Gauahar Khan calls Nikhil Chinapa 'ignorant' over menopause remark, says he owes women apology: ‘Disgusting’

Gauahar Khan criticised Nikhil Chinapa's remarks about menopause as ignorant and dismissive of women's opinions.

Actor Gauahar Khan is known for expressing her opinions unapologetically. The actor is currently supporting her husband, Zaid Darbar, who is a contestant on the reality show Alliance. Earlier, Gauahar had criticised Nikhil Chinapa as a player, calling him and Mini Mathur out for not giving Zaid and the other contestants a fair chance in the game. After Nikhil reacted to Gauahar's criticism following his eviction, she described his remarks as "ignorant" and "disgusting".

Gauahar Khan slams Nikhil Chinapa over his menopause remarks.

Gauahar Khan calls Nikhil Chinapa ignorant

On Monday, Gauahar took to Instagram and, in a series of videos, lashed out at Nikhil over his remark suggesting that she might be going through menopause. Expressing her disappointment, Gauahar said it was unfortunate that some men continued to display such ignorance despite being married and having young children. She added that it was especially surprising to see such attitudes from men with significant life experience, access to education and the privileges of a comfortable life. According to Gauahar, one would expect greater awareness and sensitivity from people with such exposure.

She added, "I feel so sad for them that they don't even know the basics of how sensitive this issue called menopause and perimenopause is and what women go through. And for someone like Nikhil Chinapa to mention that as a comeback to my viewpoints of him as a player... it's shocking."

Gauahar further clarified that her criticism was strictly about Nikhil's gameplay and not his personal life. She said, "I'm so glad that Zaid went inside and told Nikhil that I was fond of him. I still am. I think he's a great guy. I think he has a great personality and an amazing body of work. I have utter respect for him. But what do you mean by saying Mini can comment because she deals with menopause and perimenopause? You're assuming that I'm at an age where I must be going through menopause or perimenopause, and that's why I have those viewpoints. That is ridiculous."

Calling Nikhil "ignorant", Gauahar said it was wrong to dismiss a woman's opinion by attributing it to her menstrual cycle, menopause or perimenopause. She added that suggesting a woman must be "wrong" simply because she is going through one of these biological phases reflected a deeply insensitive and uninformed mindset.

Gauahar concluded, "For your information, I've had a baby nine months ago, so clearly I'm not going through menopause or perimenopause. Get your facts right and please be sensitive to women when you're putting them in a category like that. Disgusting." She also addressed women experiencing menopause and perimenopause, saying they should never be made to feel that their opinions are invalid because of a natural stage of life. Gauahar added that Nikhil owed an apology "to your wife and the women in your life" for failing to recognise how sensitive the subject is.

What Nikhil Chinapa said

In an interview with Telly Masala following his eviction from Alliance, Nikhil was asked about Gauahar's criticism of his gameplay. Gauahar had earlier accused contestant Mini Mathur of being biased towards Kushal Tandon and claimed that Mini and Nikhil were playing the game together instead of giving others, including Zaid, a fair opportunity. In one of her posts, she also accused Nikhil of trying to create a rift between Zaid and Kushal.

Responding to the question, Nikhil said he did not know Gauahar personally but had heard from Zaid that she thought highly of him. He then remarked, "Maybe Mini will know more about this because she deals a lot with menopause and perimenopause. So maybe she may have some insights on why Gauahar said whatever she said."

Alliance update

Kushal Tandon is now the new Ace in the house, and the contestants have been divided into four groups of three members each. Seema Sajdeh was also evicted after failing to become part of any of the teams. The show is available to stream on Prime Video every day at 12 pm