Posting a video of the incident, YouTuber Mahi Khan said the woman threatened to confront him upon landing in Mumbai after he refused to speak Marathi as he did not know how to
In a video that has now gone viral, a YouTuber recorded his confrontation with a woman on an Air India flight, where she allegedly threatened him over not knowing how to speak Marathi.
The confrontation took place on a Kolkata-Mumbai flight, and the woman passenger demanded that the YouTuber, identified as Mahi Khan, must know how to speak Marathi if he was visiting Mumbai.
The woman, who was wearing a shirt with a Hyundai logo on it, purportedly threatened to confront Khan upon landing in Mumbai after he refused to speak Marathi as he did not know how to. There is, however, no information on the reason behind the confrontation and why it was triggered in the first place.
He posted the video from his Instagram handle, ‘Mahinergy’, saying such people exist in a country that is proud of its “unity in diversity”.
Khan further claimed that the woman insisted that travellers to Mumbai must know the local language, leading to crew intervention but no further action. Social media reactions to his video were split between condemnation of intolerance and support for Marathi pride, while Air India and Hyundai have not yet commented on the matter.
“Speak Marathi or leave Mumbai. That’s what a this lady told me on my Air India flight AI676 today, before threatening me for saying ‘I don’t understand Marathi’,” Khan said in his video. “Yes, this happened In 2025 In a country that proudly says ‘Unity in Diversity’. She sat on seat 16A and started shouting that I have to speak in Marathi because I’m flying to Mumbai.” (sic)
He said he calmly notified the crew and responded to her saying: “Kya badtameezi hai yeh (what kind of rudeness is this)?” to which he said she made a threat: “I’ll show you what badtameezi is.”
“I recorded everything Because this isn’t just about me, it’s about the mindset that’s growing dangerously normal. You cannot force a language You cannot bully respect,” (sic) he added.
