Letting out an awkward laugh

It’s not only the great Lata Mangeshkar who has been insulted by a self-styled comedian. And it’s not only Tanmay Bhat who does it. Disparaging women, commenting on their physical attributes and pulling them down as dumb and moody is an everyday occurrence. The two weekend shows, Comedy Night Bachao and Comedy Night Live, on Colors, constantly ridicule women.

Comedian actress Bharati Singh’s obesity is gleefully mocked at and even she seems to enjoy being called ‘moti bhains’ and ‘saandh’. In Comedy Nights with Kapil, when Kapil Sharma makes merciless comments on his onscreen wife Sumona Chakravarty, everybody laughs.

But Shatrughan Sinha, in his 45-year-old acting career, has ensured that no disparaging remarks are made about women. “From the beginning of my career, even when I played the villain, I made sure I didn’t utter one vulgar word about women. Even in scenes that required me to get aggressive with women, I drew a Lakshman Rekha. Now people are regularly crossing that line of decorum. Even in my play Pati Patni Aur Main, which I’ve been performing for the last 15 years, there is naughty humour, but no dirty humour.”

Writer-editor Apurva Asrani feels the way women are treated on television and Internet is a reflection of social attitudes. “Women are expected to stay at home, cook and raise kids while the men deal with the world. The kids come back home to see their fathers taunt the ‘sitting duck’ of a mother, who quietly listen to the sermon because daddy gives her the monthly allowance.”

Apurva doesn’t mind tongue-in-cheek digs at women, but he feels the video on Lata ji crossed the line: “I’m all for irreverent comedy. I enjoyed the mimicry of Lata ji at a recent function. But this time, the jokes went too far. I just want to remind these young comedian that even when you mimic, spoof or satire, the intention can be affectionate.”

Kiku Sharda from the Kapil Sharma show, however, adds that there is a huge difference between what they do and Tanmay did. “There is a fine line one shouldn’t cross. We need to see who are we spoofing and the body of work they have. The kind of joke that was made had no credibility at all. Even Sugandha Mishra mimics Lata ji, but no one takes offence as it’s not in a bad taste. Sachin too has been mimicked and no one took offence because the artistes knew what they were doing. Subtlety and wittiness in jokes is always welcome, crudity isn’t. When we do it for TV, the actors are kept in the loop and even we make sure that the jokes are not crass."

Why spare Kapil and other comics? Is it because they spare the big stars? Kapil makes a living out of insulting women, degrading his co-actors on the show and repeated body-shaming of his onscreen wife. Filmmaker Subhash Ghai recently tweeted: “People are terribly hurt by new comedy/jokes on elders who have been inspiring generations. Learn to respect elders. Stop it here.”

However, Ghai supported Kapil, “The Kapil Sharma Show is the most popular show. Has he ever hurt anyone or disrespected senior icons or legends? Let’s learn from him.” Kapil is known for not offending seniors and big film stars. But he humiliates small stars on the show. So, is humiliation based on status?

From Kerala
Kerala’s only English stand-up comedian Vinay Menon would sum up the situation in one word — overreaction. “Apart from that, only because Tanmay Bhat and AIB are famous, people take their jokes seriously. People think others will learn from them and society is changing too much. It is all the patriarchy. Otherwise how is this even an issue?” he asks.

Comedians everywhere are discussing this at the moment and Vinay talks of a tweet he saw — “If you feel offended, why don’t you ignore it like poverty, terrorism, misogyny etc?” People react to issues that suit them. “It is convenient rage. ‘Ok so a 13-year-old boy getting shot in Palestine is not an issue. But this, I can get offended to'.”It is not so different in Kerala, Vinay says.

“Malayalis are one of the most frustrated people. They translate these frustrations by getting offended over non-issues. Malayalis had trashed Maria Sharapova’s page when she said she didn’t know Sachin Tendulkar. We are the most educated and have internet access. But even the most educated CEO of a company would be a misogynist who thinks his wife should sit home and work.”