“I Was Just Stating Facts”: Arya Babbar breaks silence on his viral joke about prateik smita patil amid family rift

Mumbai: Actor and comedian Arya Babbar has finally addressed the viral stand-up joke that reignited conversations around his strained relationship with half-brother Prateik Smita Patil.

The clip, which surfaced online this week, showed Arya performing a deeply personal stand-up set centered around depression, survival, and family dysfunction. During the performance, Arya referred to his genitalia as his “chota bhai” and quickly clarified, “And by chota bhai, I don’t mean Prateik Babbar.”

Moments later, he corrected himself to say, “Prateik Smita Patil,” triggering laughter and applause from the audience. He followed it up with another line, “Kya ho raha hai Smita maa.”

The remark instantly went viral, largely because Prateik had recently dropped the Babbar surname and adopted his late mother Smita Patil’s name publicly.

Reacting to the controversy, Arya insists there was no hidden agenda.

“It was not a joke for me. I was just stating a fact, the audience found humour in it,” Arya said, explaining that the set was rooted in his personal struggles with mental health and a dark phase in his life when he contemplated ending it all.

He revealed that the purpose of the performance was far deeper than comedy.

“It is about a night where I contemplated attempting suicide and survived it. If someone out there is thinking of doing something similar, maybe this can stop them,” he shared.

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Arya also acknowledged that his family has always lived under intense public scrutiny, especially due to the complicated personal history involving their father, veteran actor-politician Raj Babbar.

He pointed out that while many star families have gone through similar personal turmoil, the Babbars seem to remain a constant topic of public discussion.

“Affairs happen, breakups happen. It’s life. It’s not the end of life,” he said, adding that despite everything, he chooses to focus on one positive outcome: gaining a younger brother.

However, Arya made it clear that reconciliation with Prateik remains difficult.

“If he answers my phone, I will talk. But he has chosen the media as his medium to communicate with the family,” Arya said.

He also expressed frustration over what he feels is an unfair narrative surrounding the family.

“The first family of Babbar sahab cannot always be the villains. We have accepted him, respected him, so why are we being painted this way?” he questioned.

The Babbar family’s complicated equation has often played out publicly over the years, and this latest episode only adds another layer to a story that remains deeply personal—and painfully public.