Munawar Faruqui announces new show, to perform in Kolkata

Stand-up comedian Munawar Faruqui, who was last month denied a nod to hold a show in Bengaluru amid protests by some right-wing outfits, is set to perform in Kolkata in January.

The comedian took to Twitter on Saturday evening and shared a link to book tickets for his two-hour comedy act "Dhandho", to be held on January 16.

According to online ticket booking platform BookMyShow, the tickets—priced at Rs 799—were "filling fast".

On Saturday evening, the comedian performed at Mumbai's Y B Chavan Centre, after a series of show cancellations.

The official account of All India Professionals' Congress - Maharashtra (AIPC) said it "facilitated" Faruqui's performance in the city and tweeted that "artists should have creative freedom as long as they abide by the constitution and respect all faiths".

"We may disagree with someone's content but using force to impose our opinion on others is unconstitutional," the tweet read.

Actor-producer Pooja Bhatt thanked AIPC President Mathew Antony for "taking this stand".

Faruqui took to Instagram and thanked the Mumbai Police, along with Bhatt and Antony for their support.

In November, the 29-year-old comic was under fire after the Bengaluru Police denied permission to his stand-up comedy show in the city amid protest by Hindu right-wing outfits, who alleged that he had hurt the Hindu sentiments in one of his shows.

Faruqui had said his show—which had sold more than 600 tickets—was cancelled in the wake of the "threats to venue vandalism". The proceeds from the show were supposed to be donated to late Kannada star Puneeth Rajkumar's charitable organisation.

He had also claimed that 12 of his shows were called off in the last two months because of the threats to the venue and audiences.

Earlier this year, Faruqui had spent a month in jail at Indore after a BJP MLA's son lodged an FIR in January accusing the comedian of hurting religious sentiments through his show.