NOT F R LAUGHS
Over the years, humour in regional theatre has undergone a sea change, FPJ takes a look at what has led to the change
In recent times and more so in the aftermath of the pandemic, humour is undergoing a catharsis in regional theatre. Marathi and Gujarati theatre have also witnessed the change.
There was a time when the likes of Laxmikant Berde, Bharat Jadhav, Sarita Joshi, Dinyar Contractor and Machindra Kambli ruled the roost. Parsi and Marathi theater was known for its double edged humour that went well with the audience and often saw a repeat audience for the same.
However, today, the writers, directors and actors crinch to do plays with double meanings. And many give credit to the change in sensitivities and sensibilities of the audience thanks to exposure to international content.
Actor and Bigg Boss contestant Aroh Welankar says that the sensibilities of the audience have changed. “Indeed there is an audience that does consume a bit of slapstick and adult humour. However, that volume has gone down or the productions that cater to double meaning humour, primarily due to changing world audiences’ sensibilities, have changed drastically. Their choice of content and plays have also changed,” says Welankar.
A thought that producer and social activist Smita Thackeray also agrees too saying that ‘cheap’ has fallen in a heap. “I think the audience has become more sensitive towards entertainment when it comes to choices. They are in cue with what is happening around them and they now seek good content. They filter out what passes off in the name of humour and make conscious choices even when it comes to having a good laugh. Today’s audiences need to connect and seek what is ‘real’. Hence cheap humour doesn’t work anymore,” she opines.
“There is a change in the budgets and the subjects too. The gimmicks are different now, the direction is a notch higher and the storytelling has changed as have performances. Take for instance plays like Safarchand, which have done well in Marathi as well as Gujarati. They have added a cinematic experience to it,” adds Welankar. “Humour, in general, has taken a back seat with plays like Mughal-e-Azam, etc. bringing grandeur to theater.”
When television came with sitcoms and dramas, many were glued to it. Many stars from the theatre world starting from Shafi Inamdar to Rakesh Bedi, Pawan Malhotra to Sarita Joshi moved from theatre to the small screen with their perfect comedy timing. But theatre had to fight TV back then as well. Vipul Shah, JD Majethia and Aatish Kapadia thankfully did not just stick to the small screen, they continued their play in the drama world as long as big actors like Paresh Rawal continued to give their support to Gujarati theatre, but they made sure that the drama content was up by a notch.
However, with Covid came exposure to international content, subtle humour and more relevant, realistic content. No doubt that the OTT did have crass or double meaning humour, but one could just switch channels or have child lock.
Theatre veteran and actor director Sunil Vishrani who dabbles in Gujarati and Hindi says that there is a definite change in humour in Gujarati theatre. “This is because of exposure of audience to other regional and international content online during lockdown. This has changed the perspective of comedy. The previous style did very well commercially. But as generations changed, there was a need to change the style. Many people, especially women, felt that double meaning dialogues were not good to consume along with the family. As the makers felt the need to change, we have seen changes in the comedy style. Now, good sensible comedy plays with a social message are winning hearts and a lot more women are watching plays,” he opines.
Those on the other side of the fence also reckon that there is a sea of change with respect to content across the world. Akshay Bardapurkar, who heads the Marathi OTT platform Planet Marathi, feels that the writers have changed in theatre and that is the reason for the change. “There is not just a reduction in slapstick comedy but demand for comedy as a genre has gone down. In this ‘real’ world with content going hyper-local, most stories or scripts revolve around biopics, and real stories and adaptations. Comedy is never considered real and mostly it’s staged, and dialogue based. After the OTT rise, the consumption of other content has grown exponentially and since that’s the most watched content, comedy has taken a back seat on many platforms,” says Bardapurkar who is also a regular patron of Marathi theatre.
Audience filters out what passes off in the name of humour and make conscious choices even when it comes to having a good laugh. — Smita Thackeray, producer and social activist