Kunal Kamra says Bollywood and OTT platforms ‘operating in fear’, responds to cancellation of his shows

Comedian Kunal Kamra responded to the cancellation of his show in Gurugram recently. He said in an interview with NDTV that there is an atmosphere of fear in the entertainment industry, but refused to blame the club for giving in to threats.
“Everybody from Bollywood to OTT to comedians… everybody is operating in some fear. They are just letting good ideas (go)… the spontaneity that any art form has is totally killed,” he said, adding that ‘fear is never good for any art form’. Kamra’s shows on September 17 and 18 were cancelled after right-wing groups threatened to stage protests, claiming that he has offended religious sentiments. The comedian said that he became aware of the shows’ cancellation through the news, and not via the club.

He said that he has reached out to the offended parties to explain to him what he has said, and that he is open to having a discussion. He also cited the Constitution as giving him the right to free speech. He had written in an open letter, “If there is any such clip, show it to me too. I only mock the government. If you are a government lackey, then your feelings getting hurt makes sense. How does the Hindu religion figure here?”
In recent months, several comedians and film industry personalities have come under fire for comments new and old, perceived as anti-Hindu. Ranbir Kapoor’s 2011 comment about enjoying beef was recirculated ahead of the release of his new film Brahmastra, which found itself at the centre of a boycott campaign. A similar situation transpired in the weeks leading up to the release of Aamir Khan’s Laal Singh Chaddha and Akshay Kumar’s Raksha Bandhan.
On Tuesday, Kamra had joked about Kangana Ranaut’s fascination with Brahmastra’s box office figures. The actor had suggested that producer Karan Johar was fudging the numbers. Previously, filmmaker Anurag Kashyap had said in an interview with Galatta Plus that streaming platforms are wary about greenlighting anything remotely political for fear of backlash.