I have always had a soft spot for laughs. My favorite
movies/ TV shows have always been comedies. Even now on weekend evenings, my elder
daughter and I cuddle up on the sofa when a particular Malayalam comedy show
starts on the telly. Whatever be the quality of the comedy dished out, we
switch on the telly every week – without fail.
Early this morning news trickled in that last night Jaspal
Bhatti passed away tragically in a car accident. Bhatti has been my favorite Hindi comedian. On the sole TV channel we had in the late
eighties, we would yearn to watch the ‘Flop Show’ and ‘Ulta Pulta’. Bhatti’s humor was self depreciating and he
would deliver his lines with a straight face. He chose topics of social interest and his
skits/shows made you laugh, yes but also made you think. There have been many satire shows since but
the king of satire will always be Bhatti.
Even after the satellite channel explosion in the nineties,
Bhatti kept at it, sometimes popping up at the street corner with a play,
sometimes in a short film, sometimes on the telly – but always with a social
message delivered with a jab of humor!
A few years back he addressed a press conference and
announced the formation of a mock political party. The promises in the manifesto were
hilarious. I was taken back in time to my college days when in the final year,
a few friends include myself got together and formed a mock group to ‘contest’
the college elections!
Bhatti Saab – thank you for all the laughs and for the messages. I am sure you will start performing the ‘Flop
Show’ in heaven for the denizens there having a go at the powers that be there.
But you leave us mortals in an ‘Ulta Pulta’ world.
