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Why Samay Raina is the Face of Indian Gen Z’s Entertainment Craze

When you’re feeling down, what is the one thing you do? various people may have various answers to this question. It may be calling their favorite person for some people. Some could prefer total seclusion with their selected piece of material, while others might find it in cleaning or self-care.

Anything can be included in this topic, and it usually depends on your personality. Some might be enjoying a comedy, while others might be watching a mystery thriller. This is the situation with Muskan Gupta, a 25-year-old Assamese woman whose mind yearns for something humorous that might serve as a “distraction” from the “real world” when she is depressed.

This is where Samay Raina, the popular Kashmiri stand-up comedian, comes in for many young people, especially Gen Zers like Muskan. When they’re feeling down, Samay is the answer for some people, like Muskan. Others, such as Delhi NCR fashion designer Shambhavi Jha, who says she watches Samay and his show India’s Got Latent while eating lunch or supper or as a hobby with friends, said she loves Arijit Singh’s music when she’s down.

Young Indians who enjoy dark comedy watch a lot of India’s Got Latent, a reality program that is a spin-off of India’s Got Talent (both series have the same IMDb rating of 5.4).

Samay initially carved a niche following, especially during Covid-19, due to his chess videos on YouTube. He made the game, which was considered ‘a gentleman’s game’, into a ‘non-serious’ one due to his funny commentary. But he received mass validation after winning Comicstaan Season 2, and his name grew exponentially when he started his own reality show in 2024. But what was different? Well, unlike the other Indian reality shows which are often called out for being scripted, Samay’s show started taking credit for being ‘unscripted, unfiltered and raw’.

“He talks like how we talk to our friends, so it’s relatable on the ground level,” says Reejak, a 20-year-old student and content writer from Delhi. Reejak says that he rediscovered Samay during the pandemic when he started streaming YouTube videos with Tanmay Bhatt but initially found him ‘annoying’. But now, Samay’s content has become Reejak’s ‘comfort space’.

When we asked different young people who subscribe to India’s Got Latent to describe what makes Samay and his comedy so appealing, the word “relatable” came up most frequently. Samay is more relatable because, as Reejak said, he treats everyone on his show—including contestants and celebrities—like his buddies. “I like Samay because of his unique sense of humour, relatable content which actually resonates with many people. His comic timing is also very good and his ability to address social issues with a light-hearted approach is brilliant,” says Shambhavi.

Samay has millions of online fans today. However, how did he and his show become so sympathetic and quickly amass such a large internet following? The dark humor has the solution.

In India, roasts and dark humor are not novel ideas. Although we all know how it ended, All India Bakchod (AIB) was actually renowned for having a similar concept. However, audiences today appear to be enjoying this comparable approach (times have changed). We also tried to understand the sudden appreciation of “dark humor” by talking to a variety of experts. Even though Samay stated in a recent podcast with Prakhar Gupta that he would not consider himself a purveyor of dark humor, which is characterized by dismal or satirical content, his fans and the internet do refer to him as such because of his widely shared online videos.

Shreya Kaul, a counselling psychologist, explains that what makes him so relatable is his comic style, which is undeniably quick, sharp, and witty, particularly in live, improvisational formats. She says he excels in turning situations around and delivering retorts that leave audiences in splits. For many, this quick wit is both impressive and aspirational. Watching someone handle banter so effortlessly can be both entertaining and inspiring, offering a sense of connectedness. “Comedy, especially dark comedy, has always been a powerful tool for connection and catharsis. It can make taboo topics more approachable and help people confront their fears. In the controlled environment of a comedy show, audiences often feel safe to laugh at things they wouldn’t in other contexts,” she explains.

Shreya further explains that Samay’s show allows for greater creative freedom than traditional, heavily curated television comedies like The Great Indian Laughter Challenge. “Platforms like YouTube provide more room for experimentation and risk-taking, which Samay has leveraged well,” she says.

Dipra Agarwal, a counselling psychologist at Allen Career Institute, Bangalore, who is also a paid member of Samay’s India’s Got Latent, explains that audiences find him relatable because of the way he has presented himself. “I saw his podcast with Prakhar and realised that Samay was bullied a lot as a kid. That explains a lot, and why he is this way,” she says.

Dipra mentions that if you look closely, you will find that it is Samay’s journey that is so appealing to people- a young boy, who was bullied so much and now has turned his life and is achieving dreams not only for himself but for his parents as well.

Absy Sam, a counselling psychologist, says roast culture and dark humour have gained prominence recently, partly because they tap into frustrations and societal stereotypes that many suppress. By bringing these issues to the surface in a relatable way, such humour, resonates with audiences.

Another reason which makes Samay more likeable, according to audiences and experts, is his ability to crack jokes on himself. “Samay’s skill in engaging with his co-performers and handling their jabs as well as his own, creates a sense of camaraderie for the audience,” says Shreya.

Some individuals are easily offended by dark humor and shows like India’s Got Latent since they are not for everyone.

Tinkesh Kaushik, the first triple amputee to walk to Everest Base Camp, tells India Today that it is not black humor to treat people with impairments disrespectfully. In the past, Tinkesh has criticized Samay Raina for a specific joke in which one of the competitors ridiculed someone with impairments, causing the judges and Raina to all chuckle. “If I am making fun of myself and my insecurities, that is okay. Someone who is not disabled and has privilege can’t be disrespecting people and our community, especially now when we have worked so hard for raising awareness and sensitivity amongst people,” says Tinkesh. Others believe that the crude language being used is the issue.

What constitutes a problem and what does not? The boundary is narrow and hazy. It is also perplexing to experts. “The idea is to be funny and express oneself, and what one is as a person generally shows through jokes. Being hurt and offended are by-products that I don’t deliberately seek nor try to avoid beyond a certain sensibility,” explains Navin Kumar, a stand-up comic.

Even though Samay’s fan base frequently claims that black humor is all about being lighthearted, he and his show have occasionally been criticized for going too far. Absy says, “As a neurodivergent and disability-affirmative therapist, I often find that certain types of humour, like that showcased in Samay Raina’s performances, bring up complex emotions for me. His jokes—and sometimes the overall tone of his shows—tend to reinforce systemic ableism. This, in turn, can contribute to feelings of exclusion or the normalisation of pro-exclusion humour.”

On the other hand, Shreya claims that although some people find comfort in dark humor, particularly as a coping strategy for mental health issues, others find it offensive. Because it crosses boundaries that many people wouldn’t dare to cross themselves, dark comedy can provide spectators with a voyeuristic delight. According to Shreya, “this duality is intrinsic to the genre—what is liberating and empowering for one can feel offensive or insensitive to another.”

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