New Delhi:
The 22-year-old Haryana man, Himanshu Jangra, whose remarks at a stand-up comedy show triggered a national controversy, has said he is living with “regret”, facing legal trouble, social isolation and relentless online abuse after a clip from the event went viral across social media platforms.
In a video released by the Instagram account of Gurugram-based Starvik Design, the company from which Jangra was fired recently, he spoke at length with the company’s founder, Vivek Vishwakarma. The conversation comes days after Jangra lost his job, received legal notices and was summoned along with comedian Pranit More by the National Commission for Women (NCW).
“Sir, now I am in a very bad condition, I am very tense,” Jangra said during the interaction. “Now, when I see my family, I feel very regretful that ‘why did I go to that show’.”
The controversy began after a crowd-work segment from comedian Pranit More’s show in Gurugram spread widely online. During the interaction, Jangra recounted a date in which he had spent Rs 370 on a plate of chicken biryani and suggested that the expense entitled him to sexual favours. More was seen laughing during the exchange.
The clip drew widespread criticism online, with many viewers accusing both the audience member and the comedian of normalising coercive attitudes towards women. Both men later apologised.
In the interaction with his former boss, Jangra described how the fallout gradually spread from social media into his personal life.
“As you know I have been getting a lot of trolls on my Instagram for the past two weeks,” he said. “Till one week, no one knew about it. No one at home, no one in my hometown knew about it. But last Sunday my uncle got to know about it.”
He said his uncle called him after seeing the circulating clips and demanded an explanation.
“My uncle called me and asked what was happening. I explained to him, and he asked why did you go to the show. He scolded me,” Jangra said. “But in the next two days, I didn’t have any expectation that I would get so much hate for this. This video went to my relatives, it went to the neighbours.”
According to Jangra, neighbours visited his family’s home and questioned them about the remarks.
“The neighbours came to my house and told my parents that their son is in this video. This is a very shameful thing. Then the family got to know about it,” Jangra said.
His family subsequently called him home and confronted him. The pressure intensified further after he lost his job.
“Till here it was still fine. But when they found out that I was fired from the job, they got very tense. Now I have a case on me, I have also received a notice,” Jangra said.
He explained that he had attended because it was his first live comedy event. He said he decided to attend out of curiosity.
“Actually, I had seen this show’s episode before, the real show. So, this was happening for the first time in Gurgaon. It is mostly done in Mumbai,” he said. “I thought that let’s attend once, let’s see how it is. It was the first time in my life that I was watching a comedy show.”
Jangra claimed that parts of the story he told on stage were not entirely accurate.
“The girl I am talking about, yes, I had dated a girl like this. We had a good talk, and we spent a lot of time. But what I said there, it was not totally true. I improvised. I agree because I used some wrong words there. I would like to apologise for this,” Jangra added.
At the same time, he argued that he had viewed the exchange as entertainment rather than a reflection of his actual beliefs.
“What I said there, I said only in an ‘entertaining’ way. I have no such intention, I have no such mentality,” Jangra claimed. “Sir, you know that I have worked with you, there are many female colleagues in our office, and I have no complaints from them to date.”
According to Jangra, the atmosphere inside the venue encouraged him to continue.
“What happened there, the environment was such that people were taking it in an entertaining way.”
He said the reaction of comedian Pranit More also emboldened him.
“The host was also taking it in an entertaining way. Looking at his confidence, I got a boost and added a little more,” he said.
When the backlash continued growing, he said he issued an apology and eventually deactivated his social media account. Jangra also rejected claims that newly created social media accounts using his name belonged to him.
The interview came as Vishwakarma himself provided the first detailed account of how the controversy affected Starvik Design and why he eventually terminated Jangra’s employment.
Speaking separately to NDTV, Vishwakarma said he initially paid little attention to the viral clips.
“I was busy with office stuff,” he said. “It was only after messages, emails and negative comments began flooding the company’s digital pages that he watched the full video.”
While he found the remarks offensive, Vishwakarma said the behaviour did not resemble the employee he knew.
“Things were offensive, but that was not the person that I knew at the workplace — that was a totally different personality,” he said. “I know his mindset. He is quite a good employee.”
Vishwakarma also argued that comedian Pranit More could have intervened sooner.
In a second public apology issued on Saturday, comedian Pranit More described his failure to challenge the remarks during the performance as a “lapse in judgment”.
“I deserve this hate,” More said. “That man said many derogatory things, but everyone was laughing so I also got carried away. This was a big mistake.”
“I could have stopped him then and there and taken a stand. I gave him a platform and that escalated matters so fast,” he added.
More apologised to those who were hurt and asked for a second chance, promising that his future work would reflect lessons learned from the episode.
The NCW has meanwhile summoned both More and Jangra for a hearing scheduled for June 22.
Chairperson Vijaya Rahatkar wrote to Haryana’s Director General of Police seeking immediate action and an Action Taken Report within seven days.
“The NCW has taken suo motu cognisance of widely reported media coverage and viral video footage concerning an incident during a stand-up comedy show held in Gurugram, Haryana, where remarks allegedly glorifying sexual coercion and non-consensual conduct towards a woman were publicly made and subsequently applauded,” the commission said.
The commission warned that the normalisation of conduct that undermines consent and dignity could have wider consequences for women’s safety and social attitudes.
