Why is Anshula Kapoor getting rape threats after 'Koffee With Karan'?
No one takes Koffee With Karan seriously. No one. Not even Karan Johar. And I don’t mean it as an insult, in fact, quite the contrary. But a mundane Monday in late November stood to prove otherwise. Here’s what happened...
Janhvi Kapoor shared a throwback picture of herself with Anshula from their younger days, and captioned it, "#tbt to the first but clearly not the last roller coaster we’ll be on together. I love you.”
The sixth episode of KWK Season 6 had just aired — and the world had seen how poor Janhvi lost the hamper because Anshula didn’t say: 'Hey Karan, it’s me!' And Janhvi’s Insta comments’ section inadvertently presented itself as a case study on human troll-ogy.
It started off small, with the good Samaritans on the Internet trying to reveal Anshula’s ‘true colours’ to an ‘innocent’ Janhvi. Soon, it turned into how ‘a half-sister is always a half-sister’ and how Anshula is the ‘worse sister ever!’
If the Internet was giving out Best and Worse Sister Awards, why weren’t we informed?
Arjun Kapoor wasn’t going to be spared either. What a shrewd brother he must be for snatching a Koffee hamper from his baby sister!
Pretty quickly, things spiralled into something most Internet trolling steers towards, especially when women are targeted — rape.
Because that’s the only way one can ‘teach’ a woman a ‘lesson.’ And boy, does a woman need to be taught (so they think).
Lurking behind these ‘teachers’ of appropriate behaviour were conspiracy theorists, who had remained dormant for months, but this was their moment to shine as well. ‘Sridevi was murdered’ and naturally, Boney Kapoor, along with Arjun and Anshula, were declared ‘murderers!’
Apart from terrible spelling and a complete disregard for basic grammar, what the trolls had in common was a feeling of solidarity for Janhvi, whom they feel was wronged. Terribly wronged, when she was robbed of the opportunity to win that hamper.
A goddamn Koffee hamper!
Arjun couldn’t keep calm and ended up blurting out profanities.
“Something I assumed was an absolute non issue on Koffee with Karan has escalated into @anshulakapoor being abused & I can’t be bothered by protocol anymore. F**k all those trolls who wish harm to my sister. I hope ur mom or sister never have to go thru what u have put us thru,” he tweeted. I am not entirely sure if this was an overreaction of any sort, given how Koffee With Karan led to rape threats.
Who are these people who are taking Koffee With Karan so seriously, a show that doesn’t even take itself seriously? A show that thrives in its own nepotistic bubble and has turned out to be India’s answer to the International Debutante Ball.
I cannot emphasise this point enough, and thereby my shock at how a show that is entirely scripted has led to something so grave. Rape is the ultimate 'punishment'. Rape is the ultimate leveller because rape tells you where power lies — certainly not with you, you silly woman.
Like eve-teasers on the road are only vying for a ‘palat’ look as gratification, however disdainful, scornful or resentful that may be, an Internet troll’s aim is also just that — reaction.
And with that, if they can make a woman feel bad for being a woman, and body-shame her too just for good luck, then that’s a double whammy.
That’s trolls: 2, humanity: 0.
Also read: Has Koffee With Karan Season 6 gotten particularly brazen?