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The Habitat where Kunal Kamra had shot his YouTube special found itself in political firestorm. Shiv Sena workers descended upon The Habitat after Kamra’s skit on Eknath Shinde caused furore.
The Habitat, the club where Kunal Kamra performed his controversial political skit on Eknath Shinde, faces closure amid vandalism. (Kunal Kamra / YouTube)
“Temporarily closed,” reads Habitat’s status upon a Google search. The Habitat, a venue that once hosted stand-up comedians, poets, and musicians has shut down. Indefinitely. The venue became the centre of controversy where comedian Kunal Kamra had shot his recent political-satire special titled “Naya Bharat”. Kamra, in his special, targeted Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, calling him a “gaddar”. Angered by the alleged defamatory remarks, Shiv Sena workers (Eknath Shinde faction) descended upon the venue and caused mayhem. Videos of the act were taped and shared online as vandalism of the property caused a massive uproar far and wide.
“Mumbai lacks parks, public spaces, & affordable hangouts. No vibrant cafe culture like DEL or BLR. Not everyone can afford a ₹5000 seat at NMACC. Youth are priced out of leisure—Habitat was a refuge, now it’s gone. A city without art or culture is just real estate,” a user on ‘X’ wrote in a grim post.
The Habitat
Located inside the Hotel Unicontinental in Mumbai’s Khar, The Habitat was a hot spot for budding artists and comedians to showcase their talent and engage in creative outlet. “A space for stand-up comedy, improv comedy, storytelling, intimate music gigs, performance poetry, movie screenings, live sports screenings, open mics and smaller conferences,” the description on The Habitat’s website reads.
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“The Habitat is known for its live gig recording services. A super cozy space with state of the art audio and video recording. Several stand-up comedy specials, comedy gigs and poetry videos are recorded live at The Habitat.”
Comedians Varun Grover, Abhishek Upmanyu, Biswa Kalyan Rath, Sonali Thakker among others have taken the stage at The Habitat and filmed and released their comedy sets on YouTube to millions of views.
Founded by Balraj Singh Ghai, a 53-year-old Mumbai-based businessman, The Habitat Club opened its doors in 2016. Ghai took over his father’s hotel and incorporated a venue to accommodate quick bites, beverages, and live acts.
The Habitat Shuts Down
“The Habitat is not involved in the making of the recent video of Kunal Kamra and does not endorse the views expressed in it. We extend a sincere and heartfelt apology to all those hurt by the video.”
The studio swiftly apologised as Kamra’s video gained sizeable traction across social media platforms.
In a follow-up post on their Instagram handle, the comedy club announced that they were shutting down. “Artists are solely responsible for their views and creative choices. We have never been involved in the content performed by any Artist, but the recent events have made us rethink about how we get blamed and targeted every time almost like we are a proxy for the performer,” the club wrote. “We are shocked, worried, and extremely broken by the recent acts of vandalism targeting us.”
“We are shutting down till we figure out the best way to provide a platform for free expression without putting ourselves and our property in jeopardy. We invite all artists, audience and stakeholders to discuss and share their views freely and request your guidance so that we also respect the performers’ rights,” the studio wrote in the post.
The studio further urged for “constructive conversations and not destruction” and that they did not support “hate or harm of any kind”.
Kunal Kamra On The Habitat
A total of 12 party workers were arrested and later granted bail after videos of The Habitat being defaced floated online. The cops registered a case against 40 Shiv Sena workers.
“An entertainment venue is merely a platform. A space for all sorts of shows. Habitat (or any other venue) is not responsible for my comedy, nor does it have any power or control over what I say or do. Neither does any political party,” Kamra slammed the Shiv Sena in a strong-worded response to the controversy.
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The Habitat – Collateral Damage
Vir Das, a veteran, in an Instagram post, highlighted that Kamra and the venue weren’t the only ones caught in a spot. But many lost their job after The Habitat’s closure.
“While everyone has a larger discussion as they should, I’d like to direct your attention to a smaller picture. Last month, this week, and for the indefinite future at the Habitat, an artistic venue in Mumbai. You will find people without work. These include waiters, cooks, sound engineers, light engineers, kitchen staff, front-of-house staff, writers, poets, new comedians in multiple languages, professional comedians in multiple languages, improv artists, theatre plays, video editors, filmmakers, and storytellers,” Das wrote.
What Did Kunal Kamra Do?
Kamra took shots at Shiv Sena chief Eknath Shinde using the altered lyrics of ‘Bholi Si Surat’ track from 1997’s Dil to pagal hai. “Meri nazar se tum dekho to gaddar nazar wo aaye,” Kamra said while reading out the lyrics of the popular song on stage. The modified song was to highlight Shinde’s rebellion against Uddhav Thackeray-led MVA government in Maharashtra in 2022. This was received well by the audience at The Habitat.
Kamra later asserted that he would not fold and apologise.
“As far as I know, it is not against the law to poke fun at our leaders and the circus that is our political system,” he wrote. “I don’t fear this mob and I will not be hiding under my bed waiting for this to die down.”
The Habitat Backs India’s Got Latent
Samay Raina’s YouTube show India’s Got Latent which was immensely popular among the masses was halted in its tracks last month after one of his guests – Ranveer Allahabadia aka BeerBiceps – asked one the contestants on the show a question that stirred nationwide controversy that even the Supreme Court of India had to step in.
The question was: “Watch your parents have sex every day for the rest of your life. Or would you join in once and stop it forever?”
India’s Got Latent faced shutdown and all the videos related to the show vanished from YouTube. Paramjit Singh Ghai, father of The Habitat owner, was a frequent on the panel of the show and extended his support towards Raina and other artists.
“Hello, friends. You know me by the name Papa Ghai. A true gentleman gave you the Habitat, gave you laughter, brought humour into life. And these youngsters – what are they doing? They are giving you real, unfiltered laughter. Are we really going to put so many obstacles in the way of humour and laughter?” he said in the video.
“Comedy is back at the Habitat,” read the Instagram caption of the now-deleted video.
