Favourite child of controversies

Police personnel outside the hotel in Mumbai on Monday. Pic: PTI

Mumbai: Known for his expedient comedies for nearly 10 years, Kunal Kamra hosts the rib-tickler political podcast, “Shut Up Ya, Kunal” (2017) onwards.

One of his earliest squabbles was with the veteran journo, Republic TV Founder-Editor Arnab Goswami on board a Mumbai-Lucknow IndiGo flight in Jan. 2020.

“I was asking the coward (Arnab) about his brand of journalism… He was doing exactly what I expected him to do, off-camera. Though he appeared to maintain his cool, I could sense he was quite terrified,” Kamra told ‘The Perfect Voice’ on Monday.

Banned by six airlines

Taking this and Kamra’s comic caper too seriously, over the next few years, all the six existing Indian private airlines banned him for varying periods – “Thankfully, now I am a free bird…!” he quipped, bracing for a long-haul with the Maharashtra government now.

At one point in 2020, Kamra raised legal eyebrows when he had taken potshots at the then Chief Justice of India, Sharad A. Bobde on his antics, but escaped any potential contempt charges.

Karma had tickled Bollywood mega-star Salman Khan through jokes and jibes on Bigg Boss and Bigg Boss OTT, reality shows which the actor hosts.

Amid speculation that Team Salman Khan could file defamation proceedings, Kamra posted another wisecrack on X: “I am not a flying bird or a stationary footpath and I don’t apologise for jokes anymore”.

It was an obvious reference to Khan’s involvement in the infamous Rajasthan blackbuck poaching case (1998) and the Mumbai hit-and-run case (2002) - “but nothing happened after that”, he chuckled.

In May 2020, Kamra created a flutter when posted an edited video of a seven-year-old boy singing for Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his May 2020 visit to Germany.

The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) took strong note and asked X and the Delhi Police to take off the post.

Kamra had clashed with Ola Electric CEO Bhavish Aggarwal on X platform over certain unresolved customer grievances and refund issues.

Among other things, Kamra mercilessly whacked Aggarwal: In the new business thugs he’s the most shameless, insensitive douchebag you can ever come cross. While not responding to the cry of existing customers he’s here with new schemes to embezzle people of their hard earned money. He’s morally more bankrupt than thieves & drug dealers I’d say…

Later, he said: “He manufactures two-wheelers, and neither of their wheels works. And yet, he tells me, ‘Come work with us, let’s build India together’,” triggering an online war.

Stand-up comics and their brush with controversies

Kunal Kamra's latest video has kicked up a storm in the Maharashtra political circle, just over a month after YouTuber Ranveer Allahbadia's comments about parents and sex on comic Samay Raina's show India's Got Latent became a major controversy.

Here's recapping some of the controversies:

Ranveer Allahbadia-Samay Raina: Last month, Allahbadia courted trouble for his comments on parents and sex on Raina's popular web show India's Got Latent. Allahbadia's remarks opened a can of worms with many calling out for a ban on his podcast and politicians, including Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and opposition leaders of the state, criticising him for exploiting freedom of speech.

The issue was also raised in Parliament where Shiv Sena MP Naresh Mhaske called for a law to regulate social media. Multiple FIRs were filed against Allahbadia, Raina and others involved with the show. They were also summoned by the National Commission for Women (NCW).

Allahbadia has apologised twice for his remarks and Raina — who deleted all episodes of "India's Got Latent" from YouTube — has rescheduled his India comedy tour in the aftermath.

AIB: In February 2015, the controversial roast event, AIB Knockout, by the comedy group, sparked a huge uproar, resulting in multiple FIRs against the group and the show's participants, including filmmaker Karan Johar and actors Ranveer Singh, Arjun Kapoor, Deepika Padukone, and Alia Bhatt. The show was accused of being "vulgar, obscene, and pornographic".

Tanmay Bhat, one of the founding members of AIB, was again at the centre of a controversy in May 2016 when political parties, including the Shiv Sena, BJP and MNS, demanded action against him and the group for a mock conversation between Lata Mangeshkar and Sachin Tendulkar.

AIB faced another FIR in 2017 for a tweet that showed Prime Minister Narendra Modi with a Snapchat dog filter. The cases against AIB are pending in the Bombay High Court, said advocate Ashwin Thool, who appeared in the case in 2015.

Vir Das: Celebrated comedian Vir Das faced a police complaint in 2021 after his show, “I Come from Two Indias” at the John F Kennedy Centre in Washington DC. Das uploaded a six-minute clip from the monologue on YouTube that was critical of India in its fight against Covid-19, crime against women, and crackdown against comedians.

Munawar Faruqui: Stand-up comedian and "Bigg Boss 17" winner Munawar Faruqui was jailed for a month in Indore in January 2021 following accusations of making inappropriate jokes about Hindu deities and Home Minister Amit Shah during a stand-up show. Although he denied making the comments, the controversy sparked significant backlash, resulting in several show cancellations and a debate about freedom of speech in comedy.