The Indian comedy scene has consistently upped its game over the last few years. After becoming household names by turning commentators for the IPL, starring in big-budget OTT shows and movies and riding the viral wave of Instagram reels last year, comedians and their teams doubled down in 2022. They returned to the stage in top form and continued to innovate and make their voices heard in new arenas. Here’s a look at some of the year’s highlights.
Standup Was A-Live
Stage shows took a significant hit during the last two years. While comedians did start getting back to live comedy in 2021, it wasn’t until this year that the scene was back in full form. Upcoming comedians could hit up open mics again, and the bigger names started to sell out venues. According to the entertainment and ticketing platform BookMyShow’s annual report, Vir Das, Anubhav Singh Bassi and Harsh Gujral were among the top 10 crowd-pulling acts of the year, competing with global music artists like Post Malone, Diljit Dosanjh and Alan Walker. Das, ever the over-achiever, spent a ridiculous amount of time on the road, performing 183 shows this year.
Indian comedians didn’t just make waves at domestic box offices. There were a bunch of successful international tours too, some of which had been scheduled earlier and postponed due to the pandemic. Kanan Gill toured a fresh hour titled Is This It? to Europe and the United States, and Rahul Subramanian took his crowd work special—soon to be out on an OTT platform—on tour there too. And, in one of the biggest highlights of the year, Zakir Khan became the first Indian comedian to perform at and sell out the iconic Beacon Theatre in Madison Square Garden, which has hosted global comedy icons such as George Carlin, Jerry Seinfeld, Trevor Noah and Ali Wong.
OTT Continued to be OP
The lull in live events and apprehensions about Zoom comedy also forced our comedians to seek artistic refuge in the digital space. They took to live streaming on YouTube, podcasting, vlogging and Instagram reels to build stronger, more closely-knit communities. Those audiences have helped push comedians to roles in big releases on streaming platforms and the big screen.
Kusha Kapila and Prajakta Koli (MostlySane) made feature film splashes this year. Kapila starred in the Netflix rom-com Plan A Plan B, while Koli made her feature debut in Jugjugg Jeeyo, as part of the Saini family alongside Anil Kapoor, Kiara Advani and Varun Dhawan. Kapila also was a part of the Amazon miniTV’s show Case Toh Banta Hai, a courtroom comedy show where the social media sensation judged Bollywood’s elite.
Dolly Singh and Aadar Malik also featured in the Prime Video original series Modern Love Mumbai. Finally, standup comedian and Evam Tamasha founder Karthik Kumar made his directorial debut with Netflix comedy Super Senior Heroes. The feel-good comedy was also partly written by comedians Rabhinder Kannan and Mervyn Rozario.
Comedians Inc.
Our comedians weren’t just dealing laughs this year. They were also busy closing deals and getting their own companies off the ground.
Comedian Sumukhi Suresh paved the way for women-led video content by kickstarting content company Motormouth. The Pushpavalli writer aims to change the “culture and gender lens” that dominates storytelling in India. Similarly, Kumar Varun founded Kumar Varun Quizzing Pvt Ltd in association with artist and event management company Only Much Louder (OML) to consolidate his live show Kvizzing With The Comedians and all its related IPs.
Unsurprisingly, Zakir Khan made his presence felt here as well. The comedian clearly had his fingers in one more pie… or should we say biryani? Zakir Khan also entered the food and beverages market with his newly launched brand of biryani, Mehfil Biryani. And if you were looking for a cold beverage to wash that biryani down with, Vir Das joined hands with Pune-based craft brewery Great State Aleworks to make his very own beer called FaakIt.
Trailer To 2023
Many of our favourite comedians have no intention of letting the momentum slip in 2023. And from what we’ve heard on the grapevine, there are tons of things to look forward to next year.
Bhuvan Bam is coming to Hotstar in January, for example. The YouTube sensation will be playing the lead role in the upcoming Hotstar Original series Taaza Khabar which appears to be a sci-fi series with an Indian touch. Anubhav Singh Bassi is also set to make his Bollywood debut in Shraddha Kapoor-Ranbir Kapoor starrer Tu Jhoothi Main Makkar. And in one of the most exciting reveals of 2022, we’ll see Rahul Dua as the host of Shark Tank India‘s upcoming season.
This is just what we can talk about officially, but 2023 looks like it’s going to be a busy one. Which is great because if there’s one thing the last few years have taught us, it’s that we need all the laughter we can get.
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