Samay Raina starts Bihari-Kashmiri roast war on Latent. Comedian Sharon fires back

A roast exchange between Samay Raina and Sharon Verma took a personal turn in the latest episode of India’s Got Latent, as the two comedians traded jokes about their roots. What began as comic sparring escalated when Sharon hit back after Samay joked about her Bihar background, drawing strong reactions from the panel and audience.The exchange stood out because both comedians have built recognisable comic identities around their backgrounds. Sharon became widely known after her 2024 appearance on India’s Got Latent, while Samay has often spoken about his Kashmiri Pandit roots and his family’s displacement from Kashmir.During the episode, Samay said, “She’s so Bihari, she thinks Ebola means someone said something.” Sharon replied, “Samay is so Kashmiri, he loves getting stoned.” Samay then said, “You know, Sharon Verma is a Bihari who came to Mumbai in search of a job. Just Bihari things.” Sharon answered, “At least I left my state by my choice.”Samay Raina casually started a war between Bihari Vs Kashmiri on India's Got LatentSamay Raina: "She's so Bihari, she thinks Ebola means someone said something."Sharon Verma: "Samay is so Kashmiri, he loves getting stoned."Samay Raina: "You know, Sharon Verma is a— Neha Patel (@Neha_S_Patel) August 28, 2026Sharon Verma rose to prominence after appearing on Samay Raina’s India’s Got Latent in 2024. Her deadpan comic timing and jokes about being from Bihar, her unusual name and, most notably, calling herself a “weak, independent woman” quickly drew attention. Clips from that set went viral on social media and made her a widely recognised internet personality. Samay Raina on Kashmir exodusSamay Raina, meanwhile, comes from a Kashmiri Pandit family whose history is closely tied to the community’s displacement from Kashmir. In his stand-up special Still Alive, Raina described what he called “Kashmiri Pandit wisdom” as the idea of choosing survival when a fight is unwinnable. He linked that idea to his family’s experience of leaving Kashmir and later referred to it while speaking about the backlash around India’s Got Latent.In an earlier members-only episode of India’s Got Latent 2, Raina also referred to his roots and his family’s displacement during a conversation with contestant Vanika Raikta. Raghav Juyal, Munawar Faruqui, Niharika NM, Rohan Joshi and Samay Raina were on the panel. Vanika said her family owned apple orchards in Shimla, that her brother had sold a part of the land, that the family still owned several orchards, and that both her parents worked as teachers in government schools.After hearing this, Raghav asked Samay whether his family too had an apple orchard in Kashmir. Samay replied, “We had a lot of things.” As Raghav patted him on the back, Samay turned to Munawar and joked, “Now, talk about this?” Munawar raised his hand and replied, “It wasn’t me,” prompting laughter from the panel and audience. Samay then added, “This happened to us, he won’t say anything now.”The exodus of Kashmiri Pandits in the early 1990s displaced generations of families, forcing many to leave the Valley overnight and abandon their homes and livelihoods. Samay Raina’s family was among those who left after militancy escalated.Speaking earlier on the Dostcast podcast, he said, “It really affects you—you lose your entire childhood, your entire identity. All Kashmiri Pandits had to leave. Kashmiri Pandits don’t have a place that gives them a sense of belonging.” He also said people of his generation felt scared to return to Kashmir and recalled his mother becoming emotional when she went back after many years and saw that nothing was left.Raina also said letters had been circulated naming people who were to be killed the following day, and recalled that his mother and grandmother fainted after receiving one stating that his grandfather would be killed.He said, “We packed our belongings overnight—my grandparents, my mother, my aunt, the entire family left thinking we would return in two weeks. It’s been 25 years.” He added that local Kashmiri Muslims stood by his grandfather, who had often treated people for free when they could not afford medical care, and helped him leave safely. His family later moved from Jammu to Delhi and then settled in Hyderabad. Samay was 12 years old then.- EndsPublished By: Priyanka SharmaPublished On: Aug 29, 2026 08:56 IST