New Delhi: Comedian Kunal Kamra has asked Mumbai Police whether they will protect his next stand-up show in the city if people turn up to disrupt it. His question comes more than a year after his last Mumbai performance led to a police case and sparked a political row.
“For all who keep asking when I will be performing in Mumbai next: I have that same question for @MumbaiPolice. When can I perform my stand-up in the entertainment capital?” Kamra wrote on X on Sunday.
He said the proposed show would be held indoors with an audience of 100 people and would comply with the law.
“All I’m asking is if 40-50 humourless people turn up to cancel/disrupt the show or harm the venue, will you allow the hecklers to exercise their veto? Will a mob of people who didn’t buy tickets to actually come watch my show get to decide what freedom allows?” he wrote.
He further added, “Actually, it’s down to just one question: Are you with the mob or are you with law?”
Kamra has not announced a date or venue for any upcoming show.
Kamra’s last Mumbai performance
His last major stand-up performance in Mumbai was ‘Naya Bharat’, held on 2 February 2025 at The Habitat in Khar. Around 70 people attended the performance.
As part of the show, Kamra performed a parody of the song ‘Bholi Si Surat’ from the 1997 film Dil To Pagal Hai, a clip of which went viral the following month. The parody referred to the 2022 split in the Shiv Sena, when Eknath Shinde rebelled against then Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray. Kamra did not name Shinde, but the references and lyrics in the parody made it clear that he was referring to him.
The performance led to a police case against Kamra. An FIR was filed based on a complaint by Shiv Sena MLA Murji Patel, and Mumbai Police issued him three summons for questioning.
However, Kamra did not appear before the police. Officers also went to his former Mahim address, which he said he had not lived at for 10 years.
The Madras High Court granted him interim anticipatory bail in March 2025.
Political row over the performance
Shiv Sena workers also vandalised The Habitat after the clip went viral. The venue was temporarily shut following the incident.
The row later reached the Maharashtra legislature. BJP MLC Pravin Darekar moved a breach of privilege notice against Kamra over the Shinde parody.
Kamra appeared before the Legislative Council’s privileges committee in 2026 and refused to apologise, saying he had done nothing wrong and that any apology would not be sincere.
Edited by Maryam Hassan