Jokes apart, can Indians take humour seriously?

TUMOUR IN SENSE OF HUMOUR: CNN-IBN's Bhupendra Chaubey (L) and adman Pratthap Sutan debate.

    

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Shah Rukh Khan's Diwali blockbuster Om Shanti Om not only created fireworks at the box office but also managed to spark the anger of veteran actor Manoj Kumar.

Kumar is among the many stars from the 70s era who have been spoofed in the reincarnation drama. Infuriated, he threatened legal action against both Shah Rukh and director Farah Khan, called them “insecure” and said the movie was done in bad taste.

His outburst on national television was followed by an instantaneous apology by Shah Rukh and Farah.

And while Farah maintains the comic scene in the film was meant as a tribute, Manoj Kumar is not happy.

So while the stars sort out their issues, CNN-IBN show Face The Nation debated if Indians lack a sense of humour.

On the panel to debate the issue were creative director, Cheil (SW Asia), Pratthap Sutan and Actor Pooja Bedi joined the debate on the phone line.

Dard-e-Manoj Kumar?

So was Manoj Kumar overreacting? Prathap Sutan agreed and said the movie, in fact, brought the yesteryear actor back into the public memory and he shouldn’t consider this an insult. “I come from the south of Kerala and I have been recently introduced to the Bollywood film circuit. I never really knew who Manoj Kumar was until this morning. The film has brought him back into the limelight. It is a harmless take on his double, so to say. I don’t think that it was funny at all. He is old and wise enough to understand that,” Sutan said.

Pooja Bedi offered an interesting perspective. She said it’s only famous people who are spoofed and they should take it as a compliment. After all, imitation is the best for of flattery.

Sutan cited US as example where even pulling a gag on the President isn’t a big deal. In his opinion, India too needed to grow up. “We are buried deep in our culture and Indianess which is actually weighing us down,” Sutan said.

Pooja agreed, “We spend so much in the comedy business and I used to be a part of it. Presidents and great people were made fun of so what’s the big deal about it?”

Thin Line Between Joke And Insult

However, there seems to be a pattern in the Indian intolerance for humour. Take for example Indian Ambassador to US, Ronen Sen. He had allegedly called the critics of the nuclear deal “headless chickens” and the Parliamentary Privileges Committee pulled him up. Even internationally, radio jockey Jonathan Brady had to pay a heavy price for trying his humour at a certain race.