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Vikram and his victims!

Meet Vikram Sathaye, the showman who instantly makes you smile

PHOTO: S. R. RAGHUNATHAN

ON A HUMOROUS PITCH Vikram Sathaye

Here is a situation where the victims enjoy the cruelty inflicted on them. Vikram Sathaye's victims are almost always his close friends. "Mandira Bedi calls to learn about the latest gag on her," says Sathaye. This friendliness thrives in spite of Vikram telling his audience that people did not notice him on television because of Mandira Bedi. A sexist comment? Probably. But Mandira does not think so.

Surely, somebody must have taken offence at Vikram's "carping remarks". Does Virendar Sehwag smile when Vikram goes, "The last time Sehwag moved his feet was when he was two-and-a-half (years old)"? Or Inzamam ul Haq, who has been pronounced "the slowest product that God has created on Planet Earth". Vikram is referring to the player's seemingly slow movements on the field and placidity during critical moments. Vikram says "half of Sachin's success is Tony Grieg's" and wraps in layers of humour the idea that Tony Greig heightens Sachin's achievements by the way he reports them.

Vikram says cricketers and commentators are comfortable with his brand of stand-up comedy, because it is intelligent and not crude.

At college, Vikram dabbled in stage shows of the kind he now specialises in. And after he acquired an MBA in marketing from Symbiosis, he got a job that was in keeping with his academic qualifications. For four years, he was marketing manager for MTV. But scenes from "Fully Faltu", which he sometimes presented along with Cyrus Broacha, alone are etched in his mind. A showman was born when his next employer Metalight Productions (started by Sony) recognised his talent for `interpreting' events and sent him to the World Cup. Since then, he is humorous at the expense of the cricketing fraternity. They don't object to it, probably because the man laughs at himself. "In my second year at Symbiosis, I decided that I either have a good hairstyle or no hair," he explains his perennially tonsured head, which has become a trademark of sorts.

PRINCE FREDERICK

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