What did standup comic Kunal Kamra say that was so offensive?

Opinion is divided on Kunal Kamra’s latest video titled Naya Bharat or ‘new India’. Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis believes Kamra has abused the right to ‘free speech’ and should apologise. Just because he has the right to free expression, Fadnavis argues, does not mean he will say anything he likes.

Mumbai Police, reported NDTV on Monday afternoon, had spoken to Kamra, who refused to tender an apology after Shiv Sena (Shinde) lodged a police complaint against him for defaming BJP leaders as well as Maharashtra deputy CM Eknath Shinde, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The crucial question, however, is whether the content is abusive as is being made out. Does it cross the red line between comedy and political propaganda? NDA allies in Maharashtra think it does, while Kamra fans believe the content is vintage Kamra — unsubtle, acerbic and brutal.

Kamra has long been known to be a critic of the BJP government, PM Modi, and the RSS, and in the latest video too, they feature as his favourite punching bags. He does appear to hit below the belt when he suggests that Modi has a fixation with Italy, going on to take a swipe at Modi’s unadulterated hatred for an ‘Italian lady’ for years, and his obvious fascination with another ‘Italian lady’ in recent years.

For the most part, however, Kamra plays with a straight bat, even when the takedown is brutal. While referring to a man from ‘Thane’ (bearded and bespectacled, who hid in Guwahati — in a thinly veiled reference to Shinde, his break with his party and appropriation of Shiv Sena founder Balasaheb Thackeray), he says the man not only betrayed the party he was in but he also stole someone’s baap (father) — again a thinly veiled reference to Uddhav Thackeray’s father Balasaheb.

Kamra then goes on to say that it was like Kamra inviting Sachin Tendulkar’s son Arjun over and then informing him that from now onward, Sachin would be Kamra’s father while Arjun could find another father if he liked.

He takes a jibe at the Ambanis and says they first gave people data and then offered them beta (son). He refers to Ambani, the father, gifting an entire ‘jungle’ to his son. The Ambanis, Kamra concedes, are not subtle and in a different league. While the country was struggling with inflation and unemployment, the hashtag that was made to trend was #DeshKiShaadi when Mukesh Ambani’s son got married. They invited entertainers from across the world and Bollywood, put them all in a bus, and then made them watch the Ambani family dance, Kamra quipped.

He also takes potshots at ‘Virat Hindu Modi Ji, one-man Hindu Modi Ji and best Hindu Modi Ji’ as well as Anand Mahindra, the industrialist, who Kamra said tweeted on everything other than improvements he planned to make in his own products. Making fun of 'Hinduphobia' in India, he says it was like people crashing into a Haldiram store and screaming against bhujia-phobia.

It is, however, the musical section in the last 15 minutes of the 45-minute video which appears to have got the BJP and Shinde supporters riled up. Five biting songs in Hindi, parodies of lyrics and tunes of old Bollywood hits. The section starts off with the BJP as the washing machine (sun-sun-sun-arey-beta-sun/ Is party ke bade-bade-gun… CBI jab peeche lag jaaye, ya ED tujhe sataye…) and goes on to lampoon the government for broken roads and falling bridges. It also takes a jibe at Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman (salary churane…popcorn khilane yeh jo aayi…kahten hain isko Nirmala tai).

Kamra and his team would have consulted lawyers and seem sanguine that no case can be made out of any criminal conspiracy or intent. NDTV, in fact, reported that Kamra had given permission to Mumbai Police to check his bank statements to see if he was paid by political rivals of Shinde and BJP for the 'hit job'.