Sex, traitor and other comments that have landed standup comedians Kunal Kamra, Ranveer Allahbadia in trouble

This is not the first time that Indian standup comedians have found themselves in trouble. Comedian Kunal Kamra stoked a controversy after he made a joke on Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde in his new stand up. Known for his criticism of the government and political leaders, Kunal Kamra found the venue where he performed vandalised alongwith threats on his life from party members after his set went live. 

Here are some other controversies circling around standup comedians of India: 

Kunal Kamra: 

Topping our list is Kunal Kamra because he never bats an eyelid before taking a jibe at any political faction or a political leader. In addition to the recent controversy, Kunal Kamra made headlines for his jokes on Bollywood superstar Salman Khan when he took aim on the 1999 black buck hunting case and 2002 hit-and-run case.

'Not against law to poke fun at our leaders', Kunal Kamra breaks silence over Eknath Shinde joke row

As for his recent controversy, Kunal Kamra told the police that he does not regret his remarks. Meanwhile, Shiv Sena party member threatened Kunal Kamra and asked him to apologise or else “we’ll find you.”

Kunal Kamra faced a ban on flying after he heckled TV anchor Arnab Goswami on an IndiGo flight. After civil aviation minister Hardeep Singh Puri tweeted suggesting other airlines to follow suit, Air India, SpiceJet and GoAir took a similar action.

Ranveer Allahbadia and Samay Raina: 

Next on our list is Ranveer Allahbadia who courted some trouble last month when he appeared on Samay Raina’s popular web show India’s Got Latent. He had made a joke on parents having sex which didn’t go down too well with the fans of the show and people at large. Multiple FIRs were filed against Allahbadia, Raina and others involved with the show. They were also summoned by the National Commission for Women (NCW).

Ranveer Allahbadia, Apoorva Muukhija apologise to National Commission for Women for remarks made on India's Got Latent

Ranveer Allahbadia tells police his 'parents sex' remark was a mistake, didn't charge anything for Samay Raina's show

As response, Ranveer Allahbadia apologised twice for his remarks and Samay Raina deleted all episodes of India’s Got Latent from YouTube. He also rescheduled his India comedy tour in the aftermath.

Munawar Faruqui:

Standup comedian was jailed for a month in Indore in January 2021 after he was accused of making fun of Hindu deities on stage. He was accused of joking on Home Minister Amit Shah during the stand-up show. Munawar denied making the comments but the furore led to multiple of his comedy shows being cancelled. He ultimately got a chance to express his side of the story when he appeared on Bigg Boss 17 and won the season. 

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AIB:

Another name we have to mention is AIB when a comedy group hosted AIB Knockout, a controversial roast event featuring some of the biggest names of Bollywood. The roast led to a huge uproar and multiple FIRs were filed 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. 

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Vir Das:

Vir Das too has been at the centre of controversies. The latest being 2021 when a police complaint was lodged against him for his show “I Come from Two Indias” at the John F Kennedy Centre in Washington DC.

Vir 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. Police complaint against him stated that he hurt the image of India vis his show.