Samay Raina has achieved success as an Indian stand-up comedian and creator of chess content on YouTube. The audience discovered him when he won Comicstaan Season 2 in 2019 but he made his biggest impact by streaming chess matches with world-class grandmasters on YouTube. In June 2024 he launched India’s Got Latent which turned into a successful enterprise from its beginning.
Samay’s mix of jokes with chess and enjoyment created his status as a top digital creator in India today. In this article we will discuss the detailed biography of Samay Raina and also the recent controversy regarding his show.
Samay Raina Biography
Samay Raina is an Indian comedian and YouTuber, famous for his standup comedy videos and the show India’s Got Latent. An Indian Hindi-language talent show hosted by Samay Raina on YouTube. He was born on 26 October 1997 in Jammu, India. Recently he catch up into a controversy which led him to cancel his India tour, about this controversy we are going to discuss further in the blog.

Attribute | Details |
Full Name | Samay Raina |
Nickname | Samay |
Birth Date | 26 October 1997 |
Age (2025) | 27 years |
Zodiac sign | Scorpio |
Birthplace | Jammu, India |
Nationality | Indian |
Profession | Comedian, YouTuber, Chess Enthusiast |
School | Hyderabad Public School, Begumpet |
College | Pune Institute of Computer Technology (PICT) |
Qualification | Graduate |
Marital Status | Unmarried |
Samay Raina Age, Height and Overall Physique
As of 2025, Samay is 27 years old he was born on 26 October 1997, his Zodiac Sign is Scorpio. His height is Approximately 5ft. 11 inches, weight Around 90 kg, with dark brown eyes and black hair.
Physical Aspect | Details |
Height | Approximately 5ft. 11 inches″ (180 cm) |
Weight | Around 90 kg |
Eye Color | Dark Brown |
Hair Color | Black |
Early Life
On 26 October 1997 Samay Raina entered the world in Jammu, India, to parents from the Kashmiri Pandit community. He lived his initial years in Jammu until his family moved to Hyderabad for his education. During childhood Samay used humor to amuse his friends and family by sharing funny stories. His keen interest in comedy developed gradually while he also learned engineering like all Indian students.
During his Pune Institute of Computer Technology (PICT) term he joined stand-up comedy shows and opened mic performances to learn how humor made audiences smile. The beginning of his entertainment career emerged from his initial acts of humor performed on stage.
Samay Raina Family Background

Relation | Name |
Father’s Name | Rajesh Raina |
Mother’s Name | Sweety Raina |
Samay Raina grows up in a household headed by a father who works as a journalist while his mother raises him with a positive influence. Rajesh Raina is a distinguished journalist who worked at Doordarshan and other major media companies as his father. Sweety Raina watched over Samay to create an even temperament during his youth. Both his parents accepted his dream of becoming a comedian even though they came from the traditional side.
Samay attributes his knowledge of show business to his family members especially his father who works in media. Being single does not prevent him from keeping his family involved in his comedy work.
Educational Qualifications
Level of Education | Institution |
Schooling | Hyderabad Public School, Begumpet. |
Higher Education | Pune Institute of Computer Technology (PICT) / PVG’s College of Engineering and Technology, Pune. |
Educational Qualification | Graduated in Printing Engineering. |
Hyderabad Public School, Begumpet was the place that Samay Raina finished his education. Following school he went into engineering at Pune Institute of Computer Technology (PICT). He was like any one of Indian students who studied engineering and followed the conventional career path but, like many Indian students, his passion for comedy overtook everything.
It wasn’t until his college years at Georgian Technical College that he started performing at open mics and discovered he had more of a craving for laughter than code. His interests in stand-up comedy grew and so did his interest in studying engineering while the latter failed.
Samay Raina Career

Rise in Stand-Up Comedy
Samay Raina started his comedy in college. Slowly, he turned to doing his own thing at various open mic nights, using his experiences in Indian, Kashmiri society and life to work his humor.
In 2019, Samay won a big break when he took part in Comicstaan Season 2, an extensively popular stand up comedy competition in India. With his funny flavor and his delivery style ringing akin to any fine bell in the house, he was a famous name in the Indian comedy scene.
YouTube and Chess Streaming
Before the COVID 19 lockdown in 2020 live stand up comedy shows came to a stand still. Rather than waiting on the situation to get better, Samay changed and adapted their way of including their audience. As a sort of experiment, he soon began streaming chess on YouTube and this became a huge success.
Samay’s induced ‘hype’ around the traditionally serious game through his chess streams featuring the likes of Vishwanathan Anand, Anish Giri, Hikaru Nakamura and Vidit Gujrathi made it an entertaining experience for the younger audience. Indian youth revived their interest in chess due to his ability to mix humor with the game.
Samay’s OTT Platform – India’s Got Latent (2025) – India’s Got Latent, a content hub for stand-up comedy, poetry, and music.
The platform was a massive hit and quickly debuted at No. 1 on the Apple App Store so quickly. Further to this, shows like “Kaavya Samraat” (poetry series), collaborations with Indian hip hop artists and his status as a content entrepreneur are stabilizing his position.
Samay’s story is one of adaptability and creativity, from a stand-up comedian to a chess content creator to an OTT entrepreneur.
Samay Raina Net Worth and Income Sources
Here’s a details over view of net worth of Samay Raina in 2025.
Category | Amount (Approx.) |
Net Worth (2025) | $18 Million |
Net Worth in INR | ₹150 Crore |
Monthly Income | ₹25 Lakh |
Annual Income | ₹3 Crore |
Primary Income Sources | YouTube, Stand-up Comedy, Brand Endorsements, OTT Platform (India’s Got Latent) |
YouTube Earnings | ₹10-15 Lakh per month |
Brand Sponsorships | ₹5-10 Lakh per collaboration |
Live Shows Revenue | ₹50 Lakh – ₹1 Crore per year |
OTT Platform Earnings | Not disclosed, but estimated in crores |
Investments | Stocks, Startups, Real Estate |
Car Collection | Update Soon |
In 2025, we present Samay Raina’s net worth and earnings from all sources below. YouTube being the primary source of his wealth along with his OTT platform India’s Got Latent, and the profits from his live comedy shows and brand deals. As he grows his digital foot print, his earnings are supposed to grow.
Social Media Presence
Samay Raina is quite an active person on social media.
Social Media Platform | Username/Link | Followers |
@maisamayhoon | 6.4M | |
YouTube | @SamayRainaOfficial | 7.45M |
@Samay-Raina | 52K | |
X | @rehesamay | 453.7K |
@samay-raina-66828857 | 16K |
Samay Raina’s Controversy

India’s Got Latent has, so far, been at the center of controversy involving Indian stand up comedian Samay Raina. Notorious for its unadulterated comedy, poetry and music, the show returned after a controversy as YouTuber Ranveer Allahbadia made controversial remarks in a recent episode.
On 1 February 2025, Maharashtra Cyber Cell registered an FIR against Raina and the approximately 40 people linked with the production of India’s Got Latent. The authorities were concerned about the language they used in the show being ‘obscene and indecent’. So notices were issued to all the participants, including the judges and the guests and YouTube was requested to remove all 18 episodes of the show from its platform. Raina, in the United States now, said he would extend more time to respond to the summons and would fully assist the investigation.
Raina responded by taking it out on social media. However, he said he removed all the India’s Got Latent videos from his YouTube channel, with the announcement: ‘Everything that has been going on has been a lot to take.’ All of the latents videos I had, of India’s Got Latent, I have removed from my channel. The only thing I really wanted to do was make people laugh and have fun in the sunlight. I will fully cooperate with all agencies in finding out the truth so they can be concluded fairly. Thank you.”
Social Media Reaction
Mixed reactions have been created on social media as a result of the controversy. Fans were split down the middle over Raina’s decision to work with authorities and, really, did so rightly. While some fans were disappointed over the removal of the content, others backed Raina’s decision to stand by authorities. There have been discussions on the boundaries of comedy and the kind of responsible role that the content creators should play on touchy topics.
It isn’t the first time Raina has been in the public proxy. The joke at the tail end of 2024, where he made an insensitive joke about the state of actress Deepika Padukone’s mental health, was criticised by many who said it was insensitive. Instead of getting angry, Raina responded in humor asking the dissatisfied viewers to comment on his YouTube videos to boost ad revenue, drawing a mixed reaction.
Fellow Indians will agree that Raina’s presence in the Indian digital ecosystem even today is worth mentioning. His merger of comedy with other arts like chess has drawn a large following. The issue is even more pronounced in the light of the recent events, given what comedians have to grapple with managing creativity with social accountability.
The outcome of this investigation may also become a precedent for the regulation of the content available on the digital platforms in India. Raina’s case is an example of where the time has come for the influencers and entertainers to face scrutiny in the digital age.
Interesting Facts about Samay Raina
- Later he gave up the engineering career to do standup comedy.
- In 2019, he won Comicstaan Season 2 and launched his comedy career.
- He did what helped revive interest in chess in India, his chess YouTube streams.
- In 2024, he also started his own reality show, India’s Got Latent.
- Dark humour and unfiltered comedy are what he is famous for, resulting in controversies of sorts.
- Instead of apologizing for his Deepika Padukone joke, the controversy became an engagement for his content.
- He has a very large and loyal fan base, who support him in every controversy.
Conclusion
Success and controversy have been the lot of Samay Raina in his journey as a comedian and a content creator. India’s Got Latent pushed creative boundaries on his show but also caught the legal wind and YouTube dinged his show off the tube. The fact that Raina has said that he was willing to cooperate with authorities does not change the fact that the situation is important for freedom of speech, as well as content regulation, in India. His influence in the digital entertainment space has not been broken by the backlash.
The way forward on the case may then determine how comedians think through their own creative expression and responsibility, as they make their way with online content in India.
FAQs
He is an Indian stand up, YouTuber, and chess content creator named Samay Raina. His fame has been derived from streaming chess on YouTube from which he conquered Comicstorian Season 2.
He has a net worth of around $18m (Rs. 150 cr.).
His fame epitomizes his stand up comedy, chess streaming, and his bold content creation.
India’s Got Latent is an OTT platform, its standup comedy, poetry and music platform was launched in 2025.
During the late 2024, he made a joke on Deepika Padukone’s depression, which was shouted back on social media.
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