The Canadian comedic is going to be in India this week, but given how the stand-up comedy scene here is going down since past few days, I won’t be surprised if he is asked to be put in jail as well
On one not so cold night of December last year, 4000 people filled a stadium in Mumbai to watch a no holds barred comedic event that featured nation’s finest comedians – All India Bakchod (AIB) along with Ranveer Singh, Arjun Kapoor, Karan Johar and others. And then it was uploaded on YouTube with great fanfare. It was designed to be rude, filthy and offensive. It went viral, especially with the youth.
But then in a country where being offended is pretty much a statutory right, someone had to play a spoilsport. Akhilesh Tiwari of Brahman Ekta Seva Sanstha filed a written complaint against Karan, Arjun and Ranveer for their antics during the AIB Roast. And saying that it’s stupid would surely be an understatement.
More importantly, what message are we sending out to the world? International comics like Russell Peters and Gabriel Iglesias visit often and sell thousands of tickets here. In fact, Peters is all set to return to India with an all new improved set. But considering how the stand-up comedy scene is going down here since the last few days, I won’t be surprised if there will be a criminal complaint against him as well. Clearly, we are unfortunately living in a country of misplaced priorities.
During one of his earlier visits, his statements, ‘Aishwarya Rai; she’s beautiful, but a terrible actress’ and ‘I hate Bollywood. The movies are all garbage’, didn’t go down too well with several people.
I happened to attend Peter’s show last time when he was here, and I know he doesn’t like to mince his words. And it won’t be different this time. I really wonder if these moralists are going to act the same way when Russell gets done with his act! I just hope they don’t. People like Tiwari need to see that there’s clearly demand for content like this in a country where 65% of the population is under 35 years.
Coming back to AIB Knockout, I agree the show was vulgar and obscene. It could also be accused of racism, misogyny and homophobia. There were several times when I gasped, “I can’t believe they just said that”. Much of the humour left me cold. But with so many disclaimers at the beginning of the video and Johar stating that it wasn’t for those easily or difficultly offended, I don’t have any right to complain.
And same goes for the people watching it live. The tickets, as far as I know were with disclaimer on, let alone the fact that the money went to charity. It was shot in a private environment with the consent of the ticket holders knowing the disclaimer and the probable content of the show. And I am sure not one person in the audience walked out or was offended. They laughed and cheered as abuse was flung and their stars were undervalued.
“The show, which can be seen on YouTube and other websites, was extremely abusive and it is not only ruining the clean image of the Indian culture & women but is also misleading today’s youth,” said Tiwari in this complaint. But let’s face it, the same youth that Tiwari is talking about watches movies like Delhi Belly, Gangs Of Wasseypur and many others that are filled with abuses and are easily available on the internet. The very same youth also watches shows like Bigg Boss, where we learn lessons about light molestation, making jokes about being molested, how to hit on other women in front of your wife, and sneaking kisses (or maybe more) in the toilet.
Anyway this entire controversy has took a major turn with AIB pulling down the videos from their YouTube channel last night. Clearly, it is like freedom of speech committing suicide. Sad day for Indian comedy.
Post a Comment