Happy 78th Independence Day! It’s time to salute the flag, pay our respects to those who fought for our freedom, and play Sandese Aate Hai on repeat (or at least that’s the brief my neighbourhood DJ got). It’s also the time when your uncle—yes that one who only wears kurtas and keeps muttering about the evils of Western Kulcha—decides it’s his job to quiz you on Indian history, and berate you for not knowing the difference between General Dyer and Lieutenant Governer O’Dwyer. Because if you haven’t mugged up all the trivia from over 3000 years of Indian history, how can you be a real patriot?
That’s not us though, don’t worry. We aren’t here to trigger your history-quiz PTSD. Instead, here’s a different type of quiz. You may not know when the first battle of Panipat occurred, but as a comedy connoisseur, you definitely know the answers to at least some of these questions. See how your knowledge of Indian comedy stacks up against the rest of the DeadAnt community.
Why do this quiz on Independence Day? Because we can. And also to remind everyone that the freedom our forebears fought for included the freedom to make jokes and to laugh, at the world around us and even ourselves. It’s not real azaadi unless it includes hasne, hasane ki azaadi.
This actor, regarded as one of the greatest comedic talents Indian cinema saw, has acted in over 300 films. However, millennials might remember him more fondly for his small role in the cult classic 'Andaz Apna Apna'. This was also his last performance. Who?
In the film, Mehmood’s character owns Wah Wah Photo Studio. He scams Salman Khan's character into giving him his father's life savings with the promise of making him a big superstar. Interestingly, in the film Pyaar Kiye Jaa (1966), Mehmood played a brat who starts the banner ‘Wah Wah Productions’. It is rumoured that the actor was interested in starting an actual production house of the same name.
Another brilliant comedic talent, this actor used to work as a bus conductor before he became a regular in the Indian cinema industry. He was best known for his portrayal of drunkards in films. Who?
Born Badruddin Jamaluddin Kazi, he was given the name Johnny Walker only after he started working in Bollywood. His screen name was inspired by the famous whiskey. He served in BEST for several years until he was spotted by industry bigwig Balraj Sahni. Walker would often be seen working in the Dadar bus depot and entertaining his passengers with his antics and sense of humour. Sahni, who was writing 'Baazi' for Guru Dutt at that time, spotted the actor. Another interesting fact, despite playing so many drunks on screen, Walker had allegedly never had a single drop of alcohol since he was a devout Muslim.
Fondly called the 'King of Comedy', Jaspal Bhatti was known for his political satire and jokes on the common man. He created the shows 'Ulta Pulta' and 'Full Tension'. What was the name of his most famous show?
'Flop Show' was produced by Bhatti's wife Savita Bhatti, who also played the role of his on-screen wife in all its episodes. Strangely, only 10 episodes were ever produced of 'Flop Show' yet Jaspal Bhatti became a nationwide rage and earned his due share of name and fame.
This Indian late night talkshow was modelled after 'The Tonight Show' (Johnny Carson, Jay Leno). Hosted by Shekhar Suman, it was one of the most-watched prime-time shows in India’s nascent television industry. What was it called?
'Movers and Shakers' began in 1997 on Sony and quickly became one of the most-watched prime-time shows in India’s nascent television industry. It became Suman’s calling card for the next 15 years or so, until first Sony and then SAB TV pulled the plug. In many ways, this show represented both the best and the worst bits of turn-of-the-century television in India.
Before making a name for himself in the Indian standup comedy scene, this comedy juggernaut served as the writer on the late night show 'Oye! It's Friday!' hosted by Farhan Akhtar. Who?
Before making a name for himself with All India Bakchod and later as the commander of the Bot Army, Tanmay Bhat wrote the screenplay and dialogue writing for NDTV Imagine's 'Oye! It's Friday!' with Farhan Akhtar. He also wrote for Disney India's 'Kya Mast Hai Life' and MTV India's 'Wassup' and 'Nachle Ve with Saroj Khan'.
Vir Das' company Weirdass Comedy used to host open mics for amateurs circa 2010. What were those shows called?
Weirdass Comedy was conducting open mics for amateurs, seeking to replicate Das’ own comedic education in American comedy clubs. These Weirdass Hamateur Nights were also held in other cities like Bengaluru. Rohan Joshi, then a writer working for TimesNow, won the 2010 Weirdass Hamateur Nights and went on to open for Das. By the time Varun Thakur did the same in 2011, the Comedy Store and Hamateur Nights had delivered a solid line-up of promising new talent, including Joshi’s future All India Bakchod (AIB) partners Ashish Shakya and Tanmay Bhat.
Karthik Kumar's theatre company Evam, put up a stage production of Chetan Bhagat’s bestselling novel 'Five Point Someone'. Which Indian comedian, who has appeared in various web series and sketches, played the lead in this play?
Evam had lost a lot of money on a stage production of Chetan Bhagat’s bestselling novel Five Point Someone—future stand-up comedian Naveen Richard was the lead in that play and he later joined Evam Standup Tamasha’s new stand-up comedy open mics.
Varun Grover served as the writer on this famous comedy show that aired on Indian television in the mid-2000s. Which show?
Writer and future standup comedian Varun Grover was part of the writing team on 'The Great Indian Comedy Show', which featured a mixture of sketches and straight stand-up routines. The show first aired in 2004 and featured some brilliant comedy actors including Ranvir Shorey, Suresh Menon, Vinay Pathak, Gaurav Gera, Manini De and Ashwin Mushran.
Comedy Central aired the first-ever comedy show focusing on improvisational comedy in India. What was it called?
Comedy Central’s 'The Living Room' (2014) was the first ever comedy show focusing on improvisational comedy. Kenny Sebastian and Kaneez Surka were the two comedians most invested in this tricky form. Other comedians like Kanan Gill, Abish Matthew, Naveen Richard et al joined Surka and Sebastian frequently on the show, which ran on the 8pm slot from Monday to Friday.
A watershed moment in Indian comedy, the 'AIB Knockout' featured the roast of which two Bollywood stars?
The event was hosted by filmmaker Karan Johar and the roasters included Aditi Mittal, Raghu ‘Roadies’ Ram, film critic Rajeev Masand as well as the four AIB comedians (Joshi, Bhat, Shakya and Khamba). On 28 January 2015, AIB uploaded a 54-minute cut of the evening’s proceedings on YouTube. The video was a runaway success, going viral within 48 hours.
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