The second season of comedian Samay Raina's India's Got Latent has been closely watched by fans and haters alike after controversies over the first season's jokes landed him and many others in hot water.
After legal disputes over some jokes even reached the Supreme Court, fans have now accused Raina of toning down the second season of the stand-up comedy reality show famed for its dark humour.
He responded to the criticism in a sneak peek at the sixth episode at the end of the fifth episode on Friday, likely hinting that the show's comedy will get darker over the next few episodes.
"I started this show after so long. After so many difficulties. So I played it safe for the first few episodes. Get it?" he says at the end, before introducing a guest from the next episode, who he claimed was controversial actress Rakhi Sawant.
Though a masked woman entered the stage when he called for her, it is not clear if she was actually Sawant or if this is yet another of Raina's jokes.
Samay Raina in hot water again
However, whether Raina will take the risk in the later episodes also boils down to a new controversy that arose over the Friday one, which saw Archana Puran Singh, Sharon Verma, Orhan "Orry" Awatramani, and Nishant Suri as the judges alongside Raina.
The controversy arose after a rapid fire back-and-forth between Raina and Sharon Verma, a famed comedian from Bihar who made her debut in the first season of this show.
At one point, Samay introduced Sharon to the audience in his usual style, making a joke about her Bihari background.
“She is from Bihar. She is so Bihari; she thinks ‘ebola’ means someone said something," he said, mocking her Bihari origin.
Verma was quick to respond, fired back, saying that he was "so Kashmiri, he loves getting stoned”.
“Sharon Verma is a Bihari who came to Mumbai in search of a job. Just Bihari things,” he added, continuing the friendly banter.
“At least, I left my state by my choice," she responded as the audience erupted in laughter.
However, the alleged reference to the exodus of Kashmiri Pandits from the Valley due to an insurgency in the early 1990s has sparked backlash online, with several netizens hitting out at her and other criticising the show itself for alleged insensitivity.
"Someone cannot deliberately do something offensive and then simply apologise afterwards. In the meantime, they get the publicity they wanted across the country for free," said BJP MLA Ram Kadam, as per a Times of India report.
The report also cited mixed reactions from some members of the Kashmiri Pandit community, with some taking offence, but others downplaying the joke.
