Social media has taken the private conversations out of the living room and into the public domain. Whether it's Alok Nath or Neil Nitin Mukesh - anyone can become the joke of the day.
We made fun of Alok Nath's 'sanskari' behaviour. Neil Nitin Mukesh's three-tiered name cracked us up. Usha Uthup was largely spared the fat jokes since most made fun of her massive red bindi. These are harmless jokes - so much so even the victim can join in and laugh.
But these jokes stop being harmless when we start getting to the pretty women of Bollywood. Whether it's Sonam Kapoor's acting talent or lack of breasts, Kareena Kapoor's size zero figure, Kangana Ranaut's supposedly botoxed face and now Anushka Sharma's visible pout - when the target is a female, the jokes start spiralling out of control. And by the way, I'm not saying I am not guilty of this - I am.
I met Sonam Kapoor for a few minutes last year and asked her about #YoSonamSoFlat trending on Twitter in India. It made her uncomfortable to think that hordes of people were visualizing her body, making jokes about it - almost like they were insinuating that it was somehow her fault for not having Sunny Leone sized mammies. She went to the extent of making her bra size public!
Yesterday, a couple of memes of Anushka Sharma popped up on the internet.
Memes that compared her to the Joker and the Guy Fawkes mask (from 'V From Vendetta') after her controversial Koffee with Karan appearance went viral. Not long after, Anushka sent out a long tweet clearing the air - an act very unusual in Bollywood. It must have taken some guts to do that and it has worked in her favour. The jokes have stopped and Anushka has successfully nipped the barrage of jokes in the bud.
This represents a refreshing shift in attitude from women in Bollywood. Instead of trying to sweep it under the rug - these women are able to take gossip head on. Kareena has discussed size zero in detail, Sonam took on jokes on her acting by showing up to collect a "worst of" award and Alia Bhatt has accepted that general knowledge is probably a weak area with her.
It's getting clearer and clearer to me that the ladies can take a joke. Question is - where are the men?
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