Shiv Sena workers have ransacked Hotel Unicontinental in Mumbai’s Khar area following Kunal Kamra’s recent performance, where he took a veiled dig at Maharashtra deputy CM Eknath Shinde. While he didn’t name Eknath Shinde directly, he made a ‘Thane’ reference and labelled him a ‘gaddar’ (traitor) by tweaking the lyrics of a song from Shah Rukh Khan’s Dil To Pagal Hai.

While sharing a clip from the show on social media, in which he sang the modified version of Bholi Si Surat, Kamra wrote, “Maharashtra” and completed the caption with heart emoticons.

What did Kamra say during the show?

“What they did in the Maharashtra elections…. Shiv Sena left BJP, then Shiv Sena left Shiv Sena. NCP left NCP. They gave one voter nine buttons. Everyone got confused. One clever man did this. He comes from a very prominent district in Mumbai – Thane,” Kamra said during the show. 

He then went on to sing the parody of the song: “Thane ki rickshaw, chehre pe daadhi, ankhon pe chashma, haye! Thane ki rickshaw, chehre pe daadhi, ankhon pe chashma, haye! Ek jhalak dikhlaye kabhi Guwahati mein chup jaaye. Meri nazar se tum dekho, gaddar nazar wo aye. Thane ki rickshaw, chehre pe daadhi, ankhon pe chashma, haye!”

“Mantri nahi wo dalbadlu hai, aur kaha kya jaye? Jis thali me khaaye, usme hi wo ched kar jaye. Mantralay se zyada, Fadnavis ki godi me mil jaye. Teer kaman mila hai isko, baap mera yeh chahe. Thane ki rickshaw, chehre pe daadhi, ankhon pe chashma, haye!” he added.  

The song was met with laughter from the audience but not from Sena workers. They first stormed the venue, vandalised it before heading to Khare Police Station to file a complaint. 

Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut reposted Kamra’s video on X (formerly Twitter) and captioned it: “Kunal Ka Kamal. Jai Maharashtra.”

FIR lodged against Kamra

After receiving a complaint from Shiv Sena MLA Muraji Patel, police have filed a case against Kamra. 

The complaint read, “The acts committed by Mr Kunal Kamra, including making statements that hurt public sentiments, utter obscene words, and make defamatory insinuations and innuendos targeting Shri Eknath Shinde, are not only offensive but also unlawful.” 

Kunal Kamra vs Eknath Shinde

Soon after Kamra’s video went online, Shiv Sena workers assembled and vandalised a hotel in Khar. Videos of the rampage are all over social media.

Shiv Sena MP Naresh Mhaske warned that Kamra will be “forced to flee India”, vowing that party workers will chase him wherever he goes.

“I will not let you roam not only in Maharashtra but also in India. Don’t try to interfere in our business…,” he said in a video statement.