincing that the presenters and Director have run out of ideas for script.

Its the s(h)ame old bashing each other. Breaking stuff. And going ooh aah and ouch (at times). The show certainly needs a big makeover and definitely on the lines of showcasing CARS as the central theme.

However, as far as the racial slurring bit goes, I think the thoughts differ to each individual.

None of us want to venture on discussing what is wrong with us all. LOTS. And it is just that when some white-skinned person says something that we go Oh!-I-am-very-very-hurt.

Originally Posted by jalex77

Lol, "Remove it if this is offensive". When they can just go ahead and Go Racial, Humiliate, Inuslt and disgrace India alongside a whole lot of other "Third World Countries" on their show, like they just did in the India Special. And they have been doing that for quite some time now in the recent years, I just cant help but laugh at your request to the mods. As if you have done something wrong.

In other words you just quoted along with a picture how cheap these guys are for real.(Its more offensive to see the show than see someone reveal what they did on the India Special, Jeremy with no pants in one scene in front of women.) Gosh and I used to love Jeremy at some point of time in the past. Hammond's right, He sure is an Orangutan, Maybe on dope.

Sorry to say, But Top Gear has turned into a Racial show and has nothing to do with automobiles anymore. I've already sent a complaint to BBC.

[ToroRosso]

Originally Posted by ajmat

1: It really shows the Brits in a poor light - totally ignornat of the local market

For some reason, White man's representation of India had always left a very very bad after taste - Indiana Jones(temple of doom), Bourne Supremacy,Simpsons, 2012. (cant remember the others)

Cliched - Indians are dark, poor and they live in slums

[kaushik_s]

Originally Posted by ToroRosso

For some reason, White man's representation of India had always left a very very bad after taste - Indiana Jones(temple of doom), Bourne Supremacy,Simpsons, 2012. (cant remember the others)

Cliched - Indians are dark, poor and they live in slums

Bourne Supremacy? How come they showed India in their cliched way in that movie? They've shot in Goa if I remember correctly but they showed it as it is I think. Gotta watch it again today to see what I've missed.
Indiana Jones was the worst and I think that movie is banned in India if I'm not wrong.

[MARCUS_520i]

Originally Posted by ToroRosso

For some reason, White man's representation of India had always left a very very bad after taste - Indiana Jones(temple of doom), Bourne Supremacy,Simpsons, 2012. (cant remember the others)

Cliched - Indians are dark, poor and they live in slums

You missed The Darjeeling Limited. At a point in that movie, it is so claimed that the train gets lost(?) on it's way to the destination in the middle of the night and ends up in the desert in Rajasthan!

I hate such nonsense.

[suhaas307]

Originally Posted by ToroRosso

For some reason, White man's representation of India had always left a very very bad after taste - Indiana Jones(temple of doom), Bourne Supremacy,Simpsons, 2012. (cant remember the others)

Cliched - Indians are dark, poor and they live in slums

Not always. They did show some good roads in Bombay, although they could have shown us more. And the Delhi's elite at that party shows the World that there is a very rich community in Delhi. It may not be too large, but it's growing.

In the latest Mission Impossible, the Ghost Protocol, they show the posh side of Mumbai at that hotel, not to mention that super-cool BMW concept whizzing past Mumbai traffic, which seemed orderly. Of course it was staged.

They do show India in bad light, on the television quite often. But TG, in this episode, showcased India as it were, and as it is. It's just how it is and we can't really help it. The Simpsons, I agree, overdid it a little. But they always do. I don't see a big deal in it. So what?

Even in the movie Outsourced, they showed India in quite bad light. But they also did show that Indians are compassionate, friendly and very hospitable.

[Pri2]

What a Bummer !! It would have been better if the trio drove Indian cars and keep the Nano as the backup. JC restrained himself from making controversial comments, which was again disappointing ! Buring a nano or 2, shooting it with a tank, or pushing it down a cliff would have been the icing in the cake!

[sumeethaldankar]

I found the episode boring and watched it just for the heck of it.I don't think it has anything worth memorable and for the so-called offensive stuff i found it amusing but they could have done without keeping the Ganesha idol in front of the rolls.

[simplynitin]

Adding my two cents. I found the episode quite boring. There was nothing special about it. There was no endurance driving/riding as in Vietnam special. There was no real test of the cars as in Polar, Botswana and Bolivia special. There was setting fastest time on a race track. There were no Indian cars used. Or the cars bought in India with a fixed amount. In my humble opinion, they got the theme of the special wrong. Promoting trade between India and Britain is a poor choice of theme for a car show. They should have raced the Rajdhani train instead of mumbai local. A Mumbai to Delhi dash would have been great. A timed dash through Rajasthan's dunes would have been great. Few timed laps on a Indian circuit, including Stigg's Indian cousin, would have been great. A drive to Ladakh would have been great. A drive through eastern India would have been great. A drive to Kanyakumari would have been great. A drive through the speedbreakers capital of India would have been great during rush hour. I know that its impossible to fit all of this and many more tremendously exciting drives of India in a single episode, but at 90 minutes, I feel they had much more potential than showing JC, JM and RH singing in a train and putting the TG band together. Coming to the criticism of JC and TG, again in my humble opinion, I found nothing offensive about the episode. On the contrary, I feel they tried to be too politically correct which ruined the episode for me. Even though they did show bad things (reality) and not too many good things (again reality), the humor in what they said was trying to be too politically correct for me. But everything in this post is my personal opinion and I mean no offence to anyone or anyone's beliefs. To end the long post - the most funny moment for me was the winch disaster. It had me

[Technocrat]

Whoa so much discussion on What JC spoke offensively but not a single reaction on his comment about J&K, which he said was 10 times better than Switzerland.

JC makes fun of everyone including British Ministers, so its not specific to India.

Overall, it was a nice Special but not great, like some of you have already mentioned, there was less of car & Challenge. The Delhi party was almost boring but then again they had a point to make which was about the kind of exotics Indians now own.

The Banner things & traveling in Sleeper class & making the reservation etc is all pre-planned & scripted, I wonder why people still believe it to be done the way it is shown. One of the Carriages on which Banner is put is in Different color (black) than rest of bogies. Same with Dabba wallas, does anyone think the dabbawallas with such high precision will take risk with their customers?

Its an Entertainment show guys, relax & enjoy

[simplynitin]

Correction: There was setting "no" fastest time on a race track.