All India Bakchod co-founder admits they're afraid to take a stand

Tanmay Bhat, standup comedian and co-founder of sketch comedy group All India Bakchod (AIB), said on Sunday that they're feeling a lot of fear about the work they're doing.

He was responding to an Instagram follower, who commented, "I really admire the way you take stand for right things, so my question is - where is this fearlessness comes from because you don't have a Z plus security with you and also, have you ever thought about leaving this country?" Bhat, in his reply, wrote: "There is a lot of fear. The roast was an expensive affair. My anxiety kicked in after Snapchat."

In August 2016, Bhat took swipes at singer Lata Mangeshkar and cricketer Sachin Tendulkar in a Snapchat video titled, "Sachin v/s Lata Civil War". Actors Anupam Kher, Riteish Deshmukh and Celina Jaitly criticised AIB for the roast, calling the video "not funny".

"There is a lot that goes on behind the scenes that the audience doesn't hear about," wrote Bhat on Instagram.

In another controversy that erupted in July 2017, the Mumbai police filed an FIR against Bhat for allegedly mocking Prime Minister Narendra Modi. AIB had posted an image of a Modi lookalike at a railway station, along with a photo of the prime minister with a Snapchat dog filter, captioned #wanderlust. The meme, seen as a dig at Modi's foreign tours, provoked strong reactions. However, the post was later deleted following protests on social media.

"My biggest regret is self-censorship and I hope that changes," said Bhat.