4 min readMumbaiJul 6, 2026 12:31 PM IST
Earlier this year, during the conclusion of his comeback stand-up special Still Alive, Samay Raina argued that he wouldn’t fight the system till the fight is fair. His stance came a year after his popular YouTube show India’s Got Latent was pulled down from YouTube following an inappropriate remark by guest panelist and fellow YouTuber Ranveer Allahbadia. That also led to them facing three FIRs and massive online trolling. Samay’s contentious remarks made many on the internet compare his school of comedy to that of Kunal Kamra, who refuses to apologize for his comments on Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde during a stand-up special, which has led to countless of his Mumbai shows getting cancelled. Kamra has now responded to Samay’s apolitical stance.
Kunal Kamra on Samay Raina
“If more people are choosing to go the Samay Raina way, whether it’s the comedians or the audience, that means I need to work hard,” said Kamra. “They still must be feeling, in some way, that I’m marginalizing myself or not getting to do the things I want to. And some part of that may be true, but I still feel as a comedian, you have to choose your politics,” he added.
“Because you’ve to make sure that the people who follow you don’t believe in ideas like majoritarianism. If they believe in liberal values and democracy, and agree with you on 9 out of 10 things, then why should they be after you?,” asked Kamra in a chat with Janice Sequeira. He also weighed in on the comeback of India’s Got Latent, with season 2 streaming on both Netflix India and Samay’s YouTube channel.
Kunal Kamra on India’s Got Latent season 2
“I did watch parts of it. It’s cool. A lot of people said it’s not as edgy. I said, check the end credits. They have a huge list of lawyers. You can’t take a risk with a show like Latent, especially when Alia Bhatt is coming as a guest. But that’s okay. That’s how it works,” said Kamra. Bollywood stars Alia Bhatt and Sharvari appeared on season 2 premiere on India’s Got Latent to promote their new film, Shiv Rawail’s spy thriller Alpha.
“Samay influenced everyone to run away. He said that if the government wants something from you, it’d make sure it has that whether you want or not. I understand his perspective that why I should put my guard up because of Ranveer Allahbadia,” added Kamra. Earlier this year, when Allahbadia took to his X handle to thank his subscribers for accepting him after the India’s Got Latent controversy, Kamra lashed out at him and said that it’s because of Allahbadia that comics like him face intense scrutiny today, which even hampers their employment opportunities.
Also Read — ‘Satluj suffered the same fate as Jaswant Singh Khalra’: Diljit Dosanjh on film’s India ban
“I don’t understand that he’s a person with no skill, and how can this work? It can work only in India. Listening, talking, and lifting dumbbells are not skills. What is his skill,” asked Kamra. “He asked me to come on my podcast. When I asked him when, he gave me a date of six months later. What are you saying? You can’t be busy for six months,” added the comic.
