3 min readMumbaiUpdated: Jul 1, 2026 12:18 PM IST
Alia Bhatt’s appearance on Samay Raina’s popular yet controversial roast show India’s Got Latent raises quite a few eyebrows. The actor admitted she was under tremendous “stress” while appearing as a guest panelist along with Alpha co-star Sharvari, given season 1 invited major controversy owing to a joke cracked by guest panelist and Samay’s fellow YouTuber, Ranveer Allahbadia.
Why did Alia appear on India’s Got Latent?
Earlier this week, Alia and Sharvari visited the JECRC University in Jaipur to promote their upcoming film, Shiv Rawail’s spy thriller Alpha, which is slated to release in cinemas this Friday on July 3. While discussing their appearance on the premiere episode of India’s Got Latent season 2 last month, a student in the audience asked Alia why she chose to make an appearance on the controversial show.
“Paisa! (money),” shouted another student in the audience. But Alia took that remark as a sport and borrowed a line from Samay Raina to give a befitting response. “Kaun bola? Gareeb aadmi (Who said that? Some poor guy),” she said, much to the amusement of the live audience. Samay also reposted that moment on his Instagram Stories and wrote, “Hahahaha full kill (laughter with tears emojis).”
Alia Bhatt Looking Absolutely Beautiful ❤️ can’t believe she is a Mother now 💟
And Yes …..
Samay Raina Ke Sath Rehene ke Side Effets 😭😂 pic.twitter.com/XhBrDSWMNG— POSITIVE FAN (@POSITIVEFANN) June 30, 2026
Alia’s response was a reference to the instance during the premiere episode of India’s Got Latent season 2, when Samay asked a contestant, “What does a girl want from a man?” An audience member then shouted, “Paisa!” A shocked Alia asked, “Who said that?”, only for a disappointed Samay to respond with the clincher, “Koi gareeb aadmi”.
Alia on “President of India” joke
During the event, another student asked Alia, “Who’s the President of India?,” referring to the gaffe she made back in 2014 when she said the wrong name when Koffee with Karan season 4 host asked the same question during a quiz round. “Aapne Latent nahi dekha? (You haven’t watched Latent?),” she asked the student. She then repeated the answer, in exchange of a promise that the students would clap for her. When Samay asked Alia that question on India’s Got Latent, she said, “Droupadi Murmu. She gave me my National Award.” Alia won her maiden National Award for Best Actress for her titular performance in Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s 2022 period crime drama Gangubai Kathiawadi.
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Explaining the actual reason and recalling her experience of opening India’s Got Latent season 2, Alia said about Samay, “We loved his special! We love the laughter he brings to everybody. We had a lot of fun. Actually, what you watched was just the final cut of an hour. We were actually there for four to five hours, and were laughing throughout. My smart device, which tracks my heartbeat, said I was under a lot of stress, because we don’t usually laugh so much,” said the actor.
