Archana Puran Singh, 60, refused to be silenced when a troll on Instagram attempted to ridicule her appearance recently. On Monday, Singh shared a photograph of herself with her husband, actor-director Parmeet Sethi, during their trip to Switzerland. While most of the comments poured in with love and positivity, one particular comment stood out, targeting Singh’s appearance.

The now-deleted comment read, “Woman kam, man zyada lag rahi ho. Kapil sahi kehta hai bohot time laga hoga aapko roop parivartan karne mein”. Refusing to let such negativity go unanswered, Singh responded to the troll, “Kitni ghatiya soch rakhti ho itni kam umar mein....”

“My trolls are the most vella (idle), useless people on this planet,” Singh tells us, while acknowledging that she doesn’t expect everyone on social media to like her: “But at least do not comment on somebody’s (appearance) and say that ‘you look like a man’. Saying (something like that) to degrade a human is appalling.”

While Singh “typically avoids engaging with trolls”, she explains why she felt compelled to respond in this particular instance.

“Sometimes, a reply from a celebrity helps to reinforce a good social message. Maybe a lot of people will read my reply and understand the point I am trying to make [and try to be careful about their words and actions going forward],” stresses Singh, who is known for her role of Miss Braganza in the 1998 film Kuch Kuch Hota Hai.

She adds, “I have moved on after my reply, but I am sure that girl got her two minutes of fame.”

Ask her if she feels people might have felt comfortable making such comments given her association with The Kapil Sharma Show, where she is often subjected to tongue-in-cheek remarks, and Singh defends: “When Kapil (Sharma, host) says it, it is full of humour, love and naughtiness. Comedy is meant to be irreverent and it has to underline certain things for the purpose of humour. It is not meant to hurt anybody. Don’t look at a comedy show and think that he is giving a social message.”