By YKA Staff:
Expressing his disappointment over not being able to talk about cheesecake, AIB’s co-founder Tanmay Bhat settled for comedy can be used as a tool for social change instead.
Closing the sessions at CONVERGE 2016, Bhat shared how their initial videos failed because they were all about “stupid things”. Then, following a sexual assault case in Mumbai and a need to talk about rape culture and sexual violence in the country, AIB came out with a video titled “It’s Your Fault” to bring out the ridiculousness of victim blaming.
“When you let comics be secure in being able to fail, then only will they be able to break new ground,” said Bhat, highlighting how comedy can only become a tool for social change when they are able to experiment with their work, without the fear of negative response.
Following this, the AIB co-founder shared how their parody of Dhoom 3 was shut down by Yash Raj films, because of which they made the following video in response.
Sharing their subsequent success with their campaign on net neutrality (which received over 1 million emails in support) and his engagement with young people on issues around feminism using SnapChat, Tanmay Bhat closed his session with – “If you make them laugh, they open their mind. And when they open their mind, there’s room for change.”