Mukesh Khanna defends ad with Samay Raina, says it did not alter his Latent stand

Actor Mukesh Khanna has responded to criticism over his recent advertisement with comedian Samay Raina, which drew attention because of the actor’s earlier opposition to Raina’s show India’s Got Latent. Addressing the backlash, Khanna clarified that appearing alongside the comedian in a commercial does not mean he has changed his stance on the show.Speaking on Subhojit Ghosh’s podcast, the 68-year-old actor explained that the project was simply a mobile phone advertisement and was neither a collaboration with Samay Raina nor India’s Got Latent. He revealed that the brand spent nearly 10 days convincing him to participate in the campaign.Reacting to those who accused him of going back on his earlier position, Khanna questioned when he had ever praised Raina or expressed support for his show. “Mere log nahi bolenge ki main bik gaya. Agar mujhe kharidte toh main bhi gaali-galoch karta na? (My people won’t say that I sold out. If they had bought me off, I would have been swearing too, right?) Where did I bow down to say he is nice? He was trying... he is very smart. Shaktimaan nahi bik sakta hai, main uske show mein nahi gaya (Shaktimaan cannot be bought off; I didn’t go on his show),” he said.Khanna also pointed out that he had criticised the Supreme Court over its decision concerning FIRs related to Samay. At the same time, the actor distinguished between his personal interaction with Raina and his views on the comedian’s content. Calling Samay an “enterprising” person, Khanna said, “I found him a very sweet person, cracking jokes. He told me 10 jokes, very, very positive.”Meanwhile, India’s Got Latent Season 2 officially premiered on Netflix and YouTube on June 20. The comeback comes after a turbulent phase in February 2025, when Samay Raina removed all original episodes of Season 1 amid legal scrutiny over controversial remarks made by podcaster Ranveer Allahbadia on the show.- EndsPublished By: Prachi aryaPublished On: Sep 1, 2026 18:23 IST