New Delhi: Copy, paste, and add a Pakistani panel? Modelled on Samay Raina’s India’s Got Latent, the new season of Pakistan’s Got Latent has already become the butt of jokes online.
A fresh season featuring comedians and entertainers including Sharahbil Siddiqui and Usman Mazhar has been announced and Pakistani viewers have been quick to call out the similarities with Raina’s hit Indian show, questioning whether they have anything original to offer.
“Kuch toh apna lao bhaiyoon,” user Saleha Khan urged the creators to bring something of their own to the table. (Think of something original)
Another Instagram user Salman Vohra predicted legal trouble from the very first episode.
“Pehli hi episode me court case, Inshallah!” he wrote. (a court case will be filed in the first episode itself)
Others questioned where the show would be filmed, Pakistan or Dubai.
A crossover panel featuring Rakhi Sawant, Shakeel Siddiqui and Rauf Lala is coming out soon in a new episode.
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After Talent Got Pakistan
Launched in June 2024, India’s Got Latent was initially filmed at Mumbai’s The Habitat. The show combined elements of stand-up comedy, audience participation and the irreverent roasting associated with internet culture.
Its premise is built around a 90-second performance, often unconventional or deliberately absurd. A panel of judges—Raina, other comedians and celebrities then rate their acts. Contestants predict their own score out of 10. The cash prize goes to the contestant whose predicted score matches the average score awarded by the judges.
The format drew comparisons with Kill Tony, the American comedy podcast and live show, where aspiring comedians perform short sets before a panel of comedians that critiques and roasts them.
India’s Got Latent quickly developed a substantial online following with millions of viewers. Its run, however, was interrupted in early 2025 after content creator Ranveer Allahbadia’s explicit jokes during an episode, which triggered controversy and a legal case. It subsequently returned with a second season in June 2026, streaming on both YouTube and Netflix.
Pakistan, meanwhile, had already experimented with a similar format. Talent Got Pakistan, a digital comedy competition hosted by Pakistani YouTuber Junaid Akram in 2024, came under scrutiny after a contestant took aim at the organisers for not offering prize money.
The contestant, referring to Raina’s show, had quipped: “Samay ko copy kar rahe ho toh prize money bhi copy kar lete na!” — or, “If you are copying Samay, you might as well have copied the prize money idea.”
One of the judges responded: “India ki economy dekh” — “Look at India’s economy.”
Apart from Siddiqui and Mazhar, the latest season has announced a panel comprising internet personality Muzzamil Mesiya and model and actor Mathira. Mesiya is the director of SM Productions, which is producing the show.
Siddiqui is the son of famous comedian Shakeel Siddiqui. In the 2000s, Siddiqui gained popularity in India as a contestant on the comedy reality show Comedy Circus. He later appeared as a celebrity guest on Salman Khan’s game show Dus Ka Dum in 2008.
Following the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, Pakistani artists, including Siddiqui, were asked to leave India. Siddiqui returned to Indian television in early 2014 with Comedy Classes, which aired on Life OK.
(Edited by Ratan Priya)