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There was a lot of talk about celebrating women, recognising their achievements and promoting gender equality at this year's IIFA Awards.

Sonam Kapoor starrer Neerja bagged the coveted Best Picture award whereas Taapsee Pannu won Woman of the Year for her role in the charged courtroom drama, Pink.

But all was not rosy. IIFA hosts Saif Ali Khan and Karan Johar got together with, Varun Dhawan and attempted to take digs at Kangana Ranaut on stage.

Clearly, even after months, Johar still can't get over how Kangana Ranaut called him out for being "intolerant" towards outsiders, cultivating a culture of entitlement and favouritism on his talk show, Koffee with Karan. First followed rebuttal interviews, then that dreadful column and now this.

Here's how it all went down: When Varun appeared on stage, Saif joked that the Dishoom actor was only there by virtue of his birth.

“You are here because of your papa (David Dhawan),” Saif quipped. Varun said: “And you’re here because of your mummy (veteran actress Sharmila Tagore).” Karan was quick to add, “I am here because of my papa (late filmmaker Yash Johar).”

Varun then went on address Karan, "There was a song in your movie, Bole chooriyan, bole kangana..."

“Kangana na hi bole toh acha hai, Kangana bohot bolti hai" (it’s better Kangana doesn’t say anything, she talks a lot)," was what the director said next.

Oh and then the three grown men said "Nepotism rocks" in unison.

And they did all this at an event that she wasn't even attending.

To be fair, Varun Dhawan has said he doesn't know anything about feminism but hey, how about just basic human decency?

This isn't the first time men in positions of power have thought it's okay to crack jokes like this at the expense of their female peers. Remember when Zaheer Abbas casually implied that women talk too much at the Lux Style Awards earlier this year?

Slow clap for influential men like these Bollywood bigwigs who try so hard to silence women who speak up, who try to humiliate them in front of a live audience, who use their authority to keep women down instead of checking their privilege.