Swara Bhasker reacts to meme calling Manika Batra ‘more beautiful’ than ‘woke actors’ like her, Taapsee Pannu

Swara Bhasker reacted to a meme comparing table tennis star Manika Batra with her and Taapsee Pannu. The meme not only called Manika ‘more beautiful’ but also more talented than Swara and Taapsee. “More beautiful than woke actors like Taapsee or Swara Bhaskar and definitely more talented than them. One and only Manika Batra,” it said.

In response, Swara shared grinning and nerd-face emojis and wrote on Twitter, “Many congratulations to #ManikaBatra and every other female achiever in any field!!!”

On Sunday, Manika, ranked 62, won against world number 32 Margaryta Pesotska to reach the women’s singles third round in the ongoing Tokyo Olympics. She made a remarkable comeback after losing the first two games to prevail 4-11, 4-11, 11-7, 12-10, 8-11, 11-5, 11-7 in a second-round match that lasted 57 minutes. She meets Austria’s Sofia Polcanova on Monday for a place in the round of 16.

Swara has often been at the receiving end of trolling. Last month, as her film Veere Di Wedding celebrated three years of its release, she gave a shout-out to her haters. Sharing a clip from the film, she wrote, “3 YEARS (June 01) to the birth of an obsession – my nafrati chintus obsession with my fingers! Happy 3rd to the film that gave rise to an economy: the two rupees per tweet employment guarantee scheme that it seems i launched for my trolls #veerediwedding #sakshislays.”

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In an earlier interview with Hindustan Times, Swara talked about how harassment of women online has been ‘normalised’ now. “We deal with it and we’re almost kind of okay with it. That’s why you see Twitter timelines of a lot of people, including me, resemble those streets where men are passing comments at women. So, what happens to me when I walk down the road — chherkhani or eve-teasing — is exactly what happens to me on my Twitter timeline, too,” she said.

Swara made her Bollywood debut with a small role in Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Guzaarish. She has acted in films such as Raanjhanaa, Tanu Weds Manu, Nil Battey Sannata and Veere Di Wedding.

(With inputs from PTI)