Is Everyone Cheating Now?

A few weeks ago, actor Janhvi Kapoor went viral, not because of any film she was promoting but because of her views on infidelity. In a recent Two Much talk show episode, fellow actor Kajol looked straight into the camera and claimed that emotional cheating was worse than physical cheating. “Both are deal-breakers,” Kapoor said earnestly. But Kajol’s co-host, actor Twinkle Khanna, nodded along with Kajol, adding the phrase that would be quoted across headlines for days: “raat gayi, baat gayi.” After the night ends, the issue is forgotten. But is it?

That conversation has since been clipped, shared, dissected, and spread around the world. More than mere talk show banter, it struck a very deep nerve, reopening debates around expectations in relationships, especially for South Asian women. In the weeks that followed, the discourse metastasized into a bigger question: why and when did cheating become so banal?