Media365
Samay Raina has been mired in a controversy over some derogatory comments made on his show India’s Got Latent. The issue snowballed into a full-blown legal matter, as 40, including Samay, were issued summons for alleged vulgar content in the show, all in the name of comedy. In an old interview, the comedian, who rose to fame after jointly winning season 2 of Comistaan in 2019, talked about his views on “drawing the line in comedy” and how the matter is entirely subjective.
In Prakhar Ke Pravachan podcast, Samay Raina, while talking about his brand of humour and how that could offend people, shared that the “line” in comedy has to be self-asserted, and not all can be justified in the name of a “joke”. “You have to set the line for yourself. The filter is very subjective. I have met many stand-up comics who are very ha**** in real life but their sets are clean. They want to attract a set of audiences like, corporate or family,” the comedian shared.
He added, “There are some who go all out and keep all filters aside. In open mics, this happens a lot. The line is personal and everyone should be okay with the consequences that you have to get with the line. You can’t fight it in a utopic world in the name of a joke but it doesn’t happen like that. If you joke about someone’s religion, you will be abused and thrashed. Why will you get into that? You have to prioritise your mental health over artistic freedom. ‘It’s just a joke’, you can’t fight this thing now’.”
In the same interview, Samay Raina also shared that his true purpose in life is not to “create a revolution” but to keep his parents happy.
Samay, who is a Kashmiri Pandit, said, “I want to spend money on my parents like anything. I want to take them to the world. That’s my agenda in life. That’s my happiness in life. And I don’t want to do anything that comes in the way of that. If someone is hurt, why I should do that? My purpose is not to create a revolution and challenge religion. You fight the game. I’m not there. I have a zone of comedy. People feel offended with my jokes. I learn from my mistakes and move on. Life is short.”
