Jaspal Bhatti: Comedy’s king lives on

I grew up watching Ulta-Pulta on Doordarshan. There was something about whatever he said that always touched me. In fact the way he said it. Jaspal Bhatti was never loud, he was connected to the people, and he knew what they were facing. His satire went beyond comedy. It was always a statement. A powerful voice against the system seeped in corruption, inequality and circumfrenced by social evils. Bhatti saab never spared anyone. It is his second death anniversary today (3 March 1955 – 25 October 2012) and I cannot help but remember his popular Punjabi film Mahaul Theek Hai that took on the powerful Police department and showed all that was wrong with it.

Being family friends and colleagues gave me a chance to observe the man very closely. His style, his attention to detail, the hard work he put into his scripts. He was the first real satirist of the country, someone who could make even the person at the receiving end of his jokes smile.

Considering that India has no tradition of political satire, the well-educated Bhatti, employed with Punjab’s electricity department, ensured that his comedy reached all classes. And he was never vulgar. His scripts never demeaned women to play up to male sensibilities. His comedy talked about rising prices of vegetables and essential commodities. He staged street plays in Chandigarh on corruption --- issues which directly affected the common man. The most peculiar aspect of his satire was the fact that not only did it make people smile, but also forced them to think. If he was alive, I am sure he would be in the Parliament with me. After all, that is the place where real comedy takes place nowadays.

I worked with him in Punjab electricity board’s advertisements and also did 20 episodes of ‘Comedy Ka King’ that was aired on Sab TV in 2008. I realised that behind the flawless timing and what seemed as improvisation, a lot of hard work was involved. Especially in the writing department. We would always lament that there are way too few writers in the industry.

Look at the comedy shows on TV today. The sheer quantity has destroyed quality. It has become all about targeting individuals or making a mockery of women. What we need right now is to tell the country that ‘Yes, we have reached Mars. Now, it’s high time we stop killing girls in wombs.’ TV is supposed to join families; it is not comic when family members cannot look at each other while watching a so-called comedy show.

Comedy and satire can go a long way in educating the masses, and Bhatti saab proved that at every turn in his career. He is the one who should be credited with making it popular enough to be a profession.

For him, comedy was serious business. He knew that people listened to him, so he took his role as a social activist very seriously. His death has left a big void. Yes, many comedians will come and go. But he was the superstar. Someone who would never smile at his own jokes and never thought twice before cracking a joke on himself.