Koffee With Karan 7: Anil Kapoor-Varun Dhawan's uncle humour, misogyny & misinformed sex advice leave a sour taste

“Infidelity is a deal breaker for my wife and my dog - my dog Joey will not be happy about it,” says Varun Dhawan when Karan Johar asks him about his views on infidelity. This was one of the many times during the show when Varun used the phrase ‘my wife and my dog’ in a way that to a careless viewer, it might seem that he was almost comparing the two. Given how lukewarm and bland the present season of _KWK_ has been - it would be wrong to assume that there are careless viewers at all. After all, only die-hard Koffee lovers who closely watch and dissect every episode are sticking around at this point - especially after many of season 7’s guests played it safe and didn’t give much masala. In the latest episode, both guests Varun Dhawan and Anil Kapoor came across as highly problematic, misogynistic and even inappropriate at some points. In an ideal world, the episode would have got as much outrage as the Hardik Pandya - KL Rahul episode which was subsequently pulled down by Hotstar. But then again, perhaps, the show isn’t exactly on the top of our watchlists given the many OTT releases which are also competing for our attention. The sexism and misogyny, of course, are only the tip of the iceberg. Anil-Varun also made some rather tone-deaf statements on nepotism, passed snooty remarks at their contemporaries and frankly came across borderline inappropriate during the sex advice segment, a first in the history of KWK. Infidelity, marriage and uncle humour The beginning of the episode saw Varun-Anil talk about marriage and their views on infidelity. For a second, it felt like the uncles who forward ‘wife jokes’ on WhatsApp had come to life - except this time, they were being polished and sophisticated while doing the same jokes because after all, it is KWK - one must be classy while being problematic. “I brought the real me in Jugjugg Jeeyo,’ said Anil Kapoor to which KJo responded, ‘the real you was, cheating on his wife in the movie.’ Anil, at this point, pretends that hasn’t heard what KJo said and smirks. Instead of clarifying his stance, Anil went on to imply, without stating it explicitly, that he wouldn’t mind being unfaithful in a marriage. ‘I don’t endorse it,’ clarified Anil soon after he (presumably) realised that it wouldn’t be politically correct to support infidelity. Anil then asks Varun, ‘are you more scared of your wife or your dog.’ ‘Good question,’ says Varun, who in the past, has said ‘I don’t know what feminism is about.’

Both Anil and Varun continued in this rather strange and unapologetic display of misogyny throughout the episode and even got inappropriate at one point where they talked about Disha Patani , Varun’s former co-star, who he claims has a ‘fit body’. In the rapid-fire round, when Karan asked Varun which Instagram account he’d go to for ‘hottest gym clicks’, he says ‘ Neha Sharma and Aisha Sharma ,’ turns to Anil Kapoor and says, ‘even you will love them.’; The sleaze and the straight-up objectification of actresses by two renowned actors was in many ways reminiscent of the Hardik Pandya-KL Rahul debacle, which at this point seems less problematic compared to this episode. Sex therapy gone wrong In a first for the show, Karan decided to have men - one of them in his 40s and the other in his 30s take sex advice from Varun and Anil. The idea of the segment itself is strange - are Anil and Varun sex therapists? What makes them qualified to casually give out sex advice? What’s next - people calling in on KWK to seek mental health or worse. medical advice? Why can’t we, for once, let the experts take the wheel on issues pertaining to health? That, of course, is a question for another day. The bigger question here is why exactly Varun Dhawan thinks Ashwagandha will help a man in his 40s spice up his sex life. The medicine might just have benefits - but the question was on spicing up sex life - not on improving performance but of course, since Varun’s ‘libido is strong’ self-admittidly, he is qualified to share advice that might affect someone’s sex life. Anil Kapoor, in this regard, seemed to have a rather nuanced stance. He refused to share sex advice with someone he hasn’t met, which was frankly the only correct response when an actor is asked to give impromptu sex advice on a chat show. While the sex therapy segment may seem entertaining and even funny to some, just the idea of having one on a chat show is rather bizarre. Navigating nepotism and contemporaries As if the debacles described above were not enough, Anil-Varun also had rather interesting thoughts on nepotism. Anil said, ‘I don’t take it [nepotism] seriously,’ and then went on to whine about how he was insecure of his contemporary Jackie Shroff, an outsider, who made it in the industry on his own. Karan then proceeded to paint Anil, who is born into privilege and felt insecure of an outsider, as a victim by saying ‘you and your children have faced the brunt of it [nepotism].’ Varun, of course, had the most tone-deaf take on nepotism - even though there are many. While in the beginning, he said that there is an advantage the nepo kids have, he quickly turned it around and said, ‘It exists. There is an advantage. But you ignore it.’ Varun, then, proudly admitted that Alia Bhatt is the only one he sees as competition. It would be rather interesting if we could know for sure if Alia holds Varun in the same regard, especially after he threw Arjun Kapoor , also his contemporary, under the bus, multiple times during the episode to the point it made even Anil Kapoor uncomfortable. The cherry on top of the cake was Varun implying that he ‘looks younger’ than the current lot of actresses  - which is again, not politically correct considering how most actresses are written off after their 30s while men in their 50s continue to romance women their daughter’s age. All in all, Anil-Varun’s KWK episode was full of alarming statements - which frankly wouldn’t be much of an issue if there weren’t so many of them coming one after another almost at the speed of light. Canceling someone over their views on infidelity, sex, marriage, women, nepotism and contemporaries might come across as being ‘too woke’ - but can’t conversations on chat shows be interesting without being problematic? That’s some food for thought. Deepansh Duggal is an entertainment, pop-culture and trends writer based in New Delhi. He specializes in op-eds based on the socio-political and gender issues in the world of entertainment and showbiz. He also writes explainers and occasionally reviews shows in the OTT space. He tweets at @Deepansh75.  Read all the  Latest News ,  Trending News ,  Cricket News ,  Bollywood News ,  India News  and  Entertainment News  here. Follow us on  Facebook,  Twitter and  Instagram.