Another day. Another viral clip. Another joke that wasn't really a joke. The internet has recently been buzzing over a recent episode of popular stand-up comedian Pranit More’s show, where a man shared his dating experience with a woman. In a now-viral clip, he said they both visited a local market and ended up ordering chicken biryani. The bill, according to him, came to around Rs 360-370. So far, it sounded like a fairly ordinary dating story, right? Then came the punchline. The man said that after the meal, the woman asked him to drop her home. Recalling his response, he told the audience, "Maine kaha yaar 370 rupaye lage hai, wasool toh karunga (I have spent 370 rupees, I am going to get my money’s worth)." The audience erupted. The host Pranit laughed along and even called it a "Peak Gurgaon moment."
However, for many women watching, there was nothing funny about it. Because that one ‘joke’ carried an idea that women have been dealing with for generations: that if a man spends money on a woman, she somehow owes him something in return. That a meal is actually a down payment. That basic decency on a date is an investment expecting returns. That consent, somehow, has a price tag. And in big 2026, this is still being sold to us as comedy. What has sparked outrage isn't just the story itself, but the fact that nobody on stage seemed to find anything wrong with it.
Himanshu Jangra, the one who made the 'joke' worked as a web developer at Gurgaon-based company, was fired after the clip of him went viral. The company confirmed his termination.
Another viral clip, another familiar message
Before that controversy could even settle, another clip surfaced, this time featuring popular YouTuber Ashish Chanchlani. In an Instagram story, he said: "Ek baat batao, theatre mein jo horror movie dekhne aate hain, aur jo group mein ladke hote hain, wo ladkiyon ke saamne itna kyon bante hain. Tumhein kya lagta hai, wo karne se ladki raat mein tumko de degi? Nahi milega bhai nahi milega..." Again, women were the punchline. Again, the framing reduced them to something men could potentially ‘get’ if they played their cards right.
The clip spread quickly on Reddit's r/InstaCelebsGossip, where the comparisons to the biryani incident were almost instant. The user who posted the video wrote, "Why is he talking like that guy from Pranit More's show?" Another user u/True-Brain-3548 wrote, "Coming to realize that your favourite creator from childhood is a raging misogynist is like finding out that Santa isn't real."
That line stayed with people because it captures something real. These aren't random strangers on the internet. These are creators that millions of young people grew up watching, trusting, laughing with. And that makes the disappointment sting more.
The thing is: Most women aren't even surprised
The most telling part of this entire conversation is that these viral moments don't land as shocking revelations for most women. They land as déjà vu. Because they've already heard these jokes: in college, at office parties, at family get-togethers, on WhatsApp groups, in casual conversations they weren't even part of. The exact words keep shifting. The faces change but the core idea stays the same. That a woman owes a man something if he spent money on her. That her consent is negotiable or worse, purchasable. That discussing her value casually among friends is just regular guy talk. That as long as everyone's laughing, none of it really counts.
“It's just a joke”: The defense that never gets old
And right on time, the backlash to the backlash arrived. “People are too sensitive nowadays.” “Learn to take a joke.” “It was just a joke.” But here's the thing about jokes: they don't exist in a vacuum. Humour reflects the society it comes from. What a room laughs at tells you what that room considers acceptable. What gets a comedian applause reveals what behaviour has quietly been normalized.
Nobody's arguing that comedy needs to be sanitized. The best comedy often challenges authority, saying the uncomfortable thing out loud. But there's a real difference between wit and plain old disrespect with better delivery. When women keep becoming the punchline, the prize, the transaction, that's not some dark comedy or dank jokes. That's just misogyny with a mic.
Why a few viral clips actually matter
This isn't really about one comedian or one YouTuber making poor choices on camera. It's about the incidents happening so regularly that we’ve lost count. About what happens when millions of people (many of them teenagers) consume the same ideas packaged as entertainment, week after week. Repeated often enough, problematic ideas stop sounding problematic. They start sounding like just the way things are. And that slow normalization is precisely where the damage happens. When women are consistently framed as prizes or transactions in popular content, that framing eventually bleeds into real conversations, real attitudes and real behaviour.
So, what actually needs to change?
A few things, honestly. Audiences need to think about what they choose to reward with their attention. Every share, every view, every laughing emoji tells creators what's working. Sexist humour gets applause, creators keep making it, simple as that. Criticism matters, but it should be directed at ideas, not turned into harassment campaigns for individuals. The point is to challenge what's being normalized, not to target comedians.
Also, creators with large audiences, especially those followed by young people need to genuinely recognize the weight of their influence. You can be funny and bold without reducing women to objects. And perhaps most importantly, young audiences need to learn to ask one simple question about any joke: who is it targeting, and what idea is it reinforcing?
Perhaps the bigger question isn't why comedians keep making these jokes. It's why their audiences keep accepting them. Comedy can be clever without being degrading. It can be sharp without being sexist. But in a country where women fight daily for dignity, safety, and basic respect, surely humour can evolve beyond treating them as punchlines.
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