What began as a routine stand-up crowd-work session in Gurugram has, within 72 hours, cost a man his corporate job, triggered a police FIR against a medical student, forced Zomato to issue an official denial, and sent comedian Pranit More off Instagram entirely. Two separate clips from the same show. Two very different controversies. One deeply uncomfortable conversation India couldn't look away from.
Here's everything that happened — and why it matters far beyond the laughs.
The Show That Set Two Fires: What Happened at Pranit More's Event
Pranit More — a 35-year-old Maharashtrian stand-up comedian with 2 million YouTube subscribers, known for his Bigg Boss 19 run — was performing a crowd-work set somewhere in Gurugram. Crowd-work, for the uninitiated, is when a comedian riffs off real audience members in real time. There's no script. There's no safety net. And on this night, it became a liability.
Clip 1 — The Biryani Remark: An audience member, later identified as Himanshu Jangra, a Gurugram-based employee, narrated an anecdote about a date. He had spent Rs 370 on chicken biryani for a woman. His implication — that this expenditure entitled him to something from her — was unmistakable. The audience laughed. Pranit More, rather than calling it out, played along with the moment.
Clip 2 — The Cadaver Joke: Separately, Pranit asked the audience whether doctors stay serious in anatomy labs or share jokes. An audience member — MBBS student Sejal Pawar — responded by saying she and her colleagues would compare the sizes of male cadavers' private parts during anatomy sessions. Again, laughter followed.
Both clips went viral within days of surfacing online. The internet's reaction, however, was anything but laughter.
The Rs 370 Biryani: When Consent Became a Punchline
The first clip cut straight to a raw nerve. The idea that spending money on a woman — even Rs 370 — creates any form of entitlement over her body is not just distasteful. It reflects a deeply entrenched transactional view of relationships that has real consequences for women's safety.
Celebrities were swift and unequivocal in their condemnation.
Malti Chahar, who had been a co-contestant with Pranit on Bigg Boss 19, wrote publicly that the episode illustrated precisely why many women value their financial independence and why splitting the bill matters. Actress Rashami Desai addressed both the audience member and Pranit directly, calling the exchange "not comedy" and "bad for genuine artists." Elvish Yadav and content creator Sutapa Sikdar added their voices to the growing pile-on.
A satirical couplet circulating on X put it sharply: the Rs 370 biryani exposed two things — one man who believed consent had a price tag, and one comedian who believed every uncomfortable silence could be saved with a laughter track.
370/- Biryani row. How 🤢 can people get #370कीबिरयानी #12YearsOfNariShakti #EducationForAll pic.twitter.com/J0E1nolI4H
— 🇮🇳 Ajay Behl 🇮🇳 (@AjayBehl2) June 12, 2026
Real-world consequences followed fast:
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Zomato's clarification deserves a note — a fake screenshot of a Zomato push notification mocking the controversy went viral. Zomato took to X to clarify the notification was fabricated and had never been sent from their platform. A good reminder that in the age of viral outrage, misinformation runs alongside the truth at the same speed.
As for Pranit More himself: no public statement emerged before he went dark on Instagram. His silence, many argued, was its own kind of answer.
Dr. Sejal Pawar: What Actually Happened — And What Didn't
Now to the second controversy, and to a claim that spread faster than it could be fact-checked.
Who is Sejal Pawar? She is a Mumbai-based MBBS student — specifically listed as a third-year student — associated with the prestigious King Edward Memorial (KEM) Hospital in Mumbai. Before this controversy, she had built a social media following of approximately 244,000 on Instagram, where she shared lifestyle and medical content. She also ran a subscription community called "Sejal's Squad" with around 6,400 members.
What she said at the show: When Pranit asked whether doctors joke around in anatomy labs, Pawar described how she and some colleagues would comment on the sizes of male cadavers' private parts during dissection sessions. The remark was meant to be funny. It was not received that way by the medical community.
The fallout was immediate and institutional:
KEM Hospital's Dean, Dr. Harish Pathak, told IANS that the hospital first became aware of the clip when it started circulating on social media. He described her comments as "highly unacceptable" and confirmed that a two-member inquiry committee had been constituted to investigate the matter. KEM MARD (Maharashtra Association of Resident Doctors) also issued a statement distancing itself from Pawar, clarifying she was not a member, while calling her remarks "inappropriate and not in line with the dignity of the medical profession."
The All India Medical Students' Association (AIMSA) went further, formally condemning the comments and demanding strict action. Their statement pointedly reminded all medical students that body donors — real human beings whose families made an emotionally profound decision — are the foundation upon which generations of doctors learn anatomy.
Pawar was also booked by police over the remarks.
She issued a public apology. In a video posted before she deactivated her Instagram, Pawar said: "I said a very wrong thing. I'm so sorry about that. I didn't do it intentionally." She clarified it was her first-ever comedy show and stated she would never justify or repeat the mistake. She later deleted the apology video and unfollowed everyone on her account.
प्रनीत मोरे के कॉमेडी शो में मरे हुए इंसानों के d*ick size को लेकर चर्चा में आई सेजल पवार पर अब एक और फ्रॉड करने का मामला सामने आ रहा है!
— मिच्च मसाला (@micchamasala) June 12, 2026
जब खुरपेंच टीम ने इनके कॉलेज की वेबसाइट पर जाकर इनका रिजल्ट खंगाला तो पाया कि इन मैडम ने ST कोटे से सीट हासिल की है
इनका सरनेम पवार है, जो… pic.twitter.com/EtfDr1B2n8
The Fake Degree Claim: Separating Rumour From Record
Here is where this article must be direct: the claim that Sejal Pawar faked her MBBS degree is not verified by any credible source.
The rumour appears to have originated and spread on social media — platforms where outrage amplifies unverified claims at the same velocity as factual ones. No FIR related to degree fraud has been reported. KEM Hospital, which conducted its own inquiry, has not made any statement suggesting her credentials are fake. The police case against her relates specifically to her remarks at the show, not to academic fraud.
What sources do confirm: she has been described inconsistently across reports — some call her "third-year MBBS," others "final-year MBBS" — which may have fuelled confusion. But inconsistency in viral-era reporting is not evidence of fraud.
Spreading unverified claims about someone's professional credentials is not just irresponsible — in India, it can itself carry legal consequences under laws governing defamation and online misinformation.
The verified controversy is serious enough on its own — a medical student publicly joking about donated bodies in a way her own hospital called "highly unacceptable." That does not need embellishment.
Why This Matters: The Bigger Picture
Two clips. Two very different conversations. But they converge on something important.
On consent and comedy: India's stand-up comedy scene has grown enormously over the past decade. With that growth comes platform, and with platform comes responsibility. Crowd-work creates a specific challenge — comedians must decide in real time whether to amplify or redirect a harmful remark from an audience. Pranit More's critics argue he chose the wrong path. Whether intentional or not, his silence normalised a view that consent is transactional.
On professional ethics and social media: Sejal Pawar's case is a cautionary example of what happens when professional identity and social media persona blur. Doctors are held to ethical standards that extend beyond the clinic. The Medical Council of India's code of ethics requires that practitioners maintain the dignity of the profession at all times. A comedy show is not a carve-out from that responsibility.
On viral misinformation: Both controversies were accompanied by false claims — a fake Zomato notification, an unverified degree-faking allegation. The speed at which these spread, and the difficulty of correcting them, is a problem that outlasts any individual controversy.
Timeline of Events
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What Happens Next
For Pranit More, the path back to public life will require more than silence. A direct, thoughtful statement on the biryani clip — not just an Instagram deactivation — is what audiences and the comedy fraternity appear to be waiting for.
For Sejal Pawar, the inquiry committee at KEM Hospital will determine whether disciplinary action follows. The Dean has confirmed no suspension has been ordered yet, and the institution says it will not be "harsh" without due process.
For Himanshu Jangra, the man whose words started it all — his employer acted swiftly. Whether his professional consequences feel proportionate or punitive depends on one's view of workplace accountability in the social media age. Either way, it signals a cultural shift: words spoken at a comedy show are not off the record anymore.
For the rest of us, the conversation this episode has forced — about consent, professional ethics, body donation, and the limits of comedy — is one worth having, even if the route to it was uncomfortable.
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