Recently, one of India’s most
popular TV shows ‘Comedy Nights with Kapil’ which aired on ‘Colors’ has come to
a closure. While reason behind its abrupt demise is controversial enough in
itself; the show, in my opinion, was no less either. That this ‘perverted’ show
(as the title of this article asserts) ran so long, is disturbingly surprising.
I shall now try to express my opinion on different aspects of this show in the
following paragraphs.
I remember how I came across
this show for the first time. Kapil and his pet gesture ‘Baba Ji Ka Thullu’ had
already gained mass popularity by the time I got to hear about them. And I did
hear about them so many times – it was almost as if I was the only person not
watching it. So I went ahead and watched the show. What was my reaction? I
found it as horrifying as it was entertaining. Why horrifying? Let me ask you a
question to begin with – do you know what Kapil’s almost patented phrase “Baba
ji ka thullu” mean?
What
Does ‘Baba Ji Ka Thullu’ Mean? Warning: This phrase is slang
or a cuss word. You may skip following two paragraphs if you want to avoid its
details.
You might have come across a
phrase called ‘Baba Ji ka Ghanta’. In exact terms, it means ‘testicles of a Sadhu (sage)’. Since long there have
been Sadhus or sages who do not wear
any clothes, due to spiritual reasons (e.g. to discard materialism). Many times
such Sadhus depended on common
population to survive – they wandered and did not care about the hassles of
cooking, so the common people fed them with regular meals to the extent
possible. Some mischievous kind from the common masses cooked up this slang or
cuss word – ‘baba ji ka ghanta’ where ‘ghanta’ meant the ‘hanging’ (like a
bell) testicles of a Sadhu. When was
this term used? It was used to discard or discount something. Just like a monk’s
testicles are futile (since Sadhus practiced celibacy, their testicles were of
no practical use), anything which is worthless or futile could deserve this
slang. Kapil’s ‘Babaji ka Thullu’ improvised over it and it meant, well, ‘penis
of a Sadhu (sage)’!
In the phrase ‘Baba ji ka
thullu’, the relevance of ‘Baba ji’ is already explained above. What does ‘Thullu’
mean? Some of you may recall that ‘Tullu’ was a popular brand of ‘water pump’.
Thullu is ‘Tullu’ in the general term that it stands for a ‘pump’. I hope I don’t
need to explain why a ‘penis’ could be called ‘pump’ in slang? So the overall meaning
of ‘Baba Ji Ka Thullu’ remains the same. Since a Sadhu practices celibacy, his penis is of no practical use when it
comes to sex and hence it means “nothing”. How savage! Do you remember what
Kapil said whenever anyone asked him what did “Baba ji ka thullu” mean? He said
– “It means ‘nothing’”. Indeed, it means “nothing”. The devil is in the
details.
If Kapil is responsible for doing
mass corruption by bringing a sexual slang to everyday usage, other members of
his ‘on-screen family’ were no saints either.
Daadi:
There
are few relations as pure as the one between children and grand parents. We
could hold grudges against our parents for any reasons, but the love and
affection our grandparents give to us is always so pure and so divine. When I
first saw the kind of ‘daadi’ which
was being played by a male Ali Asgar in the female costumes, I was disturbed
merely at the sight of it. The grandmother ‘daadi’
drinks alcohol, openly salivates and jumps on male guests who come on the set
and does other disgusting things like farting and smooching. I know that you
would say – it was all for fun! Agreed, this is how I also saw it and survived
without getting heart attacks watching Comedy Nights every weekend. But, in the
end, no one can deny it that the character of ‘daadi’ was sexually perverted. And this show was supposed to be so
called ‘family show’. Every time ‘daadi’ jumped and painted the cheeks of her male
guests in red lipstick, the show became a cheap perverted comedy. There was no subtlety,
no grace, but only crass fun. I think in the history of Indian television
industry there has not been a grandmother as vulgar and disgusting as the one
played by Ali Asgar.
Bua:
The
way society was at one time, unwed daughters were looked down at. I don’t need
to be a feminist to see the role of unwed ‘Bua’ of ripen age being a blot on
the face of all feminists. In almost every episode some ridicule was passed on
her only because she was still unmarried. I know the same justification – “it
was all for fun”. But you can’t deny that deep rooted behind all such “fun” was
still the gross sexist ridicule which is heaped on the girls who don’t marry at
the ‘right age’.
Wife-Bashing: There has been some constant themes on which Comedy Nights with Kapil was based. One such was "wife-bashing". The manner in which Kapil abused his on-screen wife at the stage was disgusting. He made fun of her in front of the guests on stage. His repetitive taunt was for her "lips" - again showing sexist side of the man. I have never seen such a "popular" male-chauvinist as Kapil.
In my opinion, Comedy Nights
with Kapil raised a very important question – why should we be forced to watch sick
perverted comedy in the name of humor? I don’t agree if anyone says that ‘comedy’
is not possible without being expletive or sexist. Many people have done that –
there have been wonderful writers and poets who produce so hilarious
literature. But then, they fail to be a ‘mass product’ like Kapil. Why? Extreme
popularity of Kapil’s show is a proof that our society is not exactly going the
right way. We are just running behind whatever is served to us in attractive
labels.
I think the mass popularity of
Kapil’s show was one of the best marketing gimmicks of our time. I know of
several people in personal life who have no humor whatsoever in them; but every
time the discussion goes around Comedy Nights, they repeat, like a parrot, “Kapil
is the best; there is no one like Kapil”. How this vulgar TV show of a “poker
faced” man-next-door gained mass popularity is not a proof of his talent but
also speaks poorly about our society which looks for social approval and lacks
individualism in all fields. I am not a sociologist to understand it totally –
but I do feel that lack of criticism for perverted shows like Comedy Nights
speaks poorly about our society.
[Disclaimer: Views expressed
are personal.]
