Russell Peters has made a living out of his bawdy, politically incorrect humour.

Even his impersonations of different accents which taking potshots at a community’s quirks have had his audience in splits. But probably for the first time in his career, nobody was laughing. Reportedly, Russell, who debuted in Akshay Kumar’s Speedy Singhs, made a dig at Aishwarya Rai Bachchan’s acting abilities at one of the film’s promotional events, last week. And now we hear that the Speedy Singhs producers are on a damage control mission.

At a recent promotional event, Russell joked, “Aishwarya is the biggest example of bad acting. She has proved it time and time again that in Bollywood, people can become superstars just by having a pretty face.”

A source informed us that the stand-up comedian’s statements have hugely embarassed the film’s co-producer, Ajay Virmani , who is also the father of Speedy’s Singhs’ debutant actor Vinay. Ajay has apparently taken it upon himself to apologise for the bad blood that Russell may have created with the Bachachan family.

“After Russell’s comment the Virmanis hastily left India. The remark against Aishwarya has considerably embarrassed the Virmanis. Ajay Virmani has played host to Aishwarya at his home, in Toronto, in the past. She is someone he respects. The last thing he needed was to have his son’s career in Bollywood jeopardised by an ill-behaved comedian,” explained the source.

When contacted, Ajay, who is promoting his son’s debut film in London, said, “I have no control over what Russell says. What he says is not reflective of our opinion or what the film is all about. Aishwarya is a fantastic actress and a legend. I apologise for his comments.”