Bipasha, Mrunal, and a Sweet Epiphany in Misogyny

Good evening, gals. The tea is brewing hot this time, except it comes with a problem: it’s too strong in tone and colour. Didn’t get the reference? You will soon.

What is the infamous question a woman asks when she's insecure and envious? “Mirror, mirror on the wall, who’s the fairest of them all?” Apparently, Bollywood’s not-so-A-list darling, Mrunal Thakur, once thought she had the answer.

For my chronically offline sisters, here’s the recap. A clip recently resurfaced from Mrunal’s Kumkum Bhagya days, where she looks her co-star Arjit Taneja dead in the eye and sneers, “You want to marry a girl who’s manly—with muscles?” Then the punchline: “Go marry Bipasha! Go marry Bipasha!” (Yes, twice. Bipasha really had her rattled, pressed and distressed by those muscles.)

As if this Stone Age commentary wasn’t already bad enough, Ms. Body Positivity herself continued: “Listen, I’m far better than Bipasha, OK?” The irony of someone trying to crown themselves ‘better’ by dimming another woman’s shine? Chef’s kiss, textbook internalised misogyny.

Bipasha Basu

Maybe the only reason this nonsense didn’t implode the first time is because 19-year-old Mrunal hadn’t yet cracked the Bollywood glass ceiling. But the internet never forgets. The guns of common sense and rational empathy have finally been fired, and this time, the crossfire is aimed right back at her.

The sheer audacity! Critiquing Bipasha Basu— one of the few actresses who literally has a chartbuster named after her—is not just bad taste, it’s cultural amnesia. Bipasha wasn’t merely a woman with “muscles”; she was a disruption. In a film industry that mass-produces wafer-thin, one-size-fits-all heroines, Bipasha’s dusky skin, sharp sensuality, and unapologetic strength were a refusal to play the fair, fragile, doll-like script. She was Bollywood’s rebuke to colourism and fragility culture long before Instagram thought-pieces made it fashionable.

That’s the context Mrunal’s little “banter” sits in. Her jab wasn’t only about muscles—it was about punishing a woman who dared to embody beauty differently, who didn’t obey the Barbie manual. You see, Bollywood’s femininity factory has always been a conveyor belt: pastel, delicate, soft-spoken. Bipasha came strutting down the aisle like a glitch in the system, and suddenly the industry didn’t know whether to fear her, fetishise her, or flatten her into a stereotype.

So yes, Mrunal’s 19-year-old self might call it a “silly thing.” But silly things don’t come from nowhere; they are scripted. By a culture where women are trained to measure their worth against one another’s bodies, by decades of fairness cream ads telling you lighter is better, by an industry that still sells its heroines as porcelain dolls while its heroes bulk up into marble statues.

All of this took a more serious turn when Basu posted a cryptic story citing: ‘Get those muscles beautiful ladies… we should be strong… muscles help you train good physical and mental health forever! Bust the age-old thought process that women should not look strong or be physically strong!!!’ I know this one’s gotta burn because — Mrunal followed up with a response, not directly apologising but conveniently using immaturity as an excuse for borderline bullying: ‘19-year-old me as a teenager said many silly things. I didn't always understand the weight of my voice or how much words, even in jest, could hurt. But it did, and for that I am deeply sorry. My intent was never to body-shame anyone. It was playful banter in an interview that went too far. But I understand how it came across, and I truly wish I had chosen my words differently. With time, I've grown to appreciate that beauty comes in every form, and that's something I truly value now.” 

Mrunal Thakur's Apology

Her carefully worded repentance tour dressed up as growth may sound sweet, but intent does not erase impact. You can’t wave away misogyny by declaring it a joke; patriarchy has been laughing at women’s expense for centuries.

Bipasha’s clapback, meanwhile, was nothing short of iconic. Without naming names, she posted: “Strong women lift each other”—and followed it with an ode to muscles, strength, and solidarity. No shrillness, no retaliation. Just a masterclass in killing with kindness. It was peak “Aaja Main Sikha Doon Pyaar Ki Bhasha”: Bipasha speaking the language of grace while making it crystal clear that strength and femininity are not opposites.

Bipasha Basu's response

Here’s the moral, distilled for our tea-time takeaway:

1. Don’t be a bitch. The patriarchy speaks through bitches.

2. If someone is a bitch, don’t be a bitch back. That’s what sets you a class apart.

Because in a world where Bollywood still packages beauty as fragile, fair, and submissive, Bipasha’s muscles were revolutionary— and Mrunal’s joke w

as not harmless teenage banter but a performance of the same tired script women are force-fed from birth. The epiphany, if we’re willing to sip it, is that internalised misogyny isn’t loud or dramatic. It’s casual, sarcastic, and said with a laugh. And that’s exactly why it’s dangerous.

So, next time someone asks, “Who’s the fairest of them all?” Let's remember that fairness isn’t the question. The real question is: who dares to stop asking the mirror at all?

xoxo,

💋 Gossip Gal💋