(Clockwise) Kunal Kamra during the show; Shiv Sena (Shinde) workers vandalise the venue in Khar area in Mumbai on Sunday
Credit: PTI,Youtube/KunalKamra, Instagram/ Vanikaaa
Stand-up comedian Kunal Kamra is currently at the centre of a controversy stemming from a video of his stand-up show in which he takes a jibe at Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde among others.
Following the release of the video on YouTube, the studio in Mumbai's Khar, where Kamra filmed his show, was ransacked late Sunday night by agitated Shiv Sainiks. Videos from the incident show men storming the studio, smashing chairs, and damaging cameras, lights, and sound equipment. Next day, a team from the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation arrived with hammers and carried out a demolition drive inside the compound.
On Monday, Habitat Studio issued a statement announcing its closure, citing safety concerns. "We are shocked, worried, and deeply shaken by the recent acts of vandalism targeting us."
What happened at The Habitat Studio on Sunday?
An audience member has come forward to share her account of the events at the studio when Shiv Sena workers stormed the venue and vandalised property on March 23.
Vanika Sangtani, a social media user who was present in the audience, witnessed the incident. According to Sangtani, the Shiv Sena workers arrived just before the show was about to start and warned the audience to leave. One of the workers reportedly said, "We have no enmity with you, please leave. What that **** said about our deputy chief minister is completely wrong. You all need to go."
Despite the warning, Sangtani recalled, the audience stayed in their seats, hoping the workers would leave. "We were firm, aggressive, and irritated," Sangtani said.
Soon, the situation escalated. The Sena workers began breaking glass at the bar counter when more than 80 people were inside the venue.
As tensions rose, the workers started yelling at the venue staff, who were urging the audience to leave for safety reasons. Sangtani noted that while this was happening, the police stood by without intervening. "The police were protecting the Sena workers, not us — the people who had paid for the show and just wanted to have good time," she said.
Sangtani also described hearing the sound of glass breaking as they moved out of the venue. She recalled a fellow audience member saying they should not have left, as the Sena workers could not have acted in front of them.
Outside, over 100 people watched as the Sena workers rampaged inside. "We saw them vandalising, shouting slogans, and announcing that they were more powerful than us," Sangtani added.
She also claimed that around 20 police officers filmed the vandalism but did nothing to stop it. "None of us asked them for accountability. We were helpless — or chose to be — because we wanted to stay alive," she said.
Meanwhile, Kunal Kamra has refused to apologise for his joke, asserting his right to freedom of speech and expression, while calling out "politicians threatening to teach him a lesson."
During his stand-up show, Kamra performed a parody of a popular Hindi song from the film Dil Toh Pagal Hai, apparently referring to Shinde as a "gaddar" (traitor). He also made jokes about recent political developments in Maharashtra, including the party splits within Shiv Sena and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP).
On Monday, the police arrested Shiv Sena worker Rahul Kanal and 11 others for ransacking the show venue. A local court granted them bail the same day.