A bad joke in India can have many connotations. Ask this to comedians Sahil Khattar and Ayushman Gupta, who are currently facing trouble over “objectionable” content on their YouTube channel Being Indian, and the duo counters
that they do not attempt to mock a certain personality or social structure. Ayushman says, “We follow a simple strategy. Laugh with us, Laugh at us.” The duo has a rare ability to make a comment about everything, including their discomfiture, in a jocular way.
Pointing out to the content of one of his videos, Ayushman says, “Every Bengali mom in the world” was not an attempt to mock at his mother. “The idea was to laugh at her and laugh with her. There are so many stereotypes about people and culture. It’s not about breaking stereotypes but about embracing them. You have to accept stereotypes only then will you be able to break them.”
Sahil says their observational comedy does not offend any sect or person and their humour is sharp and quirky. It is not very punchy or intelligent as they attempt to build their own niche.
Sahil says content creation is a long process. Their priority is not only marketable content but creating subject matter which would initiate a dialogue. What follows is serious brainstorming and experimentation with the content and presentation which would serve as their benchmarks. Their popularity reflected when they were nominated to participate in Sprite Comedy Konkout by The Tenderloins.
Ayushman says their work begins by observing trending stuff on the Internet — everything related to lifestyle. After this a comprehensive ground research starts to decide on its marketability and understanding of the content.
Dismissing claims of being vulnerable, Sahil asserts that they are confident of producing new content and not scared of failing expectation of their viewers.
With obvious bias and shrill tone, Internet seems to have lost its credibility of being the ideal platform for projecting a balanced debate. But, interestingly, the channel claims to finding more freedom on the Internet than any other platform. Sahil believes that the Internet serves his motive of initiating an unbiased real life dialogue. “ The idea is to start a dialogue and not to take sides…. The kind of dialogues that I wanted to start in the most prominent manner is what I found on the Internet,” says Sahil.
On the future of comedy, specifically the YouTube comedy, Ayushman says: “As long as things do not go right in the world, there would be a few who would want to dissent and raise voice.”
While Ayushman sees humour as a form of protest with scope for sensibility and expression, Sahil feels that humour wouldn’t harm anyone: “ Khush rahenge, tab hi tarakki krange pura desh tarakki krega .”
