Laughingatourselves

It's comedic gold and cultural commentary as All India Bakchod take the stage in Sydney

Hindi readers,itisthatrude.

BY RAJNI ANAND LUTHRA

ComedianTanmay Bhat was hilarious as heripped into Indianjournalists' behaviour towardscelebritiesascompared to theirwesterncounterparts.

"Journos on aHollywoodredcarpet are like,'HiBrad, HiAngelina, you look lovely whoareyou wearing ?' Indian journos onaBollywoodred carpeton theother hand,loseeveryinchof their dignity(c1ct.rlikehe'stc1kiugoffhisclothes), AISHWARYAPHOTO!! AISHWARYA BYTE!! AISHW1\RYAPHOTO!!

AISHWARYABYTE!!"

Of course hewastryingtobe funny, bmitwas almostasif he wasrecountinga recentreallife Sydneyeventat whichIndian journos descended wildly ou a bewildered Aishwarya as shearrivedcoJauncb her signature watch atLongines.

Buethat isexactlywhatTanmayand his partners-in-crimeinAll IndiaBakchod (AIB) do -lampooncontemporaryIndian societyandshowit off for how ridiculous itcanbe.

Andas hisimaginarylushwarya walked off the stage,Taumaywas stillincharacter, shoutingafter her, "Bachchakiskahm?" o, wearenot goingtotranslate thatfornon-

Rude, that'stl1eotherthingtl1atAIB do. Andtlieydo it sowelltliat rudewould actuallybeapoliteword.Indeed,they themselves would9ualify"rude" with an adjectivebeginning withf.

AIBwas attlieir rudestbestastbeytook co tlie stageinSydneyrecently.

Tan.mayBhat,Gursimran Khamba, RohanJoshi andAshishShakya rose co fameinInclia in2013asYouTube in their 20s and 30s they were seeking entertainment not tradicionallyofferedby communityprovidersand lappingup every minuteof it.. proclaiming: F-l1111JPhirBhiKh11shThe(But111e ll'Crehcippyandcontent). Yeah,righcl Abishi'vfactliew wasbrillianc with his takeontoilethabitsi.n publicand what the nonverbalbehaviour of cricketersreally means. comediansbuc hittl1enational headlines with theirinfamousRoastwhich the Sanskaristook umbrage against. Ulcimately, theprotestorsate humblepieasAIB's popularitywenttbrougb tberoof.Today, theyareIndia'sbestknowncomedyace, courageous in their attempt to lampoon the deshintimeswhenallkindsof unnecessary boundariesare beingdrawn.

AIB tooktbemickeyomof anybodyand everybody•politicians,Bollywoodscars, cricketers,journalises,homophobes,dieyouth, theb11Z!"l!/,theirownparents, themselves, Indians,Aussies,Americans,Koreans,the French,even Pakistanis, andadmittedlyonly omsideof India,theSh.ivSena!

1n an .interviewonIndian Liol<Radio in thelead up totheirAustraliatom,Ashish Shakya unabashedlyadmittedRussellPeters was cl1eir major inspiration. (Russell must feelciclded pinktohavebecome theSalman Rushdieof thestand-upworld inIndia, inspiringa generationof comicsin a new careerjust.likeRushdiespurredonyoung writers).

Onthe Sydneystage,AIB werejoined by AbishMatthew, anotheremergingscar in Indiancomedy.

Thesell-out audience at theEnmore Theatrewas alsoarevelation.Largely

Rohan took onhis peopletheGujjus; .Lot.refGujaratisi11theaudience?Oh,so1JJeare giving011!co111pli111entc11ytickels.

AndIndiansarethe011!ypeople011thep!at1ef 111hotraveltho11.rand.sefmilestobe1vithother Tttdi,ms.

Kha.mba did the same forSikhs:AraSikh IhavetoSt£)'Man111oha11Singhhasreal!)brought o,n-com111tmi!J'd01vn especial!)'afterct!/thegood 111orkMikaSinghhasbeendoing.

AshishShakya channel.led hisownand all parents in theirnever-endingreminiscences about their impoverishedchildhood,despite theircurrentlycomfortablelives, andyet

Theirmentor thoughwouldprobably givethema few morelessonsonaudience interactionas tlieypicked onthosefront seaters somewhatless successfully,but, hey,we'rejust nit-picking here - in a show matotherwisewenc off superbly.And whilewe'renit-picking,AIB, weexpected a bit moreAussie content. So youhad the mandatoryconvictjoke,vegemite, Masterchef andSydney/Melborunerivalry but perhaps tliere's morematerialouttliere -Jobnny Depp and tbe dogs,tl1eAussie cricketers well known in India that shoot off at the mouth

As comedians, tlieywereno doubt playingfor a laugh. Butas social commentators, whichis ultimatelywhat theyare -whethertheyadmit it ornot, tliey werereaUyholding upa mirror ro moderndayIndia.

#WeAreLike1hatOn!JJ