LONDON — An outcry over the alleged racist taunting of an Indian film star during a British reality TV show threatened to become an international incident yesterday, with fans of the actress in India burning an effigy representing the programme’s producers and Prime Minister Tony Blair drawn into the furore.Bollywood star Shilpa Shetty, 31, has been repeatedly reduced to tears during “Celebrity Big Brother” by fellow contestant Jade Goody, who has called Shetty’s cooking untrustworthy, mocked her accent and complained about her “screeching.”

The controversy spilled into politics, prompting Prime Minister Tony Blair to condemn racism — even as he acknowledged he had not seen the show. Treasury chief Gordon Brown, who was visiting India yesterday, said viewers rightly see the remarks to be offensive.

“I want Britain to be seen as a country of fairness and tolerance,” Brown said. “Anything detracting from this, I condemn.”

The independent regulator of Britain’s media and telecom industries said it had received 19,300 complaints against the show, shattering earlier records.

The earlier record holder was “Jerry Springer — The Opera,” the hit in London’s West End that the British Broadcasting Corp. showed on TV. That programme generated 9,000 complaints in 2005.

In India, Shetty’s treatment was front page news, prompting about 25 people, most of them men, to march down a street in the eastern Indian city of Patna chanting “Down with Big Brother.” The protesters burnt an effigy representing the programme’s producers before being dispersed by police.

Shetty, meanwhile, became the favourite to win the competition. Bookmaker William Hill quoted odds of 6-4 that she would triumph, after taking a rush of bets for her in the previous 24 hours.

As the controversy grew, so did the programme’s ratings. It pulled 4.5 million viewers on Tuesday, up from 3.5 million on Monday. Britain’s Channel 4 issued a statement saying there had been no overt “racial abuse or racist” behaviour directed against Shetty.

“There has undoubtedly been a cultural and class clash between her and three of the British females in the house,” the statement said.

There is a precedent for abuse in the Big Brother universe. Goody was lampooned and vilified for her weight and her lack of education while a “Big Brother” contestant in 2002, and at one point demonstrators carrying “kill the pig” placards surrounded the house.

Although she did not win the competition by being the last person left in the house, she won the hearts of the public and emerged from the house a celebrity who has earned millions of pounds through TV appearances, an autobiography and an exercise video.

The surge in complaints against “Celebrity Big Brother” Tuesday followed a programme in which another contestant, former member of the pop band S Club 7 Jo O’Meara, said Indians were thin because they undercooked their food.

Keith Vaz, a member of the House of Commons of Indian origin, asked Blair whether broadcasters should take care not to transmit such material.

“I have not seen the particular program in question and cannot comment on it,” Blair said.

“We should oppose racism in all its forms.”

Britain’s Foreign Office said it had not received any communication from Indian lawmakers, but said the British High Commission in New Delhi had fielded thousands of calls on the issue.