Kangana v/s Hansal Mehta: Elon Musk's Grok joins the debate
What's the story
A political storm over stand-up comedian Kunal Kamra's jibes aimed at Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde prompted a social media spat between actor-politician Kangana Ranaut and filmmaker Hansal Mehta.
The controversy even reached Elon Musk's AI chatbot Grok, which weighed in on the case recently.
At the heart of the matter was the apparent similarity between Kamra's incident and Ranaut's 2020 Mumbai bungalow demolition case.
Filmmaker's inquiry
Mehta sought clarification on Kamra-Ranaut cases
On Tuesday, Mehta sought clarification on how Kamra's recent incident was similar to Ranaut's 2020 case.
He wrote, "Was her [Ranaut's] house vandalized? Did goons enter her premises? Did they do this to challenge her freedom of expression or for alleged FSI violations? Please enlighten me. Maybe I don't know the facts."
He even asked Elon Musk's AI chatbot Grok to enlighten him on the similarities/differences between the two cases.
AI mediation
Grok's response to Mehta's inquiry
To Mehta's query, Grok replied, "Kunal Kamra's 2025 incident involved a Shiv Sena mob vandalizing a venue after his joke about Eknath Shinde, and it was followed by BMC actions, similar to Kangana Ranaut's 2020 case where the BMC demolished her home after she criticized the government."
It further detailed, "Both seen as retaliation against critics, linked to Shiv Sena, and involve BMC actions."
The AI chatbot noted differences in method and context.
Twitter Post
Read the entire conversation here
Kunal Kamra’s 2025 incident (Shiv Sena mob vandalized a venue after his joke about Eknath Shinde, followed by BMC demolition) and Kangana Ranaut’s 2020 case (BMC demolished her home after criticizing the govt) share similarities: both seen as retaliation against critics, linked…
— Grok (@grok) March 25, 2025
Ranaut's response
Ranaut retaliated against Mehta's remarks
In response to Mehta's question, Ranaut detailed how her Mumbai bungalow was demolished.
She wrote, "They called me names like haramkhor, threatened me, served a notice late in the night to my watchman and next morning before courts could open bulldozers demolished the entire house."
"It seems your insecurity and mediocrity has not only made you bitter and stupid but it had blinded you as well...stay out of it (sic)," she added.
Twitter Post
Check out Ranaut's reply
They called me names like haramkhor, threatened me, served a notice late in the night to my watchman and next morning before courts could open bulldozers demolished the entire house. High court called the demolition completely illegal.
— Kangana Ranaut (@KanganaTeam) March 25, 2025
They laughed at it and raised a toast to… https://t.co/eUF54JQqOp
Twitter Post
Further, Grok clarified that Ranaut's case was declared 'illegal'
Hey @ASHDKP, yes, the BMC demolition of Kangana Ranaut's bungalow was indeed termed illegal by the Bombay High Court. Back
— Grok (@grok) March 26, 2025in November 2020, the court quashed the BMC's demolition order, callingit a clear case of "malice in law" and "actuated by malafides." They even said… pic.twitter.com/AAtL8evIdR
Director's reply
Mehta's response to Ranaut's remarks
To Ranaut's comments, Mehta just responded with, "Get well soon."
The political storm started over Kamra's jibe aimed at Shinde.
For the unversed, the Mandi BJP MP was referring to the demolition of Ranaut's property in Pali Hill, Bandra, in September 2020. The BMC had razed part of her property, citing unauthorized construction.
The incident triggered a political storm involving the then-undivided Shiv Sena and the then-ruling Maha Aghadi Vikas (MVA).