Mrunal Thakur breaks silence over the viral Bipasha Basu body shaming video: 'Playful banter that went too far'

Mrunal Thakur, who has been courting controversy for the past few days for her remark on Bipasha Basu in an old interview, has broken her silence on the matter and issued an apology. On Thursday night, Mrunal stated on social media apologising for her comments made on Bipasha Basu in an old interview and stated that she wished 'she had chosen her words differently.'

Mrunal apologises for her old comments on Bipasha Basu

The Son Of Sardaar 2 actress took to Instagram stories and wrote, "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,” she said.

What is the controversy about?

A few days back, an old video of Mrunal giving an interview surfaced online. Mrunal, as many would recall, was a prominent face on TV before she made her foray into films. In the old video, she can be seen sitting next to Television actor Arjit Taneja and calling Bipasha Basu 'muscular'.
She started her career as a television actor with Mujhse Kuchh Kehti...Yeh Khamoshiyaan (2012) and also featured in Kumkum Bhagya (2014).

In the viral video, Mrunal joked that she is much better than ‘muscular’ Bipasha Basu. Since the video surfaced on Reddit and then migrated to Instagram, Bipasha's fans have been making edits to recall just how beautiful and iconic she has been. Many criticised Mrunal and the actress has been trolled severely in other social media posts for her remarks.

Bipasha Basu reacts

While Bipasha Basu has maintained silence on the matter, she did put up a message on Instagram stories about women lifting women. “Strong women lift each other up.” She went on to add more in the caption, which read, “Get those muscles, beautiful ladies, we should be strong. Muscles help you attain good physical and mental health forever! Bust the age-old thought process that women should not look strong or be physically strong," Bipasha wrote, seemingly referring to Mrunal's viral video.

It is interesting to note that both Mrunal and Bipasha's stories do not mention any name, even though they seem to be talking of the same interview.

Mrunal was last seen in Son of Sardaar 2 with Ajay Devgn and is known for movies such as Jersey, Sita Ramam and Love Sonia. Bipasha, who has famously starred in films like Jism, Dhoom 2, Raaz, to name a few, has been on a break from movies after welcoming her daughter Devi with husband, actor Karan Singh Grover.