Comedian Kunal Kamra has rejected an offer to join the next season of the Salman Khan-hosted reality show Bigg Boss, he said on Tuesday, claiming that he would rather “check into a mental hospital”.
The development comes amid the raging controversy over his jokes at the Mumbai Habitat Studio, which was vandalised by Shiv Sena workers following the show.
Kamra shared what appears to be a WhatsApp conversation between him and one of the casting directors of the JioHotstar show on his Instagram story.
The purported text message from the casting director reads, “l am handling the casting for this season of Bigg boss and your name came up as someone they might find interesting. I know it might not have been on your radar, but honestly, it's such a mad platform to show your real vibe and win over a massive audience. What do you think? Should we talk about it?”
In his reply, Kamra says, “I would much rather check into a mental asylum.”
Adding his classic humour to the post, Kamra set the post to the music of Salman Khan’s Radhe title track.
As Kamra grapples with political uproar over his parody song mocking Maharashtra deputy chief minister Eknath Shinde, reports of BookMyShow delisting the artist on their platform recently went viral on social media. In response, Kamra wrote an open letter, requesting the online ticketing platform to either not delist him or to hand over the contact information of audience members he has earned through his solo shows over the years.
Despite an FIR being lodged against him by Shiv Sena MLA Murji Patel after the show, Kamra has refused to apologise, asserting his right to free speech.
Season 18 of Bigg Boss, a popular reality show, ended on January 19. The next season of the show, hosted by Salman Khan, is likely to begin later this year.
