By the end of the year Samay Raina’s popular comedy show ‘India’s Got Latent’ had been cancelled. One of India’s biggest digital comedy phenomena, the show had become a hot topic of anger and legal challenges and media scrutiny for all involved.
But yesterday the story turned around.
Samay Raina has taken it to the next level with *India's Got Latent* returning with a second season. This time it is not only returning to YouTube but going worldwide via Netflix, the world’s largest streaming platform for movies and TV series.
The news is Raina’s biggest achievement in one year because Raina has been in the midst of controversy, criticism, and legal challenges for most of that year, and has been kept away from the limelight.
*India’s Got Latent* has been one of the best comedy shows on Indian YouTube since the first season.
But a couple days later a popular episode with some creators faced massive backlash. The issue snowballed and FIRs against several people associated with the show started. Samay Raina removed episodes from YouTube, and the future of the franchise seemed uncertain.
Such a setback would have ended a project for many creators for good.
Instead Raina took a different path.
Instead of simply disappearing he gradually rebuilt his connection with audiences. His stand-up special “Still Alive” was the manifestation of that comeback. And in the performance he was open about the controversy, about the problems he faced, the personal grief of months away from public life and how it was to live with that.
The special resonated with viewers and it went on to be a huge success online as one of the most viewed stand-up specials on YouTube.
With *India’s Got Latent 2*, Raina is taking a much bigger step forward.
The new season will be released simultaneously on Netflix and YouTube, but there is no distinction in episode length. And the show will still have its digital-first audience and will be streaming globally.
The move demonstrates how rapidly India’s creator economy is changing. What started as an independent YouTube project has since attracted mainstream streaming content, and digital content has become a part of the mainstream entertainment industry.
The announcement also got a lot of attention online. Ashish Chanchlani, Samay's fellow creator, suggested Samay add a disclaimer about the legal troubles of the last season. The lighthearted comment was a measure of how much the controversy became part of the show’s narrative.
Samay Raina, however, thinks that the return of *India’s Got Latent* is more than a new season. It is resilience and new life and the return of the idea of rebounding after one of his greatest struggles in his career.
Raina’s life hasn’t been very ordinary in the last year as opposed to that of the past year: criticism and legal battles to Netflix partnership and a Netflix deal. Season 2 will be arriving at a time when the series will be getting ready to take off this fall and fans will be eagerly waiting to see if *India’s Got Latent* can be able to recapture the magic that made it so popular once again.
One thing is certain: Samay Raina’s comeback is now complete, and it is happening on a much larger stage than ever before.
