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The image was posted on Instagram. (Image courtesy of kushakapila)
Content creator turned actress Kusha Kapila is not happy with her good ‘friend’, comedian Ashish Solanki. A pretty good roast show on YouTube. Kusha was part of the episode that aired in June. She was joined by a panel of stand-up comedians including Samay Raina, Gurleen Pannu, Aaditya Kulshreshth and Shreya Priyam Roy. The performers cracked dark and brutal jokes about Kusha’s divorce from Zorawar Singh Ahluwalia. Now, Kusha has issued a statement on YouTube. She has expressed how some of the “shockingly disgusting” jokes “dehumanised” her.
In her detailed note, Kusha Kapila wrote, “A recent troll I was a part of led many of my female and queer followers to question why I sat back and watched something that could have been avoided altogether, and WITH GOOD REASON. Here are my two cents: I did this in good faith and for a friend. No one (comedians or guests) has been paid for it, so the argument that people are “being paid big checks to listen to their insults” is unfounded.”
Explaining her “rookie mistake,” the actress continued: “The jokes weren’t shared beforehand (as is done in all prank formats in the West), so I had no idea what I was in for. Maybe I should have asked for a script and known, but since there were friends involved, I didn’t. While I endured some of the really rough jokes in front of a live audience and technicians, I was not at all okay with it being played out for millions of people, as some jokes directly dehumanised me. It was shockingly cruel.”
Kusha Kapila added that her segment was the first to be filmed in January, after which “everyone learned quite a bit after the shoot, so in other episodes, no boundaries have been crossed, especially with women.”
Revealing why she allowed the episode to air with several cuts, Kusha Kapila said, “In the last six months since the episode was shot, I have been part of several calls and negotiations for every word, every joke, every insult (literally, I have been begged). If I had not allowed the episode to air, I would have been called a coward and a crybaby and other trolling would have taken place.”
“This has been a big learning for me as well, as over the course of the last six months, during negotiations, I have been told that I deserve these jokes and that as a divorced woman, I should have seen it coming. Maybe I should have and maybe silence on this issue is seen as cowardice, but it is mostly about choosing peace over endless discourse that will likely demonize women. At the same time, when you don’t speak up, people also choose to believe what they want. So this is my intention to clear the air as much as I can and advise female artists to have strict clauses,” she added.
“This is the third joke of my career, technically, and I will never sit for one again, at least not without knowing what can happen to me. The previous two jokes were a wonderful experience. This one would have been too if all the parties involved were aware of what can happen to them. A sizeable section of the male audience believes that I deserve this joke, which further proves our decision to censor jokes. You can write something as a joke, but it is not in your hands whether it will be perceived as such. Many women in the live audience after the joke shared their disapproval of the jokes and I understood where they were coming from. I too am coming from the same place,” said Kusha Kapila.
Kusha Kapila signed off by saying, “I am glad that everyone enjoyed the event. That is why even I was sitting there – to enjoy it and have the best time possible and I did my best until I went overboard. We all have our limits and all those limits are valid and should be respected. I may have sat out the event but I do not tolerate all that has come out of it. I pride myself on not backing out and after all that was thrown at me, I found the courage to continue performing.”
Kusha Kapila will next be seen in Vida Hill GayiThe Disney+Hotstar series is set to premiere on August 9. It has been directed by Prem Mistry and produced by Aarushi Nishank’s Himshrri Films.
