Samay Raina meets “Panoti Guy” on IndiGo; fans humorously blame him for airline crisis in viral reel

Samay Raina’s recent Instagram reel has caught everyone’s attention after he had a surprise encounter with the infamous “panoti guy” from his talent show. Fans are joking that this guy has a strange ability to unintentionally close down any venue he steps into.

Unexpected encounter on flight

In the video, Raina unexpectedly meets him on an IndiGo flight amid the airline’s current troubles, which quickly sparked a flurry of jokes online. One contestant from his show said, “Jahaan bhi jaata hoon, woh jagah band ho jaati hai! (Wherever I go, that place ends up shutting down),” and seeing him on the plane prompted the internet to joke, “Mystery solved!”

Reel turns into meme frenzy

Raina begins the reel by filming himself, then turns the camera to the familiar contestant, linking the unexpected encounter to the airline’s troubles in a humorous way. Social media users quickly turned it into a meme parade, many commenting that the timing was “too perfect to be real.”

Origin of the “Panoti” nickname

The contestant made his debut on Raina’s discontinued YouTube series India’s Got Latent, earning the playful nickname “panoti.” Despite its popularity, the show had faced its share of controversy earlier on.

Controversy over insensitive content

Earlier this year, Raina faced backlash for videos on India’s Got Latent where he made insensitive remarks about patients with Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA), including a baby, and mocked individuals who are blind or cross-eyed. Disability rights groups raised serious concerns, leading to legal proceedings. The court issued multiple summons to the comedians and ordered them to apologize publicly on their channels. The issue intensified when the Supreme Court reprimanded the comedians and demanded formal apologies for their offensive comments.


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