When Lekha Washington attended the premiere of Happy Patel: Khatarnak Jasoos with partner Imran Khan, she expected a night out. Instead, she walked into a coordinated hate campaign. Social media users clipped her appearance, stripped it of context, and recycled it as proof of “love jihad.” The backlash was swift, ugly, and entirely predictable.
She Turned the Accusation Into a Punchline — Deliberately
Rather than issuing a wounded statement, Lekha got on Instagram and calmly dismantled the entire accusation. She reminded her audience of exactly who she is: part Burmese, Italian, and Punjabi, raised in South India, with a Roman Catholic father who holds agnostic beliefs. Her partner, Imran Khan, has a father who is part Hindu and part Scottish, and a mother who is Muslim.
Then she delivered the line that cut through everything: “Do Na Love Jihad. Instead, I make lights.”
Speaking to Moneycontrol, she explained her approach clearly. “Videos of me being used to fuel hate and division are the exact opposite of what I stand for. It is important to deal with this with humor — quite literally, make light of the ridiculousness of it all.” Furthermore, she spoke warmly about the people around her. “My own family is open, multi-hyphenate and respectful of all, as is my partner’s family. How lucky am I?”
Her strategy was smart. Because she chose humour over hurt, she denied the trolls the reaction they were looking for.
What Most Coverage Is Getting Wrong
Most entertainment outlets are framing this as a celebrity trolling story — a quick recap of the incident, a quote from the Instagram video, and a relationship timeline. However, that approach misses the more important point entirely.
Lekha herself flagged it. What troubles her more than the online hate is the way coverage consistently reduces her to Imran Khan’s girlfriend — erasing a career that stretches back to the 1990s. She has stage work, independent film credits, and a professional identity that was fully formed long before this relationship became news. Yet here we are, and most headlines lead with his name before hers.
That is a structural problem in how entertainment media covers women attached to more famous men. Covering it honestly means naming it — not just reporting the trolling and moving on.
Why This Keeps Happening — And Why It Matters
This incident does not exist in isolation. Across Bollywood, interfaith and inter-community couples have faced intensifying social media pressure since 2020. Moreover, this reflects a broader industry trend: as India’s social media user base crossed 600 million in 2024, algorithms began rewarding outrage content at a scale that simply did not exist a decade ago. Platforms do not distinguish between connection and conflict — both drive engagement equally well.
As a result, visible interfaith couples in public life have become reliable flashpoints. Their relationships get transformed from personal choices into political symbols, whether they consent to that transformation or not. Consequently, what looks like spontaneous public outrage is often coordinated content designed to travel fast and provoke hard.
This is the environment Lekha walked into at that premiere. Not a red carpet — a trigger point that was already loaded before she arrived.
Imran, Lekha, and What Is Actually Being Built
Lekha and Imran have been together since 2020, reportedly sharing a sea-facing apartment in Bandra, Mumbai. Imran was previously married to Avantika Malik. Their separation, which began in 2019 and was confirmed in 2023, was itself played out in public view. They share a daughter, Imara.
In an NDTV interview, Imran spoke about the relationship with notable openness. “To be loved by someone truly gives you strength and heals you,” he said, adding that Lekha had been central to his personal growth and healing.
Meanwhile, the trolls are still debating the legitimacy of a relationship that, by every available account, is built on mutual support, multicultural family ties, and genuine affection.
They are losing that argument. Loudly.
What do you think of how Lekha handled the backlash? Tell us in the comments
