In the eight seasons of Koffee with Karan, there are a few episodes that are still remembered by fans and one of those episodes was the one featuring actor Emraan Hashmi where he called Aishwarya Rai "plastic." A decade later, Emraan is still answering questions about the controversial statement and in a recent interview for the promotion of his upcoming series Showtime, Emraan said that everything he said on the show was in "jest". But he also admitted that if he was asked the same question now, he would never repeat the answer. Talking to Galatta India, Emraan said, "I say things the way they are and that was the running joke in that episode. Things were in jest and it was for the hamper. Everything was in fun." He added that "people were a little freer back then" and shared his thoughts about the cynicism that has taken over society, as well as social media. "I don't know if I would say it right now, in today's culture and today's environment," he said and added, "I don't think there was so much critique and cynicism. There's a certain cynical attitude also in society that you see reflected on social media now." Emraan said that if one says anything that goes against the popular sentiment, they are attacked but this wasn't the case until a few years ago. "People will jump on you. They will bash you if you say anything that's opposing to their point of view or their ideology. And I think that was not he case so many years back. I don't know if we're going on the right path or the wrong path but this is the world we are living in," he said. Emraan added that he was never apologetic about his statement and shared, "But I have never been apologetic about what I have said before or never will in the future." ALSO READ | Salman Khan and Katrina Kaif weren’t comfortable post-breakup during casting of Ek Tha Tiger, reveals Kabir Khan In the 2014 episode, Karan Johar asked Emraan to name an actor that comes to his mind when he hears the word plastic and without missing a beat, Emraan said Aishwarya Rai. In an earlier chat with Bollywood Bubble, Emraan admitted that he faced some consequences for that incident and said, "Well, I had to bear the brunt for it for quite some time for really calling a spade a spade."
