Weeks after it made headlines for being the venue of podcaster Ranveer Allahbadia’s remarks, the Habitat Comedy Club in Mumbai now stands shut following vandalism, two FIRs and a political controversy surrounding Kunal Kamra’s performance at the venue.
Kamra had taken a jibe at defection politics in Maharashtra, among other subjects, with a modified version of a Bollywood song that appeared to reference Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde. But hours after he uploaded a video clip from his show on YouTube on Sunday, scores of Shiv Sena workers descended on the venue and vandalised it during another performance.
Notably, Kamra’s show had actually taken place in January, the club’s management told Newslaundry. The controversy came months after as Sena workers came to know of his remarks only hours after he uploaded a video of his show on his YouTube channel on Sunday.
Two FIRs were lodged on Monday. Twelve Sena workers arrested in a suo motu case at Khar police station have been granted bail. In the case filed against him after a Sena MLA’s complaint at MIDC police station, Kunal Kamra reportedly told the police that he will apologise only if told to do so by court, NDTV reported citing sources.
Sena workers had ransacked the club at Unicontinental Hotel while audiences were at the venue for stand-up comedian Rajat Sood’s show. Sood refused to comment on the incident.
The hotel’s owner, Paramjit Singh Ghai, had thrown his weight behind comedians in the wake of the India’s Got Latent controversy. But this time, the nature of the backlash prompted a different response. The Habitat’s Instagram statement specifically distanced the venue from performer content: “Artists are solely responsible for their views and creative choices and we have never been involved in the content performed by them. But recent events have made us rethink how we get blamed and targeted every time, almost like we are the proxy for the performer.”
Meanwhile, a team of Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation went to the hotel on Monday afternoon to look into the property’s “structural plan”. The club operates from three floors of the hotel.
Newslaundry reached out to Ghai’s son and Habitat Comedy Club founder Balraj Singh for comment. This report will be updated if he responds.
What Kamra actually said
During his performance, Kamra delivered a modified version of a popular song from the 1997 Bollywood film Dil To Pagal Hai, directing pointed lyrics at Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde without explicitly naming him: “Thane ki rickshaw, chehre pe daadi, aankho me chashma haaye.. Ek jhalak dikhlaye kabhi Guwahati me chup jaaye.”
The lyrics continued with more direct political commentary: “Meri nazar se tum dekho gaddar nazar wo aaye… mantri nahi wo dalbadlu hai aur kaha kya jaaye.. jiss thali me khaye usme hi chhed kar jaaye.. mantralay se zyada Fadnavis ki godi me mil jaye… teer kaman mila hai isko baap mera yeh chahe.”
These words – referencing Shinde’s background as an auto-rickshaw driver from Thane, his beard and glasses, his retreat to Guwahati during the 2022 political crisis, and allegations of betrayal – were a jibe over the dramatic split in the Shiv Sena that toppled the Uddhav Thackeray government.
Kamra also referenced the complex political fragmentation that has left voters confused: “Shiv Sena first came out of the BJP, then Shiv Sena came out of Shiv Sena. NCP came out of NCP, now they have given nine buttons to one voter… Everyone got confused.”
After the FIR against him, he posted a picture holding the Constitution on X, saying it was the only way forward.
The FIRs
According to the FIR filed suo motu at Khar police station, Sena workers were allegedly told to vandalise the hotel by Sena’s Maharashtra social media head Rahool Kanal, and Yuva Sena leaders Kunal Sarmalkar and Akshay Panvelkar around 11 pm on Sunday. “Vandalise the entire hotel,” Kanal allegedly told his partymen, according to the FIR. Party workers subsequently smashed glasses and used chairs to destroy furniture and a refrigerator. The case was filed under BNS sections 353(1)B, 353(2) and 356(2) against 33 persons, including these three Sena leaders.
Police arrested 12 Sena members, including Kanal, who were granted bail by a magistrate court.
Kanal was a close aide of Aditya Thackeray and a core committee member of the Yuva Sena. He later joined the Shinde faction in July 2023, months after the Sena rebellion. A prominent Sena leader from Bandra, he is seen as someone with connections in the hospitality and film industries. He is a former trustee of Shree Sai Baba Sansthan, which manages the Saibaba temple.
Speaking to Newslaundry, Kunal Sarmalkar said, “If someone is going to talk in such a humiliating and objectionable manner about (Eknath Shinde) saheb, then we are going to beat them up.”
Before this FIR was lodged, Kanal submitted an application to the Khar police, saying that Kunal Kamra, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, and Shiv Sena (UBT) leaders Aaditya Thackeray and Sanjay Raut had conspired to tarnish Shinde’s reputation with degrading language.
Simultaneously, Shiv Sena MLA Murji Patel filed a complaint against Kamra, resulting in an FIR at the MIDC police station. Kamra faces charges under multiple sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, including 353(1)(b), 353(2) (statements conducive to public mischief), and 356(2) (defamation). Patel, as per his complaint, said he had received a link to Kamra’s show on Sunday night. After the FIR, he also issued Kamra a two-day ultimatum demanding an apology. Failure to comply, Patel warned, would result in escalated action against the comedian.
‘Staff tried to explain it wasn’t Kamra on stage’
Vanika Sangtani, a dastango, or Urdu storyteller, who was seated in the audience before Sena men stormed the venue on Sunday night, said she saw around 10 people approach the reception before Sood’s act around 10 pm.
“Around 10 pm, they approached the reception and asked one of the staff members, who was checking tickets, to call out Kunal Kamra. They were hurling abuses, claiming that Kamra had posted an objectionable video about their leader half an hour earlier and demanding the staff bring him out. The staff tried explaining that Rajat Sood was performing, not Kamra, and that the video was old, shot in the past. After a while, they went outside but returned with even more people. Police were also there by then,” she claimed.
“We entered the auditorium, and the show was about to begin. Around 10.25 pm, those individuals entered the basement auditorium, asking the audience to leave. They claimed they had no enmity with us but continued to argue with the Habitat staff, shouting insults and demanding to call Kamra in front of them…They accused the staff of being complicit, claiming that they must have received a script…Despite the police being present, the group was extremely aggressive,” Sangtani said.
“When the audience didn’t move, they first smashed the glass at the Habitat bar. At this point, the staff instructed everyone to exit through the back gate, which we did. The group then began vandalising the basement…It was in that same basement where Kunal Kamra had filmed his video…by the time the police attempted to take action, the mob had vandalised the basement, reception and left.”
A stand-up comedian, who has performed at Habitat multiple times and wished to remain anonymous, said that targeting Habitat is “unfair”. “If authorities begin targeting business owners, it will negatively impact the industry, and there will be no place left for such events. Habitat has always been supportive of artists and has taken a stand in the past. However, this time, they issued a statement saying that artists are responsible for their own views and performances. Controversies have occurred before, but the shows continued at the venue and they’ve never shut it down.”
Fadnavis backs FIR against Kamra
Political figures across the spectrum weighed in.
Chief Minister and BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis said legal action will be taken against Kamra. Fadnavis said that “we respect freedom of expression but recklessness will not be tolerated”. Speaking in the assembly, he said Kamra had a history of making such remarks.
Shiv Sena MP Naresh Mhaske issued what amounted to a threat, warning that Kamra would be “chased by party workers” and “forced to flee India”.
Shiv Sena leader Shaina NC took to X: “Did not know that you can RENT a comedian and use him as your PUPPET?!?!. Or as a mere diversionary tactic. Kamra’s comment, ‘Meri nazar se tum dekho to gaddar nazar wo aaye,’ is not comedy but its vulgarity. Obviously he does not know what it takes for an auto rickshaw driver to work his way with public support to emerge as a CM and DYCm of Maharashtra.”
Meanwhile, opposition parties including the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT) faction condemned the vandalism as “cowardly,” positioning the incident as evidence of authoritarian tendencies in the ruling coalition. “Kunal Kamra didn’t do anything wrong, he expressed his views,” said former chief minister Uddhav Thackeray.
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