Remembering Indian Comedian Jaspal Bhatti

Jaspal Bhatti, one of the most popular comedians on Indian television has died in a car accident. He was 57.

He was known for his 1980s TV series “Flop Show,” which was a satirical look at the problems faced by middle-class families in India.

Thursday, Bhatti is being remembered by Bollywood film stars and Indian politicians.

The issues Jaspal Bhatti put into his comedic routines were unique for the time and they touched a chord to everyone who watched.

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Marco Werman: And finally today, one of the most popular comedians on Indian television has died. Jaspal Bhatti was killed in a car accident in India. He was 57. He was known for his 1980s TV series “Flop Show” which took a satirical look at the problems faced by middle-class families in India. Today, Bhatti is being remembered by Bollywood film stars, Indian politicians, and by our own Rahul Joglekar. He’s a producer at The World’s London office. Rahul, I gather you grew up watching Jaspal Bhatti on TV in the same way that many Americans grew up watching Bill Cosby in the 80s. Is that kind of even an accurate reference point?

Rahul Joglekar: Oh yes, absolutely, Marco. Jaspal Bhatti was a very popular television comedian and when I look back at these episodes, the production values weren’t all that great and the costumes were a bit shabby, but the issues that he sort of spoke about are very current and touched a chord with everybody who watched these series.

Werman: We actually have a clip from “Flop Show”. It’s in Hindi, so we’ll play a bit of it and then you can help us out to the meaning.

[Clip plays]
Jaspal Bhatti: [Speaking Hindi]
[Clip ends]

Werman: It sounds a little like a sitcom without the laugh track or maybe “The Office” where nobody is getting that live laughing going on. What is happening in this scene?

Joglekar: Absolutely. You know, even when I listen to the script it brings a smile to my face. This is one of the episodes where he’s discussing this problem that often India’s bureaucracy would have with these meetings and sub-committees and in this particular episode he’s a government official and his secretary comes to him and says, “Listen, there’s nobody available in this department to hold a meeting because they’re all holding various other meetings.” So he then holds a meeting to discuss how they should have a meeting with the chairman and they discuss things like what kind of tea will be served and whether there’s going to be samosas and what kind of samosas should be there. And then he comes out of the end of the episode and says, “Oh, we’ve made brilliant progress. We’ve decided on the date.” And a reporter sort of asks him, “What is that date?” and he says, “This is the date for the next meeting.”

Werman: I can see how he kind of sticks it to power and authority and corruption.

Joglekar: Absolutely. And this was something that wasn’t done on Indian television. This was state-controlled TV and the government and bureaucrats were absolutely holy cows and attacking them on state-controlled television was unthinkable, and all of a sudden this show comes along that is undoing all of that propaganda. So I think that’s something that was really unique about this show and, of course, today, on Indian TV there are scams and corruptions being discussed all the time, but back then this was very, very new.

Werman: Now, Jaspal Bhatti achieved fame beyond “Flop Show”. He had a new film, it’s coming out tomorrow in fact, called “Power Cut”. With this beloved comic now gone, what do you think the reception for the film is going to be?

Joglekar: The reception of the film will, of course, this is a film that, again, talks about, I don’t know, Marco, if you remember, but a few months ago, there was this big power failure in India where about six hundred million people were without power for one long . . .

Werman: I do.

Joglekar: Yeah, for a whole day and beyond. And this is an ideal situation for Jaspal Bhatti to exploit. This is the kind of stuff that he lives on. What’s really also important to point out is Mr. Bhatti’s activities outside of TV and film. This is a comedian who wore the hat of an activist. He’d launch political parties before elections, something what he called “Suitcase Party”, a suitcase being the symbol of bribes that are given to the government and bureaucrats. It’s stuff like that that Mr. Bhatti will always be remembered for.

Werman: Well, Rahul, thank you for sharing your memories of Indian comedian Jaspal Bhatti who sadly died today in a car accident. Rahul Joglekar, a producer for The World in London. You can watch an episode of “Flop Show” at theworld.org. Right now though, we leave you with the show’s theme song. From the Nan and Bill Harris Studios at WGBH, I’m Marco Werman. Thanks for listening.

[Song plays]

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