Opinion | Two Comedians, One Mistake: Why Pranit More Didn’t Learn From Samay Raina’s Show

“Wise men learn by others’ harm; fools by their own.” 

Pranit More had enough examples to learn from and save himself from the harm, but he still walked into the same flame that engulfed his contemporary, Samay Raina. The similarity is uncanny. Both of them are facing FIRs over jokes they never cracked but were there. Because complicity has a cost, and in the world of social media, sometimes silence speaks louder than words. For Samay Raina, it was Ranveer Allahbadia who brought the house down and took everyone along, even the audience, when he asked: “Would you rather…” 

One would imagine that episode served as a warning for every comedian working in the digital age. Apparently, it did not.

In Pranit More’s case, it was a 22-year-old Gurugram guy who minced no words in depicting his date with a girl and how he tried to “Rasool” Rs 370 Biryani. Samay was silent in the episode; Pranit seemed interested in knowing more. The mistake: neither shot down the joke. So, history repeated itself, and India has one more stand-up comedian who is now fighting a legal battle. Clearly, comedy involves a lot of jokes, but being a comic is no joke. It is a business more serious than one thinks. 

Gurugram man Himanshu Jangra lost his job, and Pranit More his credibility. He distanced himself from the comments after backlash, but the damage had been done. “I’ve seen the criticism regarding a recent crowdwork clip. The comments made by the audience member do not reflect my views. Looking back, I should have challenged the remark instead of laughing and moving on. That was a lapse in judgement on my part.”

An FIR has been registered against Pranit More. The National Commission for Women is aware of the situation, and criticism keeps building up. However, there is something more profound than the legal repercussions of such an incident, and that is the loss of basic decency. The question is: is vitality becoming more important than human decency? 

The comic, whose responsibility it is to make sure that there are no offensive comments among the audience, did nothing but laugh it off. Furthermore, he posted it online. The recent controversy again reminds us of how Indian stand-up comedians have often crossed the line but have landed in legal trouble sooner or later. Samay Raina is another big example. Who can forget how,the young chap faced nationwide outrage and legal scrutiny over India’s Got Latent joke. 

Pranit More had all the time in the world to learn a thing or two from Samay Raina’s controversy. But did he? Unfortunately, he did not.  

There is no doubt that Samay Raina bore the brunt of being the host and the gatekeeper of the reality TV show India’s Got Latent. Although the comment was made by Ranveer Allahbadia in his would-you-rather question, which led to public outrage, Samay was responsible for broadcasting the controversial remarks since he controlled the platform and put out the video. Samay also admitted to the media that there were several other instances in the same show where Ranveer made even more controversial remarks, but those were edited out. There was one joke that stayed and still cost Samay his show and landed him in legal trouble.

What Samay Raina experienced ought to be a lesson for all comedians. The response to India’s Got Latent was indicative of how digital comedy no longer exists in isolation. They are broadcast entertainers with lakhs of people listening to their jokes. It is imperative that what is said on stage does not remain confined to the stage only. Pranit More had the power to confront the inherent entitlement in the ‘Rs. 370 biryani’ comment. However, what he did was to reinforce an outlook where women get to be the butt of jokes and coercion in the joke itself.

Recent incidents only suggest that comedians sometimes fail to distinguish between humour and vulgarity. Not everything comes under freedom of speech and even freedom comes with responsibilities, especially when you are a public figure. Freedom of speech has been an essential component of comedy. But, so has accountability.

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