Laughing matters
RANA SIDDIQUI
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Irfan Malik and Ali Hasan, the semi-finalists on "The Great Indian Laughter Challenge-2", analyse what makes the sub-continent smile.
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WINSOME TWOSOME Irfan Malik and Ali Hasan
Not long back, people in India rolled in laughter after they heard Pakistani comedian Omar Sharief's "Bakra Qiston Par" and many other comedies on audiocassettes. For long he ruled the audiences' mind in India as the only comedy king from the country. This monopoly was recently broken when Irfan Malik and Ali Hasan made their foray into "The Great Indian Laughter Challenge-2" on Star One as competitors with the Indian contestants apart from Rauf Lala, Wali Sheikh and Kashif Khan. Not only did they make their way into the hearts of the Indian audiences but also cleared the semi final round with much aplomb. This is also the first-ever pair to contest in "The Great... ".
These contestants take on their Indian counterparts Pratap Fauzdar, Rajiv Nigam, Amir Rambo and Tushar Shah in an attempt to proceed to the finals, which will be held on June 23.
So, what's the formula that helped this `jodi' of Malik and Hasan sail through?
"I think it is the concept of a `pair' first that raised curiosity among the audiences here in India. Second, we are giving them a situational comedy of action-reaction and variation, which has been an alien concept except in Hindi films. Here, our immensely talented Indian counterparts have been depending more upon jokes and incidents; say in marriages, parties or in homes. And that's why I believe, our film story called `Thakathak' in the semi-finals had people falling off their chair, laughing. But above all, it is the sheer love and respect of the Indian audience that helped us reach this position," says Malik, a science graduate from Karachi.
Hasan, a long-time friend of Malik, chips in, "I think the scarcity of comedy theatre in India has helped us in this show. India has a culture of stand-up comedy, while in Pakistan we follow a situation. This concept is so popular there that very often when we perform on stage, people keep on laughing, so much so that we have to stop our performance in between to let them laugh!"
Question of liberty
The `jodi' is, however, not safe from criticism for incorporating not-so-decent elements in their performances. A point that the `jodi' justifies as, "Some such elements presented in a lighter way don't harm as such, and should be allowed. In our style of comedy we don't take liberties with words. We gesticulate to make people understand. That not only gets the message across but also restricts us from opening up in statements!"
To make an entry into this competition the duo sent Star One channel their video recording. Hasan, also a science graduate from Abdullah College in Karachi, says he had little expectations from the audiences after the performances of many other talented contestants. "We are extremely happy to see that Indian audiences are educated enough to understand and encourage innovative concepts. They are not swayed by nationalities but talent. We had tears in our eyes when we saw that people voted for us through sms. Whether we win or not, we will never be able to forget the immense love and affection we got from our brothers and sisters in India," says Hasan, choking with emotion.
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