Lifestyle - National Humour Museum

T here was a time when comedians had a special place in movies. Gope, Mukri, Tuntun, IS Johar, Rajinder Nath, Mehmood - there was one in every movie, albeit as the hero's sidekick. Slapstick or cerebral, comedy rarely failed to attract the masses to the theatres. Then the hero started playing the fool himself. On-screen humour changed character. The change came, as comedian Sajid Khan says, when "humour became more subtle, like in Hrishikesh Mukherjee's movies, before swinging back to over-the-top Govinda style." Khan introduced celeb-bashing, tongue-in-cheek, on the tube with his show, Kehne Mein Kya Harz Hai. Others have followed his act, such as Cyrus Broacha and Cyrus Sahukar. The newest kid on the telly is journo Aniruddhha Bahal, of Tehelka fame, who is currently embarrassing celebs on his Tony B show.

Laughter in black and white

Since he debuted in 1951, there's been no challenge to R K Laxman's Common Man in print. He has represented the hopes, aspirations, troubles and foibles of the average Indian; a silent witness to the struggles of a nation trying to find its feet.

Another cartoon personality who has survived the test of time is E P Unny's newspaper boy. The frail little boy usually delivers the punchline.

"Sometimes he is used to save space and time and too much clutter in the cartoon. Instead of using two
to three characters to make a point, I say it straight through my boy," says Unny.

Add to the illustrious list, Sudhir Dhar, Sudhir Tailang, Mario Miranda, O V Vijayan, Abu Abraham, Ravi Shankar, Ajit Ninan, among others.

And if you are looking for witty, satirical writing, then the hall of fame would open with Jug Suraiya and Bachi Karkaria, who add a touch of humour to everything from the mundane to the bizarre.

Suraiya finds inspiration in everyday events and, sometimes in Brindle, the street dog who has adopted him. However, stand-up comic Vir Das has a different take. "They are all over 65. We need younger, funnier people soon," he says.

Khushwant Singh, who is known for the humour and acid wit in his writings, Shobhaa De, Ruskin Bond who has written a book on humour, are among the other illustrious names that could figure in this hall of fame.

Stand-up acts

This is a style of comedy that has the performer speaking directly to the audience, usually without theatrical props. The comedian usually runs through a fast-paced succession of humourous stories, short jokes and one-liners. He generally offers more than Sardar and banana peel jokes. Papa CJ, Vir Das and Vidur Kapur represent the young blood. They are good-looking, well educated with solid degrees to fall back on, in case their comic careers fail to take off.

The guiding principle of these new kids on the block is, as Das says, "Every city deserves an equal amount of filth." Be it marriage, sex, kids, couples or the stock markets, nothing escapes their attention. But getting people to laugh is not an easy task, they say. People don't want to be "seen" laughing at dirty jokes! But these wits have found a way around that too. They simply switch off the lights so that the audience can sit back and enjoy the show without feeling they are being observed in the act of laughing.

Earthy humour of hasya kavis

Long before the age of cable television and stand-up comics, there were the hasya kavis. They provided the laughter element on telly. At the time, Doordarshan was the only channel available. That's when humourous poets became household names, including Kaka Hathrasi, widely regarded as one of the greatest Hindi satirists; Ashok Chakradhar, who is married to Hathrasi's niece, Surinder Sharma and his deadpan delivery, Hariom Panwar, Alhar Bikaneri, Surendra Dube, Hullad Muradabadi. Poet Shail Chaturvedi loved to take a dig at politicians in the 1970s and 80s.

But this form of humour has its limitations because, as Chakradhar says, "You can't spoof about a politician. Even when you do, you have to be careful not to make it direct and obvious because they are quick to take offence."

He adds that it is hard to write satirical poems now because politicians have become more thick-skinned. "Earlier if we spoofed them in our poems, it had impact. But now, they don't even bother to come to kavi sammelans. Even when they do, they ignore the message in the poems," he says.

Kaka mostly wrote about his wife, Kaki and his own experiences but Chakradhar writes with a larger social purpose. And he has a trusted humour barometer. "If my wife merely smiles, it means it will work and if she cracks up, then it's sure to leave the audience in splits," he says.


Jesters of the royal courts

The hasya ras is one of the navrasas or nine states of emotion, first mentioned in the Upanishads, and considered important in the creative arts. Whether the mythical tales of Krishna, Ganesha or Hanuman, humour was always an important element. It tended to humanize the Hindu deity. And if the gods loved to laugh, so did the kings. Keeping them in good humour was the task of the vidushak or court jester.

Many of these jesters are not well known. But some have become part of folklore, as did Birbal, one of the navratans or nine gems at the court of the great Mughal emperor Akbar in the late 16th century. So did Tenali Rama at the 16th century court of Krishnadevaraya of the Vijayanagar empire in south India.

Legend has it that both Birbal and Tenali escaped their enemies' evil designs and extricated their kings from difficult predicaments purely by their wit and presence of mind.

New wits on the block

Our politicians can be very funny too, no kidding. This year's railway budget speech by minister Lalu Prasad had a high TRP rating because of his humourous asides. Hasya kavi Ashok Chakradhar recalls an incident when the minister was at Baba Ramdev's camp, amidst tight security. It was discovered that the organizers had forgotten to arrange drinking water, leading Lalu to quip to the thirsty people milling around, "Pani aa raha hai, uska security check ho raha hai (water is on its way, it's getting a security check)." Comedian Vir Das says, "Lalu is possibly the funniest man in the country today because he is India's original stand-up comic. He is spot-on, has amazing timing and his earthy jokes can beat even the best in the industry."

A number of politicians provide entertainment without really meaning to. Chakradhar wants Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh to be included in this hall of fame. "Lalu (should be included) for being able to joke and Amar Singh for being the butt of jokes," laughs Charkradhar.

amrita.singh@timesgroup.com