Stand-up comedian Pulkit Mani has called off his shows in Lucknow and Kanpur. The Noida one is gone too. He put it out on Instagram on Sunday, saying he’d been getting repeated threats from “goon activists.”
First he posted about the Noida show. Unforeseen circumstances, he wrote, and apologised to the people who’d bought tickets. A bit later came the second post. Lucknow and Kanpur were cancelled as well, same reason — threats.
All this blew up after he performed at Rahul Gandhi’s Chhatron Ki Goonj event in Indore on 19 September. It was a student programme. Mani came on stage, hugged Gandhi, and started doing his Modi act. The accent, the hand movements, the “my friend” line Modi uses with foreign leaders. Gandhi played along and asked “How are you, Modi ji?” The crowd laughed. One line about “Maa ko kursi do, maa” — referring to that time Modi asked for a chair for an old woman — stuck in people’s minds. Congress shared the clips. They spread fast.
BJP leaders went after it hard. They said it was disrespectful, especially the mother reference. Piyush Goyal called it cheap political theatre. Others said Gandhi was misleading the youth. Actor Ranvir Shorey also took a dig, pointing out the irony of the Congress party mocking that line.
Congress side said it was just mimicry, political satire. Nothing more. Some leaders said Gandhi was only laughing with everyone else in the hall.
Mani is the guy who does these political impressions on Instagram under @hunnywhoisfunny. He’s got a decent following — over six lakh on Instagram, more than a lakh on YouTube. Used to teach French before comedy. His earlier Modi videos had already got him noticed, and sometimes restricted.
After Indore he posted something about going underground. Then the cancellations. He hasn’t given more details about the threats. No names, no screenshots. Just the statement. It’s not clear if the venues cancelled or if he decided himself for safety.
People who had tickets are upset. Some are supporting him, saying no one should get threatened for a comedy bit. Others feel he stepped into politics and now has to deal with the reaction. The usual back-and-forth between the two parties is still going on.
For now the three shows are off. Mani hasn’t said anything further. Whether this affects his other gigs remains to be seen. A comedy act on a political stage has once again turned into a full-blown row, and the comedian is the one dealing with cancelled dates and alleged threats.
Sources: Times of India, Indian Express, Scroll.in, Hindustan Times, ABP Live, Moneycontrol, Mathrubhumi, News9, LiveMint, The Hindu.
@Rohit Manral
