Kunal Kamra lashes out at Shiv Sena leader: ‘Your threats won’t stop me from doing my job’

“Ms. Manisha Kayande – ‘Wants to punish further’ — your threats won’t stop me from doing my job. I suggest you stop giving sound bites to please party leaders, and start doing yours,” added Kamra in his post on X.

Kamra is already facing a breach of privilege inquiry after Pravin Darekar, a BJP Member of the Legislative Council, referred the matter to the legislature’s privileges committee.

Manisha Kayande’s ‘alleged threat’ to Kamra

Earlier this month, Manisha Kayande, while addressing the recent “Rs 370 biryani” controversy, told PTI, “A lesson should be taught to such stand-up comedians. They are crossing all limits and making fun of anyone. They say whatever they want. I will introduce a motion in the upcoming monsoon session against such acts.”

She also looped in Kunal Kamra’s viral parody song, and said, “They make fun of anyone and earn money. They say whatever they want under (the guise of) the freedom of expression. This will not be tolerated in Maharashtra.” Earlier this month, even Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis advised stand-up comedians to not misuse their right to freedom of expression by violating another’s right to dignity.

The “Rs 370 biryani” controversy blew up online after a video from stand-up comedian Pranit More’s Gurgaon show went viral. It involved an interaction with audience member Himanshu Jangra, who joked that after paying Rs 370 for a biryani he shared with a date, he expected her to get intimate with him. More, instead of shutting Jangra down, said, “Peak Gurgaon behaviour”, eliciting more laughter from the live audience.

After More and Jangra received a lot of flak online for their take on lack of consent, the former was compelled to share an apology video and deactivate his Instagram account. The latter was even laid off from his Gurgaon-based company after the clients objected to his joke. Their close associates claimed even their families got dragged into the matter and received various kinds of threats.

A clip from Samay Raina’s popular roast show India’s Got Latent also resurfaced and went viral recently. In the video, which is from season 1 in 2024, he’s seen suggesting a contestant to lend his shoulder to his girlfriend in exchange of physical intimacy. Samay has already faced three FIRs as a result of a major controversy last year.

Kunal Kamra’s Eknath Shinde controversy

While Kunal Kamra never named Eknath Shinde, he used a parody of the title track of Yash Chopra’s 1997 hit romantical musical movie Dil To Pagal Hai to dub the Maharashtra deputy CM as a “gaddar” for turning on his party. After his show, Shiv Sena members vandalised the venue, The Habitat, and forced Kamra to flee from Mumbai.

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After the Maharashtra legislature committee asked for an apology, Kamra said via X, “The way I remember the last three questions of my cross-examination this evening — Do you feel remorse? No. Are you sorry about what you said? No. If you tender an unconditional apology, this matter will be looked at differently — No, I can’t, as the apology would not be sincere. Also, it would set a terrible precedent for other artists and their freedom.”