Can the goofy-looking, corrupt, unethical, fictional “Humble Politician” Nograj make a difference in real life? If you ask the brains behind the character, the answer is, perhaps “Yes, he can”.
Comedian and actor Danish Sait, who presented the talk on “Comedy is change” at The Huddle said that though his famous prank calls —made with comical accents to unwitting recipients — started as “stupid fun”, they became a platform for social commentary.
The satire hit at the heart of the smaller evils, and eventually, the satire became a hit. “We talked about different issues, demonetisation, politicians threatening violence, destruction of the environment. People saw through politicians like Nograj. It became a household name, at least among the 18-24 year olds who are important voters,” he said during the presentation peppered with rib-tickling punchlines.
Over 15 million views, 53,000 comments and 2,22,000 likes later, the series of Internet videos became a profitable film. “If people laugh, they open their mouths. If they open their mouths, they open their eyes. And with the opening of eyes, they open their minds,” said Mr. Sait.
While imitations of personalities kept the audience in splits, the comedian did take a serious moment to express his concerns when asked about controversies and court cases against comedians who speak their minds. “It is they [politicians] who should be trouble. Just because people follow a comedian, it doesn’t mean the comedian should not have an opinion,” he said.
Did he run into controversy for his Kannada film that largely poked fun at politicians and the political system. “Politicians are smart. No politician is going to say that he has a problem because we showed their scam on film. In fact, when we showed the film to over 180 local politicians, I could see many nudging their neighbours and saying the characters was like one corporator,” Mr. Sait said.
However, a politician did ask him if there was a sequel and whether it would show the political system in a better light. “There will be a sequel as long as politicians don’t change. Once it changes, I will gladly go out of the job knowing the system is cleansed,” he said.
