Becoming a comedian in a country that is offended by everything is a pretty tough job.
Comedian Kunal Kamra, famous for his Siachin mein humare jawan ladd rahe hai, recently posted a heart-wrenching post about the struggles he faces for being a comedian with ‘political opinion’ and what he says is a sad reflection of how regressive our society really is. Here’s an extract from his post-
As a comedian having a political opinion comes at a cost. Perhaps, you are thinking ‘What is the big deal in making fun of people in power?’…But there are consequences. A corporation will call you 2 days before your show and say “Sorry, We’ll have to cancel this one because our CEO is a big fan of the PM and we don’t want any political jokes”
What about freedom of speech? What about the fact that comedians are supposed to be the biggest critics of politics and constantly call politicians out on what they do? Or, is ‘political comedy’ or satire very difficult to comprehend for people in our nation?
He goes on to write-
One day your land lady will ask you to vacate her house and look for another place because of your political opinion. And while all this is going on and you’re particularly suicidal, HDFC will message you asking you if you’ve linked your Aadhar Card. So CHOOSE wisely about the comedian you want to become.
Saddening, isn’t it? Read the entire post here:
No country for funny men much?
