Kunal Kamra row: The Habitat Studio shuts down amid Shiv Sena backlash

A viral comedy clip by stand-up comic Kunal Kamra has triggered massive backlash from Shiv Sena (Shinde faction) leaders and supporters.

Transcript

00:00The Habitat studio in Mumbai has temporarily shut down after workers of the Shiv Sena Shinde

00:11faction vandalised the hotel housing in Hotel Unicontinental in Khar.

00:15BMC officials were also seen arriving at the Habitat studio with hammers.

00:20The attack came after a video of comedian Kunal Kamra's show went viral in which he

00:24appeared to mock Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde.

00:28In a show titled Naya Bharat, Kamra discussed contemporary politics and took a dig at Shinde

00:33calling him a traitor for having split the Shiv Sena and aligned with the BJP.

00:38This is a grab of that controversial clip.

00:40It was shared by Kamra himself.

00:42It shows him singing a spoof of a song from Dil Toh Pagal Hai.

00:45In the parody, Kamra refers to Shinde as a leader from Thane and doesn't explicitly

00:50name Shinde but he does make remarks about Shinde's physical appearance and his equation

00:54with Chief Minister Divendra Fadnavis.

00:57The clip sparked outrage among Shinde supporters.

00:59Party workers vandalised Hotel Unicontinental where the show was filmed.

01:03This was followed by Shiv Sena MLA Muruji Patel filing a police complaint against Kamra.

01:08An FIR was registered and senior party members issued threats to Kamra.

01:27In a statement, Habitat said they were shocked and broken by the vandalism.

01:45The studio has now shut operations temporarily, saying artists are responsible for their own

01:50content and that it does not interfere with the creative choices.

01:53Incidentally, the same studio used to host the controversial India's Got Latent show

01:57until one of its episodes sparked outrage, forcing host Sameer Rehna to shut it down.

02:02Kunal Kamra has not issued a direct response to the FIR or threats.

02:07He did post this though, a photo of him holding India's constitution.