The Politics of Comedy

Karan Talwar, aka Bollywood Gandu, says he’s as liberal as they get

In a country like India, where taking offence is a national pastime, how political can the comic scene be? Is it okay to make jokes on politicians and their politics, or is everyone too scared of Jaya Bachchan?

We sent email questionnaires to India’s leading comics and satirist to get answers to these questions. We also asked them to rate themselves on our liberal-conservative scale.



Karan Talwar is next on our series. He’s a Mumbai-based comedian and the founder of Schitz En Giggles (SNG) Comedy group, an improve and sketch comedy troupe. His claim to fame is his YouTube channel, Bollywood Gandu. Naam to suna hi hoga. 

  • How political is stand-up comedy in India?

Somewhat political. There are some guys who do political stuff but they only cover subjects that are already covered widely in the media. Maybe the fear is that people who don’t keep up with politics won’t be able to relate.

  • How important is it for comedy to be political?

Not every comedian needs to be political. On stage, I do zero political stuff, which is very different from my Twitter feed. Having said that, it’s important that there are politically-inclined comedians out there. Politics must be addressed because it’s such a big part of all our lives.

  • We know there is a large number of liberal comics (writers and performers) in India. But are there any conservative comics in the country? If yes, please name a few.

I don’t know of any who are outspoken conservatives. Or maybe at this moment no one comes to mind. Perhaps they do exist but they don’t say much because, like you said, it’s large liberal folks who do this and you don’t want to stand out like a sore thumb. That’s just a guess – I may be completely wrong.

  • Where would you place yourself on our liberal–conservative scale?

 I’m as liberal as they come. Will abandon tradition and religion for truth.

The author can be contacted on Twitter @amiham_singh
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