Actor Gauahar Khan has criticised Nikhil Chinapa over a remark he made about menopause and perimenopause while responding to her comments about his gameplay on reality show Alliance.

Calling the remark “insensitive,” Gauahar said it showed a lack of understanding of women’s health and said Nikhil owed an apology to the women in his life.

The controversy began after Nikhil was asked by Telly Masala about Gauahar’s social media posts supporting her husband, Zaid Darbar, who is currently a contestant on Alliance.

Gauahar had earlier accused contestant Mini Mathur of being biased toward Kushal Tandon. She also alleged that Mini and Nikhil were playing the game together instead of giving other contestants, including Zaid, a fair chance.

Gauahar and Kushal briefly dated after meeting on Bigg Boss in 2013.

Responding to the question, Nikhil said he had never met Gauahar personally but had heard from Zaid that she respected him.

He then said Mini might know more about the matter because she “deals a lot with menopause and perimenopause,” suggesting she could have insights into why Gauahar made those comments.

Gauahar later expressed her disappointment in a series of videos posted on Instagram.

She said it was upsetting to see menopause being used to explain or dismiss a woman’s opinion.

Gauahar said it was sad to see men remain ignorant about women’s health despite having families and sufficient life experience to understand the sensitivity surrounding menopause and perimenopause.

She said she was particularly surprised that Nikhil had brought up the issue while responding to her views about his performance as a contestant on Alliance.

Gauahar clarified that her comments were only about Nikhil’s gameplay and that she had never criticised him personally. She said she had always admired him.

She also said she was pleased that Zaid had told Nikhil that she was fond of him, adding that she still considered him a great person with a good personality and an impressive body of work.

However, she questioned why Nikhil had suggested that Mini could comment because she dealt with menopause and perimenopause.

Gauahar said it was unfair to link a woman’s opinion to menopause or hormones and questioned why her criticism of Nikhil’s gameplay was being connected to her age or health instead of being considered a genuine opinion.

She rejected the suggestion that she was experiencing menopause or perimenopause, saying she had become a mother nine months earlier.

Gauahar also urged people to be more sensitive when discussing menopause and perimenopause and said women should not be placed in categories based on assumptions about their health.

She defended women going through menopause or perimenopause, saying the natural stage of life should never be used to undermine their opinions or make them feel that their views are less important.

At the end of her response, Gauahar called on Nikhil to apologise, saying he owed an apology to his wife and the women in his life for failing to understand the sensitivity of the issue.

Nikhil, who was also a contestant on Alliance, was eliminated from the reality show in Sunday’s episode, aired July 26. 

#From NDTV