the serious Humor

In our movies, popular culture humour was always something complementary to the main narrative. Hero was either a sad, serious man like Gurudutt saab in Pyasa who was supported by Johny Walker singing Sar jo Tera Chakraye or it was an angry young man like Bachchan saab supported by likes of Mukri, Kader Khan and Mehmood...even in our epics Like Mahabharata and Ramayana, our heros are either Maryada Purushottam who will always talk about morals or Krishna who will either preach Geeta or guide Arjun in the battlefield. The humor was considered something lower than serious.

But in recent times and with the rise of social media, humor is no longer a subsidiary thing. It is not a filler performed by a joker while other artists are getting ready for the next act. It has become mainstream. It is not the side dish but the main course. All messages can and are delivered via memes, jokes and short videos, and the common flavor is humor.

In our schools, we had a blackboard where we used to write 'Thought of the day'. Now we are in an era of 'Meme of the day' and 'viral video of the day'. Here again, humor takes the lion's share of things. The great Indian laughter challenge was the first TV show where the humor /comedy became the theme of reality show. Today, people associated with that show have become legends in their own right. Kapil Sharma is one of the highest paid artists who earns much more than 99% of so-called bollywood stars. Raju Shrivastav has his own following. Creatives like TVF and AIB are sensations among the young people.

And now with the rise of Bhagwant Maan as Punjab CM, also a product of the great Indian laughter challenge, humor has stamped its authority. I have always believed that comedy is a serious and the toughest business. If you have to make anyone laugh, you can't ensure that even by giving him a million dollars. Even if you make him laugh by bribing him, all you will get is a fake laugh. Compare it to the scenario where you have to make someone cry. Just slap him hard .. making someone cry is the easiest of all, even an onion can do that. 

Congratulations to Bhagwant Maan on his success. Keep your humour intact and you will do great.. You have been a master of humour and have made people smile. Any other job is going to be easier than that. World will bow down to the supremacy of Humor.

 All the very best..