The war of words between actor Mukesh Khanna and stand-up comedian Samay Raina is escalating by the day. In the latest turn of events, Mukesh who used to essay the popular superhero Shaktimaan, has expressed his displeasure with Samay’s comments where the comic said the TV show motivated children to jump off rooftops.

Mukesh, in response, called Samay’s content “ashleel” or vulgar.

But first, here’s how it started. In 2025, Samay’s controversial YouTube talent show India's Got Latent attracted controversy for its content which people called offensive and obscene. Mukesh had called it “filth” and claimed it was negatively impacting the youth.

Recently, on his comedy special Still Alive, Samay took a jibe saying it was in fact Mukesh’s Shaktimaan that hurt children: “Tune bachche maare hain, tu kya moral high ground lekar baitha hai?”

Mukesh, 67, tells us, “Ye aadmi khud ko itna bada samajh raha hai ki Shaktimaan ko critisise kar raha hai! Jab poora desh Shaktimaan ke saath hai, agar Samay saath nahin hai toh koi fark nahin padta mujhe.” He also said that India’s Got Latent should not return for season 2: “Ye show nahin aane dena chahiye. Khule aam gaaliyan de rahe hain. I have a complaint against listeners who laugh at such words, and platforms who allow such content.”

We reached out to Samay, but received no comment till the time of going to press.

During his special Still Alive, Samay also made several comments about YouTuber Ranveer Allahbadia, whose joke became one of the most controversial highlights of India’s Got Latent. Samay even claimed that Ranveer “ruined his mental health”. Ranveer has now indirectly taken a dig at Samay, during a recent interaction with a paparazzo. He said, “Hum dono ka samay chal raha hai.” When the paparazzo brought up Samay Raina’s name, Ranveer replied, “Samay… kaun Samay? Kya Samay? Humara time. It’s our time, my time is now.”