What Kapil Sharma's comedy says about aunty, bhabhi and India's filthy sexist humour
Kapil Sharma at night, in the prime time slot, is bad enough. Kapil Sharma first thing in the morning, however, is not recommended before your first cup of coffee. Sharma has a new show these days on Red FM - it's called Hello Kapil! Bhabhi Wants To Know. In an episode I listened to last week, Sharma spoke to a "Bhabhi" whose problem was that a college-going guy living next door wouldn't call her by her given name (Parul), preferring just "Bhabhi" instead. Sharma chided her, "Acchaa, toh aap fail karaayengi use" (So you're going to make him fail his exams). Clearly, all women are either desexualised Bhabhis or hypersexualised non-Bhabhis. Now, Kapil who answers these "naughty" questions plays the role of a true moral guardian, whom the Bhabhis seem to love. It is a clever way of training them in their leisurely hours, they can come up with intimate details about their marital life, only before Kapil cuts them short with his preaching on the pati-pujaniya-aurat (The woman worshipping her husband).
It is possible that any gossip between Kapil Sharma fans today must be about his debut film, Kis Kisko Pyaar Karoon. You need some thinking to do if you have managed to laugh at Bholu (meaning innocent) saving three women's lives by the scared vows of accidental marriages. All the three women are shown to be single track -the first is sexually aroused 24 hours, the second is a traditional law-abiding Hindu wife who would like to devote her life to her family, and the third is in continual awe of her husband's service to her.
There is no talk of divorce (because "ghar science se nahi, home science se chalta hai"), and polygamy goes unquestioned even by the saner characters. The treatment of these topics is however very disturbing, it involves recurrent nostalgic comparison of morality of the 1970s and the contemporary times. Ask me how? In a scene from the film, a father confirms his daughter's wedding by saying "There was a time when women would be so shy once on the topic of marriage". The groom who is Bholu (Kapil) retorts "Aaj kal ki ladkiyan ghar se bhaagte hue bhi nahi sharmati" (Today's women won't even be ashamed before eloping). These ruminations about "Ek zamana tha" and "Aaj kal ka zamana" jokes directed at the changing lives of women, and their choices, hint at the true nature of the patriarchal lower middle-class mentality. Comedy Nights with Kapil exploits this fact, the family audience wants to laugh and talk about crass jokes all the time, but keeping in accordance with the dominant majority's idea of laughter. Many comedy shows like this tell us about a privileged concept of laughter where the darker, obese, economically poor, transsexual, homosexual characters are mocked at, these being mostly sexual attacks.
Much like the patriarchal training given by the radio shows, Kis Kisko Pyaar Karoon plays around soft-misogyny, aiming to justify that marriage is the only way of "protecting" wayward women. Why I find this significant is because, this trope is very common in Indian television comedies, and the reason oft-cited for its dependence of blatant sexism and racism is TRP ratings. Therefore, instead of accusing Kapil Sharma as an actor and stand-up comedian, we can perhaps meditate upon how comic laughter has evolved drastically in the last few years. Does it say anything about the audience who are as much responsible for this "Comedy King" phenomenon as is Kapil? What happened to the era of Johny Walker, Mehmood, Johny Lever, Satish Shah who also performed hilarious comedies, much treasured in Bollywood?
Recent developments in Kapil's career, first as a comedian, now as an actor, are not coincidental, the "aunties" "Bhabhis" who are always stereotyped in his works, also love to emulate him. (Take the case of questions asked in his shows by married women). Just as Kapil's show would end with "Always respect women", Kis Kisko Pyar Karoon's moral was "Kabhi kisi ladki ka ghar nahi todna chahiye" (One must never spoil the domestic happiness of a woman's life). This is of course, after making some of the filthiest sexist jokes, some bunch of very bad acting and terrible music. Comic license is one thing, but the Comedy King's performance is saying something more about the (insult) laughter formula in India. It is time we understand the price of such raucous laughter and the serious social structure it is fictionalised around.