'Don’t dish it if you can’t take it': Mehar Bano takes aim at online critics

Taking a deliberately exaggerated approach, she appeared to mock commentators who repeatedly criticise women and public figures while presenting themselves as authoritative voices.

“That one doctor on my feed,” she titled the video, adding in the caption: “Don’t dish it if you can’t take it.”In the video, Bano introduced herself as a fictional doctor with “zero qualifications”, sarcastically claiming she had nothing better to do than make unnecessary comments about women and celebrities online.

“Hello, I am Doctor Falana Dhamkana and have no qualification to speak on something, but today, yesterday, tomorrow and every other day, I’ll speak useless and uninformed info on celebrities and influential figures since you guys love to hear people like me. People like me spreading low comments on celebrities because my fans are like me too,” she said.

Bano suggested that people who constantly criticise celebrities online have little else to do and can turn such commentary into a source of attention and income. “If you are also useless, bored, with nothing to do at home, you can also do the same as me and make a living out of it.

I’m also gonna tell you, you can’t be like me because I’m legit,” she joked. View this post on Instagram. She went on to mock the idea that a long-standing presence in the media automatically gives someone the authority to make fun of others.

“When Pakistan was formed, some people like me used to come on my radio show. That is why today I can make fun of them. I am legit and my social media presence makes me more legit,” she added sarcastically.

Bano also poked fun at the notion that being a man and a doctor automatically makes a commentator more deserving of respect. “And the ‘Dr’ comes before my name, which makes me more respectful, but I am useless.

I don’t get respect in the hospital, in the house or in the world, so I thought I’d come online and do this,” she said. She continued: “And yes, speaking about women isn’t right, but it runs the economy and there are huge punishments for it.

But the thing is, I’m a man and a doctor, so these rules don’t apply to me. Maybe I don’t respect you, but you have to respect me. Do you understand?”Bano also criticised what she portrayed as the selective defence of male celebrities accused of serious misconduct.

“You see, I have a clean slate like every other male celebrity I defend because I am a doctor and male. The thing is, I can speak about celebrities and I support rapists and harassers and abusers publicly.

I support them even when they don’t give me the attention which I want,” she said. She ended the video with another sarcastic take on how critics might react when they themselves become the subject of online commentary.

“If someone makes something on me, I’d block them. If not block, I’d hit them with, ‘Don’t you know how to speak to your elders?’” she joked. Many fans appeared to agree with Bano’s video, responding with laughing emojis and messages supporting her satirical take.

Bano’s video reflects a broader frustration among Pakistani actresses over the way women are scrutinised and judged online. Through humour and sharp sarcasm, she turned the spotlight back on those who routinely criticise celebrities, questioning the authority and double standards that can accompany online commentary.

Just a day earlier, actor. Amna Ilyashad also spoken out against online criticism, saying society had effectively given “men a licence” to control women. Addressing the backlash over her recent dance performances, she said she had no issue with criticism but objected to being labelled “cheap” by self-proclaimed critics.

Alongside Ilyas’s remarks, Bano’s response points to a growing pushback against personal attacks presented as criticism and the unequal standards often applied to women in the entertainment industry.