Stereotypical, much? Anil Kapoor extends 'Slumdog Millionaire' role in 'Family Guy' cameo

Family Guy aired its first episode set in India as the finale of its 14th season. And to add a dash of excitement, they included Anil Kapoor in the list of voice over artistes for the episode (for the uninitiated, Family Guy is an animation show). Kapoor, of course, was more than happy to be a part of this hit TV show – as he made it clear in his tweets.

But after the episode aired, several people began debating on whether it was offensive, or simply in sync with the show’s signature brand of being politically incorrect.

Anil Kapoor's avatar in Family Guy. Twitter/@anil_kapoor

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The episode, titled Road to India, shows Stewie and Brian coming to India so that Brian can meet the call center executive Padma who he fell in love with over the phone. The duo is shown arriving at a filthy airport where cows roam around; starting a business where they use a pungi, a snake charmer’s musical instrument, to musically remove tapeworms from locals’ bodies; fighting with locals who don’t want them to eat beef; and even participating in Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?.

This is where Anil comes in. He plays the host of the show, the same way he did in Slumdog Millionaire. It all ends when Padma dumps Brian and everyone starts dancing, Bollywood-style. We can't help but hate on the use of blatant stereotypes.

The reviews of the season finale were mixed, with some saying that the episode did not live up to the high standards set by previous Road To episodes while others being quite happy with it.

As IGN stated, “For the most part, it felt as if the writers were ticking off a checklist of every pop culture stereotype about India.” It went on to add, “This episode didn't even have a decent musical number to offer fans, which was easily the biggest disappointment of all.”

On the other hand, TVFanatic gave it a positive review, saying it was among the best episodes this season and was “hilarious from beginning to end”. It said, “There were plenty of ROFL moments during Stewie and Brian's story, too. And ones that I shouldn't have even considered funny. But it's Family Guy and being offensive goes hand in hand with laughs on this show.”

TVEquals put it best when it said that no clichéd joke was left unturned and while some were funny, some can be called offensive, but, “You were expecting restraint from Seth MacFarlane?”