Samay Raina's Still Alive becomes the most-watched comedy special in the world

Samay Raina has staged a record-breaking comeback on YouTube with his stand-up special Still Alive, following the India's Got Latent controversy. As of April 23, the special has crossed 54.2 million views, becoming the most-watched full-length stand-up comedy special globally from a single upload.

On April 22, Samay reshared an Instagram post on his Stories that mentioned Still Alive had crossed 53.5 million views. The caption on the post read, “officially turned his biggest controversy into a record-breaking comeback (sic).”

Within a day, the Special added nearly a million more views, crossing 54.2 million views on April 23.

Released on April 7 on YouTube, the over one-hour-long episode gained massive traction and clocked 22 million views within the first 24 hours of its release. The show marked Samay’s return to stand-up after facing backlash over India's Got Latent.

Samay Raina addresses India's Got Latent controversy

In 2025, Samay landed in controversy after podcaster Ranveer Allahbadia’s inappropriate joke on India’s Got Latent triggered nationwide backlash. Following the controversy, Samay removed all episodes of the show from YouTube.

In Still Alive, Samay addressed the controversy and claimed that Ranveer had cracked the controversial joke eight times during the episode, but only one version was retained, which eventually sparked outrage. He also admitted that the controversy affected his mental health and left him feeling helpless.

The comedian further said that several “irrelevant people” tried to grab attention during the controversy and also recalled criticism from actor Mukesh Khanna, best known for playing Shaktiman in the popular 90s TV show.

A year after the controversy, Samay announced that he would be working on the second season of India's Got Latent soon. He made the announcement on his stand-up aired earlier this month.