Published Apr 26, 2026 | 5:51 PM ⚊ Updated Apr 26, 2026 | 5:51 PM
Hyderabad-based comic Sarat Uday.
Synopsis: Supporters of the TDP disrupted a stand-up show by Hyderabad-based comedian Sarat Uday in Bengaluru on 25 April, demanding an apology for jokes on Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu and IT Minister Nara Lokesh from a December 2024 video. Uday, who had earlier apologised for the video after facing threats and online abuse, was asked to chant slogans, but he refused.
Days after Andhra Pradesh police arrested two stand-up comedians on separate occasions over remarks on Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan, another Telugu comedian was targeted for a nearly two-year-old joke on Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu and IT Minister Nara Lokesh – this time in Bengaluru.
On 25 April, Hyderabad-based comic Sarat Uday had just begun a solo show at Ministry of Comedy in Koramangala when several supporters of the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) walked onto the stage and demanded an apology for his jokes on Naidu and Lokesh.
They demanded he chant “Jai TDP” and “Jai Lokesh”, but Uday refused. “The venue owner called the cops. By the time the patrol car came, these people left,” Uday told South First.
After the disruption, the two-hour-long show, which was being filmed, resumed as scheduled. “I am sad that it happened in Bengaluru and in my show… This is the first time it has happened in my seven years of stand-up career,” Uday said.
The jokes at the centre of the disruption were from a video Uday uploaded to his YouTube channel in December 2024. Titled “Andhra Politics”, it targets several politicians in Andhra Pradesh from the TDP, Jana Sena and YSRCP.
In the video, Uday describes Naidu as a strong political leader and refers to how he survived an assassination attempt in 2003 and returned to work the next day, then pivots to his son. He says Lokesh “became a meme on the internet” and jokes about him freezing during a live interview.
Uday also says Naidu was “caught” in the alleged adulteration of ghee used to make Tirupati laddu prasadam.
After the video surfaced, Uday faced threats and online abuse from supporters of the politicians he joked about in Andhra Pradesh. He later posted a public apology and said: “A lot of people got hurt because of the video, because of the jokes I made. They found those jokes in bad taste.”
On Saturday, one TDP supporter walked onto the stage and told Uday he liked his videos but wanted him to apologise for those jokes. “While I was talking to him, two other people came on stage to confront me about the same and asked for an apology,” Uday said.
Although Uday said he had already issued a public apology in December 2024, the supporters demanded another. “I told them to let the show continue and then I will apologise. They asked me to hail Jai TDP and Jai Lokesh. I refused to do so,” he said.
Uday eventually apologised again, but the supporters then tried to stay for the rest of the show. When he asked them to leave, they demanded a refund. They left after he asked them to show their tickets.
Manish Jain, a comic and the organiser at Ministry of Comedy, said one person at one point appeared to grab a chair, but the group stopped him. “My main concern at the time was that they might damage the property, but thankfully nothing of the sort occurred,” he told South First. The incident lasted about five minutes, he said.
The disruption comes as police in Andhra Pradesh have filed FIRs against two Telugu stand-up comedians, Anudeep Katikala and Rafiq Mohammed, over remarks on politicians.
Police arrested Katikala on 14 April over remarks on Kalyan. They took Mohammed into custody two days later over remarks on Kalyan and Lokesh.
In his complaint, a member of the Jana Sena Party said Katikala’s remarks were objectionable and targeted the personal lives of the actor-politician and his family. Reports say Mohammed was picked up after a complaint by a Jana Sena leader.
Uday said he hopes such incidents do not recur. “Let artists do their work. If anything unconstitutional is done by artist or anyone, they should be prosecuted by the law,” he said.
(Edited by Dese Gowda)
