‘What a horrible bunch of bullies’: Chinmayi Sripada lashes out at netizens trolling KBC 17 kid

Singer Chinmayi Sripada has spoken up against the online trolling of a child contestant from Kaun Banega Crorepati 17. The young boy, Ishit Bhatt from Gandhinagar, Gujarat, went viral after a video showed him speaking in a slightly rude tone with host Amitabh Bachchan. What started as a light moment on television soon turned into a wave of social media outrage.

Several users began mocking and insulting the boy, even calling him “the most hated kid” online. Chinmayi, however, found the criticism deeply unfair and unnecessary. Taking to X, she condemned the adults engaging in such behaviour, writing, “An adult putting a tweet saying most hated kid. Adults here on Twitter have been one of the most lousy, foul mouthed, abusive lot; none of these voices said a thing when kids died due to a cough syrup.”

In another post, she called out the hypocrisy of social media users. “But yeah pick on a kid. Says a LOT about the ecosystem. This entire lot is picking on one over excited kid — what a horrible bunch of bullies these have raised themselves to be,” she said.

The clip in question shows Ishit telling Amitabh Bachchan, “Mere ko rules pata hai isliye aap mereko abhi rules samjhane mat baithna,” before the game begins. His confident tone sparked mixed reactions online. As the episode continued, Ishit rushed through answers, interrupting Bachchan at times, but eventually lost after giving a wrong response to the fifth question.

While many criticised his behaviour as disrespectful, others, including Chinmayi, reminded viewers that he is just a child and does not deserve public humiliation.

Interestingly, Amitabh Bachchan himself shared a cryptic post on X shortly after the trolling began, writing, “Kuch kehne ko nahi, bas stabdh (Nothing to say, just stunned).” Fans wondered if it was his subtle reaction to the online backlash.

With Chinmayi’s comments, the debate around online behaviour toward children has once again taken centre stage.