In 2025, comedian Samay Raina found himself embroiled in controversy after Ranveer Allahbadia’s remarks on his show, India’s Got Latent, sparked nationwide backlash. Following the controversy, Samay removed all episodes of India’s Got Latent from YouTube, and since then, fans have been waiting for his comeback. The wait is now over, as Samay has finally announced his new comedy special.
Samay Raina announces comeback after India’s Got Latent controversy
On Sunday, Samay took to Instagram and shared a video announcing his return with a new comedy special titled Still Alive. The video showed how India’s Got Latent began on 14 June 2024 and, after several successful episodes, faced a major setback on 10 February 2025. It also included the clip of Ranveer asking the question that sparked the backlash. The video further highlighted how Samay, along with Apoorva Mukhija, Ranveer and Ashish Chanchlani, faced threats and fought legal battles. The clip ended with him announcing his new comedy special. He captioned the post, “Let’s talk now…”
Ashish Chanchlani cheered for Samay in the comments and wrote, “Epic. Love you.” Fans also showered love on the comedian. One fan commented, “Watched it live, still can’t wait. The world is still not ready for it.” Another wrote, “Legend is back. Let’s go.” Another comment read, “This comeback feels personal.” One user wrote, “The comeback of 2026.” Another commented, “Tiger zinda hai.” One more fan added, “Ladies and gentlemen… you are still not ready for this.”
All about India’s Got Latent controversy
In February 2025, Apoorva Mukhija, Ashish Chanchlani and Ranveer Allahbadia appeared on the panel of Samay Raina’s show India’s Got Latent. During the episode, Ranveer’s question to a contestant about parents and sex sparked widespread outrage. Multiple FIRs were filed against him, Samay, Apoorva and Ashish. They were accused of promoting obscenity and engaging in sexually explicit conversation during the show.
Ranveer faced intense criticism for his remarks even after issuing a public apology online. Samay pulled down all episodes of the show from YouTube, while Apoorva faced rape threats online. However, in March, Ranveer returned with his show after the Supreme Court allowed him to resume his podcast. Apoorva also returned to making her storytelling videos, and Ashish made his comeback with his self-directed sci-fi series, Ekaki, on YouTube.
In a promotional video for Bold Care in May 2025, Samay admitted that he regretted not cutting Ranveer’s bite from the India’s Got Latent episode. He said, “Kai baar unwanted cheezein reh jaati hai life mein… Jisko baadmein dekhke regret karte ho ke kaash maine uss time yeh kat diya hota… Par bahut der ho gai hoti hai (Many times, unwanted things stay in life… which we later look back on and regret, thinking, ‘If only I had cut that out back then’… But by then, it is often too late).”
He also spoke about whether the show would return and said, “Woh toh Samay hi bata payega (Only time will tell)… Main nahi (And I am not talking about myself). You need to give it some time. Good things take time. Time is the best healer.”
