Hi friends,
Have you ever been wondering how to eat while you are fast asleep?
Have you ever taxed on how would Gabbar Singh react when he is old?
Have you ever thought why will a human being buy Pedigree?
Have you ever experienced how the Indian Idol would sing at a crematorium?
Have you ever seen the fixation of a father-son filmstar duo with a prostitute?
Have you ever known how dogs would react on knowing of their insult in films?
Have you ever witnessed a 15-kg person challenging the American force?
If, by any chance, you have been (un)lucky enough not to possess enough knowledge of this, then no tension... aLi is there to provide you a free solution. Go to the nearest Police Station, stab an officer, and get hanged! Or rather, if you want a simple death, come in front of a local train!
[Beware - Avoid metro railways at all costs. The drivers mostly slam the brakes which may land you in a hospital, rather than at hell - you surely ain’t going to heaven, are you?]
Now some of the holy souls who can answer each of these questions might be wondering why am I being so harsh to the poor not-informed guys/gals. The reason for you may be simple.
Yeh world hai na world, isme do tarah ke log hote hai. Lekin mere liye, teen tarah ke log hote hai. Ek jo haste hai, doosre to hasate hai, aur teesre jo Great Indian Laughter Challenge nahin dekhte hai. In logo ko sazaa-e-maut de di jaaye...
fuLLy faLtoO
Some specifications. This is a review on The Great Indian Laughter Challenge, so obviously, the name must be mentioned at various stages in this. So by popular demand, it will now be referred to as Sefft - Socially and Economically Fully Faltoo Telecast.
So basically, after Indian Idol, KBC and stuff, we have some reality show that can entertain us, and allows us to decide who’ll be the best!
Sahi jawab 2 crore rupay jeet gaye aap!!
Amitabh - Aaj khush to bahut honge tum! Jis aadmi ne aaj tak ek phuti kauri nahi jeeti, aaj woh do crore le jaayega! Do crore, haain!
Now you tell me, if a person wins such a huge amount, why the hell are you so happy? Will you get even a small share? So again, the dvitiya show may be useless to a section of the people, but SEFFT is an unusually unique show which entertains you for full one hour. Every Friday 2200 hrs to 2300 hrs. Forget all your worries, and then... hasi ki guarantee unki!!
Probably the first show on the Indian Television, where people from various places do gather and try their best to make people laugh. The best of them will be selected as the first stand-up comic of India! Making people laugh is truly a serious business. When you are on the stage, you have to forget all your worries, lest it might affect your performance! One momentary lapse in your concentration, and the result is out! So things are not as rosy as it may seem. There goes on a ton of hard work behind each performance, and that shows!
So while performing, the thing of paramount importance is, you guessed it, your performance. Out of the many wannables, six of them were shortlisted due to their extraordinary power to make people laugh. Sample a few lines of the individual performers, which made the Starone watchers roll off their seat --
Situation - Abhijeet Sawant at a crematorium:
Mayyatein uthaaonga.. Is ghar se aur iss dar se maal main kamaaunga.. Rounga cheekonga aur chillaoonga.. Is dhande mein bhi star bada ban jaaoonga.. Main star bada ban jaaoonga..
Door tak jaaoonga.. Main Andheri se Khar, Khar tak jaaoonga, shamshaan inhe pahunchaoonga...
- Sunil Pal
Situation - Feroz Khan talking to a prostitute.
Feroz - Payal, so rahi ho kya?
Haan main so rahi hoon.
Feroz - Yeh kambakth richshaw ki awaaz kahan se aa rahi hai?
Main taxi mein so rahi hoon. Driver lene ke liye ruka hai na isi liye.
Feroz (bewildered) - Kya lene ke liye ruka hai???
Chutta lene ke liye ruka hai, zyaada samajh mein aa raha hai kya? Naatak mat karo! Samjhe na, phaaltugiri nahi chahiye. Phone rakhun kya?
- Navin Prabhakar
Situation - Cooker and kadhaai talking to each other.
Cooker bola kadhe se.. Tu to tave ki saali hai.. Bahar se bhi kaali, aur andar se bhi kaali hai...
Kadhaai boli re cooker.. Tu apne gore rang par itna kyon itraata hai.. Yadi main kaali hoon, to mujhe dekh ke seeti kyon bajaata hai?
- Ahsaan Qureshi
There are many others as such, but else, this one will proceed to the Comments section. So who selects the winner?
judGes
Navjot Singh Sidhu is just awesome as a judge. He claps, bangs the table, and encourages each and every participant to do his best! He applauds them while they perform, and cheers even if the gag happens to be an old one! Moreover, his typical Siddhuisms are not to be missed! Watch out for him!
Shekhar Suman seems more interested in the eye candy [??] Parizad Kolah! More than anyone else, he talks about her and applauds what she does. For the contestants, he hardly laughs. He sits idle, and smiles occasionally. At times, he may whistle, or say some stuff like - Kya baat hai, followed by some claps!
Parizad Kolah lacks the zest and the wit as the compere of the show. Most of the times, she carries a single expression on her face, which is not subject to change with changing situations. In my opinion, Tanushree Dutta or Mandira Bedi would do!
juMbLinGs
To sum up, SIFFT is not just a show. It’s not even just a reality show, but a great way to recognise the talent of the people, and at the same time, entertain the audience. The efforts of each performer is more than commendable, and in particular, some of the mimicry is the best that one can see for a long long time. Plus, during some shows, other than NSS and SS, some celebrity judges are invited too, and they do add to the overall mood while watching the show. Rajpal Yadav and Johny Lever were two of such.
To add to it, we have some constant comments going on by NSS which never fails to keep us in splits. So don’t wait for another Govinda film (which you wouldn’t, in any case) but get off and switch on the TV right at 2200 hrs on Fridays!
A big good news for all those who didn’t have electricity on Fridays! You can catch the repeat telecast of the same on Sundays at 1330 hrs! And still, if you were unable to make it, go and bash up your damn electricity board officer, and ask for concessions from your cable operator!
tHe lAsT wOrd
U, VU, jo rate karna hai kar dena, aur do-teen comments chod jaana... Review mein kya rakha hai bhavnaon ko samjho..
aLi.
© Aliasgar Poonawala, 2005
