So
this happened and concluded here. The judgement didn’t irritate me as much
as the reasons given for it. Hence as it is unacceptable for me to take it
lying down, I’ll do the next least laziest thing and write why I think it is
the other way round and why those reasons are more a demand of conformity
rather than one of comedy’s most essential functions like provocation,
beginning conversation on tabooed subjects & of course Being Funny. Any
artist must be judged by his best creation thus I’ll argue on AIB’s side with
sketches that I think were their absolute best.
I
am not going to makes a hipster’s claim of knowing AIB before they started
being cool. If anything I got to know about them when they took their first big
leap and made the sketch – “Scene from an Indian Theatre”.
The
sketch takes us on tour of many dark corners of our movie theatres. It makes
fun of movies, directors, their styles, actors, censors, theatre owners, ardent
fans & casual viewers. It ties up every element of movie watching
experience with such exquisite hilarity and sharp observations that you’ll
laugh till your belly aches and keep looping & regurgitating its layered jokes.
There is lot of swearing, lot of “Non Veg” jokes and lot of crazy wigs. And
alongwith that there is the simplicity of humour of the Ashutosh Gowarikar part
& halls running RGV & Suraj Badjatiya’s films, the social context of
the Bhai Fans & Indian Censors and of course Jeetendra in Pristine White Badminton
costume.
Next
comes their bravest one till date – “Rahul Vs Modi”. Now drawing room political
discussions are India’s favourite pass time, panel discussions are the bread &
butter of most news organisations and whispered board room comments on
political figures are reliable Ice Breakers in corporate world. But a subject
which is so enveloping has very little leg space in Indian comedy because of a very
real fear of retribution from people who want atleast a hundred honorary
prefixes and suffixes before and after their leaders first, middle and last
name when its being uttered in any context.
I’ll
concede that this sketch wasn’t commenting on the politicians themselves as
much as the troll / bhakt / crazy town banana pants people that defend their
respective leaders with breathless praise and admiration but fail to do their
given duty as citizens, public servants, employees. The whole conversation
slowly but surely degenerates into a mutual heckling contest.
Now
imagine saying that but with jokes, really really good jokes. That’s what they
accomplished.
Many
will think that isn’t so brave, the brave part is that these bhakts (Though
some are paid) are mostly normal people irritated by everything who see a
publicity backed ray of hope and trivialising their “Passion” may cost the
newbie makers some viewers. But going ahead and doing that in my humble
requires a set.
The
third is in a drastically different format. It is Plea to be open minded, to
learn to take a joke, to allow dissent and be real adults. It is – “Humble Plea
to Bollywood”.
We
Indians are notorious for making sacred cows out of pure bullshit and silencing
any argument by the aforementioned sacred title. Dissent of any degree is
considered a sign of highest degree of disrespect to these sacred cows. I, like
many people who care for their sanity, have not seen many films from Yashraj
stable but a look at any of their trailers can give you adequate reason to stay
away. But as they have developed into a powerful player in the industry, they
have anointed themselves and their work as a Sacred Cow.
The
song begins with drinks being withdrawn from people, the visual equivalent of
sucking out the fun. The song borrows ‘We Are Young’ tune. And young turks sings
to the very powerful grandpa its many sinful flops, its fascist image, its
money grabbing ways. It is loud and desperate cry of people who feel cornered
over things that are accepted world wide with open arms and belly aching
laughter. “Imitation is just Flattery” & Khamba saying “Lighten Up”
perfectly sum up what they had to say. I had a smile on my face throughout the
song because it equal parts funny, charming and irreverent.
Second
to Lastly, there is a finesse in execution even in their worst sketches (and to
be sure there are a few stinky ones). It delivers the mood, jokes, subtext in an
assured manner; sometimes saving, other times taking forward the writing.
Lastly,
the above AIB sketches push the envelope, provoke and do all that jazz but most
importantly they also accomplish the hell out of a comedian’s no. 1 goal. Guess
what that is?
PS
–
I
won’t deride TVF’s sketches to make my argument as I also love a few of them.
The point of this exercise was not to pull them down but to state why I
consider AIB to be superior.
PPS
–
I
know one of AIB’s member has agreed with TVF’s superiority. It is a matter of
his opinion. A parable would be that FFC doesn’t consider Godfather to be one
of his great work. And agreeing with him for the sake of agreeing / conforming
would be antithesis to the point of these sketches, to begin with.
PPPS
–
And
yes, this is a paid argument, so I’ll be expecting that “Lauul” T-Shirt
@Mojorojo wears in that song thing.
