Comedy shows in India are usually considered pretty much a family show that can be “enjoyed by all”. Growing up, comedy shows like ‘Laughter Challenge’ or ‘Comedy Nights with Kapil’ always seemed wrong to me. I was too young to know the reason at first.
Still, then I saw it changing into a whole new genre of comedy in India when anyone from the cast would dress up like a female or transgender and would act creepy around the guys from the audience or even the guests or show the characters as overweight or with a dark complexion.
While most of them claim to be a family show with no vulgar content, they forget to pay attention to what they feed the young kids or teenagers who might already be insecure about their external appearance.
If we keep the old comedy shows aside, even the well-known ‘Kapil Sharma show’ with a huge fan following all over the world follows the same pattern of comedy when Sumona, his reel wife, is bullied for having a short height or “big lips” while others like Kikoo Sharda playing the character of ‘Palak’ is portrayed as an over-weight girl who’s desperate to get married or Rochelle Rao playing ‘Lottery’ who’s objectified in each episode.
There are many more comedy shows, stand-ups and Sitcoms with the same trend, making fun of someone’s appearance, gender, and financial status, and it’s sad how none ever had an objection to such comedy, even in 2023.