If you’ve opened X (Twitter for millennials) recently and wondered, “Why is Kunal Kamra trending again?”, here’s the tea: he might’ve been quietly kicked off BookMyShow – and he’s not staying silent about it.
We all know how it started, almost a pattern now. Kamra performed a satirical song (without taking names, mind you) that allegedly offended some goons as according to them, it poked fun at Maharashtra Deputy CM Eknath Shinde. Predictably, chaos followed. Shiv Sena supporters vandalized the Mumbai venue where he performed, and a police complaint was filed. Then, like a bad magic trick, Kamra’s shows started disappearing from BookMyShow.
After reports emerged that the ticketing platform may have delisted his shows following political backlash, Kamra, wrote an open letter to the ticketing platform, calling out the system without calling for a boycott. In a calm but cutting open letter to BookMyShow, the stand-up comic questioned whether the platform had quietly delisted him and acknowledged BookMyShow’s rights as a private business but criticized its control over ticket listings and limited data access for artists. He highlighted that performers invest heavily in promotions while the platform retains a 10% cut, yet denies access to audience contact information gathered through shows.
Addressing the ticketing platform directly, Kamra wrote, “What I’m requesting is simple: please ensure that you hand over the contact information of the audiences you’ve collected from my solo shows so that I can continue living my life with dignity and work towards a fair livelihood. As a solo artist, especially in the world of comedy, we are both the show and the production. For instance, if I performed at the Pune Comedy Festival with 30 other artists, that would be considered comedy’s collective data. But my solo shows—that’s my audience. The least I deserve, should you choose to delist me, is access to them.
With that in mind, I request one of the following: Do not delist me, or provide me with the data (contact information) I’ve generated through your platform from my audience.”
In response, BookMyShow responded to Kunal Kamra’s open letter with a statement claiming neutrality and clarifying that listing or delisting shows is solely the decision of organizers or venues – not the platform itself. Addressing claims of political pressure following Kamra’s satirical performance referencing Eknath Shinde, BookMyShow asserted it does not restrict artists from selling tickets elsewhere and does not endorse the content of any performance. The company insisted it operates within legal norms and aims to provide shared experiences for all.
Kamra, clearly unconvinced, clapped back with a savage Bollywood meme that left the internet howling. As memes flew and users began downrating the app, the face-off between the comedian and the ticketing giant became a bigger conversation – about artistic freedom, platform accountability, and who really controls the stage.
But let’s be honest – in today’s platform economy, pretending to be just the middleman feels like a cop-out. So, whether you’re a Kamra stan or just here for the drama, know this: this fight isn’t just about comedy. It’s about creators, platforms, and who actually gets to own the spotlight they built.
