It’s the joke that was heard around the world. In January this year, a show called AIB Knockout was uploaded on YouTube by the comedy troupe All India Bakchod (AIB), who’d made a name among India’s internet-savvy youngsters for their near-the-edge, often star-studded videos.
The show, featuring the comedy roast of Bollywood stars Ranveer Singh and Arjun Kapoor, and hosted by director and producer Karan Johar, quickly racked up the hits online. Within two days, the videos, uploaded in parts, had received four million cumulative hits — unprecedented for a comedy show in India.
But the show, attended by a host of A-list Bollywood stars, divided the internet. Some called it vulgar, some found it abusive, and many said it was inappropriate. Despite its popularity, India, it seems, wasn’t ready for an expletive-filled comedy show with or without top Bollywood stars.
As the controversy began to escalate and authorities received complaints from those apparently offended by the show, AIB took down the videos five days after they were uploaded.
A long message posted on the group’s Facebook page apologised to those who found the show’s content offensive, and suggested, perhaps, the country wasn’t quite ready for the format.
“No one person or force forced us to take this video down,” it said. “This is not something that’s happened because of a 3am phone call or a morcha [protest] at our front door or a gunman on a grassy knoll. Under the circumstances, this is us being pragmatic,” it said.
Looking back on the incident, AIB member Ashish Shakya says he only has positive take-aways.
“The people who came there loved it, many people who saw it online loved it and supported it. That’s the aspect I would rather focus on,” he says. “The matter is still on so we can’t talk too much about it. But it was a form of comedy that’s gone around the world and we wanted to try it.
“[The incident] shows India is an interesting and complex country. It’s a country that’s still figuring out its stance on a lot of things and because it’s so diverse, it takes time. Debates about free speech have started… So let’s see where we go.”
Shakya and the rest of the AIB boys are coming back to Dubai on June 4. Their show Desi Laughs, featuring All India Bakchod, at the Godolphin Ballroom at Jumeirah Emirates Towers, sold out six days after it went on sale, said organisers Glam Affaire. Two previous gigs in the city also had a similar response.
“That’s just awesome,” says Shakya, who was in Dubai with the troupe in January. “I mean, without sounding arrogant, it’s just amazing how quickly we are selling out in Singapore, Dubai and all the other cities we’ve toured across India. Considering we started just two years ago, it’s pretty amazing.”
The upcoming Dubai show will be very similar to the last show, he adds.
“I hope people who came for that show won’t come for this. There were a lot of people who didn’t catch us the last time and want to catch us for this. This is for them,” he says laughing.
Founded in 2012 by comedians Gursimran Khamba and Tanmay Bhat, who began by uploading their politically incorrect podcasts online, the act gradually grew to feature interviews with personalities — from comedian Russell Peters, to Bollywood actor Ranvir Shorey and director Anurag Kashyap.
Shakya and Rohan Joshi soon joined the group and the foursome began doing live shows and sketches. In 2013, they launched their spoof-Bollywood award show, The Royal Turds, and caught the attention of some Bollywood actors who soon began to star in their videos. Their YouTube clips quickly began to rise in popularity.
AIB came into existence at the right time, says Shakya.
“Before we launched AIB, we were doing stand-ups. And we always wanted to try something different. Indian TV channels were rubbish and there was this new wave of people doing stand-ups in English and we wanted to start something experimental. Thankfully, it worked.”
The AIB YouTube channel now has more than 84 million views.
It’s a good time to be a comedian in India, says Shakya, who was studying to be an engineer before discovering he was “terrible at it”. “There’s so much happening, so much material everywhere, it’s overwhelming,” he says.
The country’s growing internet usage has also become a blessing, he adds.
AIB have also been at the forefront of online activism. In April, a hashtag it helped create, #SaveTheInternet, began trending worldwide. The hashtag originated after the group threw their comic weight behind a campaign calling for net neutrality. They were complaining against a telecom operator allowing some websites to let potential customers browse without an internet connection. Net neutrality campaigners claim this would give undue advantage to companies who can offer to pay for their customers’ data and leave smaller companies in the dust.
In 2013, AIB’s provocative sketch, Rape? It’s Your Fault, starring Bollywood star Kalki Koechlin, satirised the victim-blaming mentality in India following the high-profile 2012 Delhi gang rape. The video has amassed more than four million views.
“Those videos help us bring serious issues to people’s attention,” explains Shakya. “And sometimes with humour it works better. Because otherwise it will be someone just rattling off facts. That’s boring. It’s a good way to get a reaction and it’s the only way we know how.”
The plan now for AIB is to cover more countries, and expand into writing for films.
“Movies are the next step for us and we’re working on it,” says Shakya, who is also a columnist for English daily the Hindustan Times. “That’s all happening in the next six to eight months.”
Not bad, he says, for something that started with two guys and a podcast.
“We have a lot more work, we are getting a lot less sleep but we’ve got so many opportunities that’s come that we never ever imagined. The kind of access we’re getting, the famous people who now know us want to work with us. It’s a very exciting phase,” he says.
And as for jokes that stick, and those that don’t necessarily invite police complaints, he thinks India is getting there.
“I have faith we are heading in the right direction. We are getting a lot of support. It’s a very, very minor percentage but we are getting there.”
— Tickets to Desi Laughs with All India Bakchod have sold out in all categories.
