Another day, another episode of body-shaming. It seems like with every passing day, people are becoming more and more insensitive towards the subject rather than the opposite. The past month has been full of celebrities promoting an end to shaming and colourism while advocating a filter-free life and accepting/loving ourselves as well as others for who we are, as we are. But it seems like some of our celebrities still feel it’s okay to make fun of others, especially on their body, thinking it’s okay because the person they’re making fun of is their friend. I feel that still doesn’t change the fact that we can’t be insensitive. On Sunday, Vasay Chaudhry, yet again, made it to the news for what I feel are the wrong reasons – this time being body-shaming.
Here’s what happened
As you may (or may not) already know, Vasay Chaudhry hosts a celebrity talk show ‘Ghabrana Mana Hai’ where he holds an informal conversation with his guests, this time being Mehwish Hayat, who has numerous achievements under her belt which include awards, super hit films, along with receiving the Tamgha-e-Imtiaz. Not just that, Mehwish has also been recognised for her humanitarian work in various parts of the world.
Mehwish appeared on Vasay’s show, where she was asked about actors who could step into Ertugrul actors’ shoes. The Chhalawa actress named Ahmad Ali Butt which was funny to Vasay, who stopped her just so he could have his moment of “fun” and then began his prattle on Ahmad’s weight.
The conversation started with Vasay questioning Mehwish on one of her tweets regarding the hit Turkish drama Ertugrul where she mentioned that the drama is educational with moral lessons and historic significance.
Vasay asked her who from the Pakistani fraternity would she like to see play the role of Ertugrul’s side guards to which she named actor/comedian, Ahmed Ali Butt as a suitable candidate. Vasay stopped her mid-sentence saying, “Please, now stop over here. Ahmed Ali Butt on a horse? And that horse has to run too?”, as sarcastically as possible (one can tell from the look on his face)
Mehwish justified her comment and said, “Haven’t you seen him now? He’s fit!” Vasay was about to say something when Mehwish stopped him and told him to stop talking to her about body-shaming. “Stop talking to me about any body-shaming. In front of me you can’t.” She also added that if Vasay and Ahmed are friends, then he should be passing such comments in that circle of friends rather than on a platform where others (the public) will pick on it and repeat it. Then who would be responsible? Vasay quickly came to his own defence saying that is what Ahmed is doing and that’s the “joke”.
“I’ll tell you, I think we are taking it wrong. You cannot create humour, you cannot create satire, you have to realise. We are that nation who pinpoints flaws out of Anwar Maqsood and Moin Akhtar sahab’s work.” Addressing the audience, he asked, “You tell us, what should we do for you?” and then steered the topic to nepotism.
Mehwish also posted on her Instagram story, “I hope everyone understands this and follows through – it’s about time we become more aware of our responsibilities and act accordingly..”
Ahmed Ali Butt’s response
Ahmed being Ahmed took no offence to Vasay’s comments. In fact, he put up quite some humourous stories after watching the episode.
We asked Ahmed for a comment on the episode to which he sarcastically said, “Whatever happened was quite an unfortunate event and was really bad. I will file a First Information Report (FIR) against Vasay. This has to stop. This cannot go on. And thank you Mehwish for having my back and I feel much safer and protected knowing that I have a strong woman who has my back.” We couldn’t help but be amused by the comedian’s sense of humour who sarcastically mentioned wanting to file an FIR against his friend Vasay. He later also said that both Mehwish and Vasay are dear friends of his.
With the world turning towards being more sensitive and empathetic, and body-shaming being taken seriously than ever before, it’s time we become mindful of our words and our actions. Cheap humour at the cost of someone’s mental health should really have no room in today’s world, especially if it’s done publicly.
