Spiking mimicry, no laughing matter

Anyone remotely familiar with the way they put down their leaders on nightly television in the US would pity the Indian viewers who must live with insipid and boring fare. President Trump is so thoroughly lampooned, mercilessly torn aside by the TV comics , that even those who have no sympathy for him often feel that the host might have gone too far. However, despite the increasing spread of social media and its free-for-all character allowing for all manner of jokes, digs, spoofs and even vitriolic comment, various television shows continue to suffer from a stifling control over content. The recent report that a participant on The Great Indian Laughter Challenge, Star Plus’s popular show, had his mimicry of Prime Minister Modi and Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi spiked reveals a squeamishness which is totally out of place in these times of laissez faire in television viewing. At the click of the remote one can now access almost all TV channels, especially those in the free word. Besides, a number of US-centric digital content service providers at a small cost offer the Indian viewers a variety of programmes which make one realise the sheer poverty of our desi news and general entertainment channels. Clearly, the channel which killed the mimicry of Modi and Rahul played safe without anyone instructing it to do so. Given that the same content can now be accessed on social media, the objective behind self-censorship stands defeated anyway. It should have been avoided.