Kunal Kamra
Kamra in 2018
Born (1988-10-03) 3 October 1988 (age 35)
Mahim, Mumbai, India
NationalityIndian
Notable works and rolesShut up Ya Kunal, Why Are We Even, Team Baan
Websitekunalkamra.in
YouTube information
Channel
Years active2006–present
Genres
Subscribers2.11 million[1]
Total views255 million[1]
100,000 subscribers
1,000,000 subscribers
Last updated: 23 July 2023

Kunal Kamra (born 3 October 1988) is an Indian standup comedian known for his observational comedy about absurdities of life. His performances include jokes about politics, cabbies, bachelor life and TV advertisements.[2]

Early life and education

Kamra was born and brought up in Mumbai. He attended Jai Hind College for a degree in Commerce. He dropped out in his second year to start working as a production assistant in Prasoon Pandey's ad film production house Corcoise Films, where he worked for eleven years.[3][4]

Career

He started performing as a stand-up comedian in 2013, with a gig at the Canvas Laugh Club in Mumbai. A clip of one of his gigs, uploaded on YouTube in 2017, lead to him receiving death threats for his satirical take on Indian hyper-nationalism.[4] He started his eponymous titled web-series Shut Up Ya Kunal in July 2017 along with Ramit Verma.[5] The episodes typically feature a conversation with one or more invited guests, interposed with clips of news segments or debates, edited for humour.[6] His best performances include jokes about cabbies, bachelor life and ridiculous TV advertisements.[2]

On 1 March 2017, he released a comedy video titled "Patriotism and the Government" on YouTube mocking the Indian banknote demonetization, the government and the attitude of Indians towards the army.[7] He received several death threats for uploading the video.[8] In 2018, he shared that he was asked by his landlady to vacate the premise due to "political issues".[9]

Shut Up Ya Kunal

In 2017, Kunal launched a YouTube podcast titled Shut Up Ya Kunal along with his friend Ramit Verma. The show features Kamra engaged in an informal discussion with politicians and activists from both ends of the spectrum.[5][10][11][12] The videos are interspersed with news clips of the guests contradicting their own statements to comic effect.[11][10] Ramit Verma of the satirical Facebook page PeeingHuman is the show's creative director and editor.[7][13] The first episode aired on 20 July 2017 and featured Madhukeshwar Desai, the vice-president of the Bharatiya Janata Party's youth wing.[5] The episode featuring JNU students Kanhaiya Kumar and Umar Khalid reached around a million views within hours of release.[citation needed]

Controversies

Incident on IndiGo flight

On 28 January 2020, Kamra, while travelling on an IndiGo flight, confronted the news presenter Arnab Goswami, inviting him to debate with him. Kamra had raised questions about Goswami's coverage of issues on national affairs and the suicide of Rohith Vemula.[14] Kamra later released a 1.51-minute long video of the incident on Twitter, which showed a non-responsive Goswami while being questioned by him.[15][16] The next day, Indigo banned Kamra from boarding its flights for a period of six months.[17] The same day, government-owned airline Air India banned him indefinitely. India's aviation minister, Hardeep Singh Puri, tweeted that other airlines should follow suit and ban Kamra to ensure that an example was set.[18][19] The next day, SpiceJet and GoAir also banned him indefinitely. The ban was criticized for being excessive and against the rules of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation.[20]

Filmmaker Anurag Kashyap refused to fly with IndiGo due to their decision to ban Kamra.[14] Two IndiGo passengers also protested and displayed placards on a plane in support of Kamra.[21]

Kamra issued a legal notice to IndiGo against the travel ban demanding a compensation of ₹25 lakh (US$31,000).[17]

On 11 September 2022, after his comedy shows were cancelled in Gurgaon, Kamra wrote an open letter addressed to the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP). He challenged VHP to condemn Mahatma Gandhi's assassin Nathuram Godse.[22]

Accusations of contempt of court

After Republic TV editor-in-chief Arnab Goswami was granted interim bail by the Supreme Court on 11 November 2020, Kamra made a series of tweets critical of the Supreme Court. Eight people accused Kamra of contempt of court and sued him.[23] The Attorney General K. K. Venugopal gave his mandatory approval to initiate contempt proceedings related to the tweets.[24] Kamra said he continued to believe that "the silence of the Supreme Court of India on matters of other's personal liberty cannot go uncriticised." He does not intend to retract the tweets nor apologise for them. He asked that the time that may be allotted for hearing his contempt case should be spent on more important cases pending before the court.[25][26]

Filmography

List of Shut Up Ya Kunal Episodes

No. Guests
1 Madhukeshwar Desai, (Vice-president of the BJP Youth Wing)
2 Priyanka Chaturvedi, (ex National Spokesperson, Congress)[27]
3 Kanhaiya Kumar and Umar Khalid (JNU students)
4 Karuna Nundy (Supreme Court Lawyer) and Siddharth Varadarajan (Co-founder, The Wire)
5 Shehla Rashid (ex Vice President, JNU) and Jignesh Mevani (MLA Vadgam, Gujarat)
6 Ravish Kumar, (NDTV Journalist)
7 Kavita Krishnan, Politburo Member, CPI-ML and Secretary, All India Progressive Women's Association (AIPWA)
8 Ravish Kumar (NDTV Journalist) [Part 2]
9 Asaduddin Owaisi, MP and President, All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM)
10 Atishi (Aam Aadmi Party) and Shweta Shalini (Bharatiya Janata Party)
11 Javed Akhtar (poet, lyricist, and screenwriter) and Yogendra Yadav (politician, psephologist, and President of Swaraj India)
12 Milind Deora (ex MP and President of Congress Mumbai) and Sachin Pilot (Deputy Chief Minister of Rajasthan)
13 Arvind Kejriwal (CM, Delhi, Aam Aadmi Party)
14 Javed Akhtar (poet, lyricist, and screenwriter) and Yogendra Yadav (politician, psephologist, and President of Swaraj India) (Part 2)
15 Anubhav Sinha (Director) and Anand Gandhi
16 Manish Sisodia (Deputy CM, Delhi) and Sanjay Singh (Rajyasabha MP) (Aam Aadmi Party)
17 Tejasvi Surya (MP, Bangalore South, Bharatiya Janata Party)[28]
18 Sanjay Raut (MP, Rajya Sabha, Maharashtra, Shiv Sena)[29]
19 Mr. Nishith Desai (Lawyer) and Suril Desai (Analyst), Nishith Desai Associates[30]

Other works

Name Year Genre Platform Notes
Canvas Laugh Club[citation needed] 2013 Comedy YouTube Live stand-up shows.
One Mic Stand 2019 Comedy Amazon Prime Video Mentor to Shashi Tharoor
Why Are We Even[31] 2020 Art

Podcast

YouTube Philosophical conversations and creative videos on existential issues. Five episodes till October 2020, on/with Rajneesh, Aamir Aziz, Irrfan Khan, Kanhaiya Kumar, Acharya Prashant, and Anand Gandhi.
Team Baan: Monday Morning Podcast[32][33] 2020 Podcast YouTube Weekly political discussions with (the owner of Twitter parody account named) 'ROFL Gandhi'.

References

  1. ^ a b "About Kunal Kamra". YouTube.
  2. ^ a b Kureshi, Nagwa (25 February 2016). "Kunal Kamra chance encounter with stand up comedy". Hindustan Times. Archived from the original on 21 March 2019.
  3. ^ Murthy, Neeraja (17 July 2017). "Murthy, Neeraja (2017-07-17). "Bring your brains along". The Hindu. Retrieved 22 May 2018". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 15 October 2018.
  4. ^ a b Chatterjee, Suprateek (16 March 2018). "Kunal Kamra: The accidental revolutionary". Livemint. Retrieved 27 February 2020.
  5. ^ a b c Merelli, Annalisa. "Ultra right-wing versus ultra spineless—Kunal Kamra sums up Indian politics in 2019". Quartz India. Archived from the original on 1 November 2019. Retrieved 20 November 2019.
  6. ^ "D'souza, Dipti Nagpaul (11 March 2018). "Don't Get Mad, Get Funny: Kunal Kamra on why his standup comedy is edgy, funny but completely safe". The Indian Express. Retrieved 27 May 2018". Archived from the original on 21 March 2019.
  7. ^ a b "'Nobody Buys a Ticket to Put You on a Pedestal of Wokeness': Kunal Kamra, on the Potential & Limitations of Political Comedy in India". Dead Ant. 22 May 2019. Retrieved 20 November 2019.
  8. ^ "Stand-up comedian Kunal Kamra receives death threats for his sketch on patriotism". Firstpost. 16 March 2017. Archived from the original on 20 March 2018. Retrieved 5 February 2020.
  9. ^ "Kunal Kamra asked to vacate his house: 'As a comedian having a political opinion comes at a cost'". Firstpost. 25 January 2018. Archived from the original on 31 March 2018. Retrieved 5 February 2020.
  10. ^ a b "Kunal Kamra – Artist Profile". eventseeker.com. Retrieved 20 November 2019.
  11. ^ a b Rao, Soumya. "A new Indian comedy podcast is finally making politicians laugh. How many will say Shut Up Ya Kunal?". Scroll.in. Archived from the original on 21 March 2019. Retrieved 20 November 2019.
  12. ^ "Kunal Kamra – Artist Profile". eventseeker.com. Retrieved 27 February 2020.
  13. ^ "Modi & Goswami 'Have Done More Damage To Indian Media Than Anyone': PeeingHuman Creator Ramit Verma". Dead Ant. 18 February 2019. Archived from the original on 20 October 2019. Retrieved 20 November 2019.
  14. ^ a b "Anurag Kashyap refuses to fly IndiGo to support comedian Kunal Kamra". gulfnews.com. Archived from the original on 4 February 2020. Retrieved 5 February 2020.
  15. ^ "Kunal Kamra barred from flying Indigo, Air India". The Hindu. 28 January 2020. Archived from the original on 30 January 2020. Retrieved 5 February 2020.
  16. ^ "SpiceJet bans Kunal Kamra, Twitter reminds the airline of Pragya Thakur incident". Bangalore Mirror. Archived from the original on 5 February 2020. Retrieved 5 February 2020.
  17. ^ a b NETWORK, LIVELAW NEWS (1 February 2020). "Kunal Kamra Issues Legal Notice To Indigo Airlines Against Travel Ban; Demands Rs. 25L Compensation [Read Notice]". livelaw.in. Archived from the original on 5 February 2020. Retrieved 5 February 2020.
  18. ^ Chowdhury, Anirban (2 February 2020). "Is Kunal Kamra right in seeking damages from IndiGo for flying ban? Here's what experts say". The Economic Times. Retrieved 5 February 2020.
  19. ^ Chandra, Jagriti (30 January 2020). "Kunal Kamra was not unruly, says IndiGo pilot who flew the comedian". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 1 February 2020. Retrieved 5 February 2020.
  20. ^ Mishra, Mihir; Chowdhury, Anirban (31 January 2020). "And the joke's on… Kunal Kamra flight bans". The Economic Times. Retrieved 5 February 2020.
  21. ^ Scroll Staff. "Watch: Passengers onboard an IndiGo flight protest against flying ban on comedian Kunal Kamra". Scroll.in. Retrieved 7 February 2020.
  22. ^ ""Show Proof...": Stand-Up Comic Dares Hindu Group After Show Cancelled". NDTV.com. Retrieved 11 September 2022.
  23. ^ "Comedian Kunal Kamra Faces Contempt Charges Over Supreme Court Tweets". NDTV.com. 12 November 2020. Retrieved 13 November 2020.
  24. ^ "Initiate criminal contempt against Kunal Kamra for derogatory tweets against Supreme Court judge, says Attorney General". Hindustan Times. 12 November 2020. Retrieved 12 November 2020.
  25. ^ Correspondent, Legal (13 November 2020). "Kunal Kamra refuses to apologise, retract his tweets". The Hindu. Retrieved 13 November 2020.
  26. ^ Service, Tribune News. "'No lawyers, no apology': Comedian Kunal Kamra reacts to 'contempt proceedings' against him". Tribuneindia News Service. Retrieved 13 November 2020.
  27. ^ ""Please Don't 'Shut Up Ya Kunal': Enjoying Politics Through Comedy". The Quint. Retrieved 27 May 2018". Archived from the original on 15 October 2018.
  28. ^ Shut Up Ya Kunal – Episode 17 : Tejasvi Surya, retrieved 3 April 2020
  29. ^ "Shut Up Ya Kunal – Episode 18 : Sanjay Raut". YouTube. Retrieved 18 November 2020.
  30. ^ Shut Up Ya Kunal - Episode 19 : Cryptocurrencies, retrieved 4 January 2022
  31. ^ Why Are We Even – Chapter 5 : Kanhaiya Kumar (in Hindi), retrieved 13 August 2020
  32. ^ Team Baan – Episode 1 (in Hindi), retrieved 20 September 2020
  33. ^ "What is #TeamBaan? Here's all you need to know". Free Press Journal. Retrieved 3 October 2020.

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