A year after India’s Got Latent controversy, Samay Raina finally broke his silence on the show. In his new special video ‘Still Alive’, he revealed a lot of things about what exactly happened a year ago when the controversy broke. But what actually broke him was something nobody ever knew until now.
What completely broke Samay Raina?
Amidst the chaos and controversy, there was one video sent by his friend Balraj’s wife that broke him completely he revealed during his new special. In the footage, Samay saw Balraj’s parents, who are in their 70s, at the feet of the policemen, pleading for their innocence. ‘That moment broke me completely. That was the final nail to the coffin. They were scared to death,’ he recalled during the show.
He further revealed at that very moment he was just crying when his mother videocalled which he was not able to pick up. “I was crying like anything and I couldn’t pick that call. Later I audio called her and I tried to reassure her that I was fine.”
There were many other instances which broke Samay as he put his heart and soul into making the show a hit. He had to remove all the videos of India’s Got Latent show overnight.
“Raaton raat pura show hatana pada. Maine bahut mann se banaya tha woh show. Sab dekhte the pata hai. Humne YouTube se stat nikala tha, monthly 4 crore unique devices pe log mera show dekhte the. 100 mein se 4 log humara show dekhke hass rahe the (I had to remove the whole show overnight. I built it with a lot of hard work, and everyone watched it. We dug out stats from YouTube, and it had 4 crore unique monthly visitors. 4 out of 100 people laughed at my show). It broke me like anything, man.”
‘I said I live in a democracy and have freedom of speech. So they arrested my editor’
The comedian said he did not want to delete the show but was forced to after the police arrested his video editor. “I never wanted to remove it. Main US mein tha aur mujhe Mumbai Police ka call aaya ki aapko saare episodes abhi hatane padenge. Maine kaha mai nahi hata raha hoon sir, I live in a democracy, we have freedom of speech. Toh mera editor arrest kar liya unhone. (I was in the US, and Mumbai Police called me to tell me to delete the episodes. I refused, saying I live in a democracy and have freedom of speech. So they arrested my editor).”
‘Ek chote se joke ke liye itna kaise kar sakte ho yaar’
In a sworn affidavit, Samay stated that he had no intention of belittling anyone and was committed to creating content that is ‘inclusive and sensitive.’ He pledged to uphold better conduct, content sensitivity, and legal compliance moving forward.
India’s Got Latent row
During his show, Samay expressed disappointment with the reaction that the controversy received and said, “I could not believe it, the scale they took it was insane, disproportionate. Ek chote se joke ke liye itna kaise kar sakte ho yaar.”
Samay also explained that whatever they say online is only a ‘character.’ “You are never watching us as who we are. India mein safe raho bas. India mein internet is not a platform to showcase your art. In India, the internet is a game we play to set a high score in our bank accounts.”
Samay Raina further claimed that all ‘irrelevant people’ tried to gain limelight during the controversy. He then slammed B Praak for saying he will boycott all podcasts and added, “Kaun bulaya tereko bhai?”
Samay also recalled how Mukesh Khanna, popular for his role as Shaktiman, also slammed him and Allahbadia. “Shaktiman aa gaya tha yaar. Shaktiman se kaise ladenge,” he said. Samay then claimed that when Shaktiman was on air, several children jumped off buildings to copy their on-screen superhero. “Tune bacche maare hai, tu kya moral high ground lekar baitha hai?” he said.
About India’s Got Latent Controversy
Samay Raina’s India’s Got Latent ended up in a major controversy last year after an episode of the show grabbed everyone’s attention in which YouTuber Ranveer Allahbadia posed an offensive question to a contestant: “Would you rather watch your parents have sex every day for the rest of your life or join in once to make it stop forever?” It triggered massive backlash online and led to multiple FIRs against Samay, Ranveer and the show’s makers.