English
Dear Ashish, Rohan, Tanmay and Gursmiran,
A lot of water has flown under the bridge in the last few days. From what I gather, you released an epic (albeit edited) video of the roast, became the toast of the town, upstaged the Filmfare Awards, came in for criticism from the moral police and the upholders of our national virtue and finally ended up taking down the videos from YouTube. I would’ve loved to see the roast in person but Rs 4,000 was way too steep for me.
When I first saw the YouTube video of the roast, I couldn’t believe what I was seeing – it was that awesome. The very first line, introducing Karan Johar was truly epic and I thought that things wouldn’t be the same anymore. Except for perhaps the repetitive fat, black and gay jokes, it was quite amazing.
But let me say I am extremely disappointed you guys took down the videos, even though I am not privy to the pressures you probably came under after it went viral. But wasn’t that the point, to show the middle-finger to the so-called moral police who think they’re protecting our national values?
At least I thought that was the point, which seemed to be the USP of your older videos which were irreverent to the point of insulting. Everyone knows that the country’s overrun with individuals just waiting to take offence who are trying so hard to remain relevant in this day and age. The last time we had a debate about free speech; it was during the Charlie Hebdo incident. Many of us tweeted with the hash tag JesuisCharlie, showing our support for freedom of speech.
What happened guys? You have taken on TOI, Yash Raj Films and other biggies, so what happened this time? Was the threat of violence too much? As a nation, we’re entering some dark days, what with a completely saffronised, Modi-loving Censor Board. AIB and its roast had become something to rally around, a symbol of hope, that there are idiots out there who’re not bothered about the consequences. In some ways, you guys reminded me of Charlie Hebdo, not afraid who you pissed off!
Of course I know we’re not France and free speech isn’t that important here but satire, humour and sarcasm is necessary to fight tyranny. If we look at France’s history, you’ll see that humour is almost synonymous with democracy. In fact, we might not have had a majorly democratic world if it hadn’t been for the French Revolution that lasted from 1789 to 1799. This was the first time in human history that all forms of religious or aristocratic privileges were replaced with the mantra of ‘Freedom, Equality, and Brotherhood’.
Since then, the world has never been the same again (and that’s in a good way). And satire is as old as the revolution and even in the 18th century they had scandal sheets that denounced their royal family. Satire has therefore always been the weapon of choice against all forms of authority – politicians, bankers or religion. And like the French we must not let this right be taken away from us.
I’d written articles defending your stance, explaining how the true bakchods are the moral police, explaining how it’s a woman’s right to free will whether she wants jokes, and basically laughing and defending you guys. I was sad when I heard you guys edited out jokes about Salman Khan’s sister, Narenda Modi and others, which shows that you’re not, as you claim, equal-opportunity offenders (think you wrote that for the Nayak 2: Kejriwal video).
And I was saddest when I heard that you took down the videos. I guess the big guys won!
Yours sincerely,
A very disappointed fan!
PS – To all the religious groups and political parties which have gone after AIB with a vengeance, thank you for coming together and putting aside your ideological differences to rid the nation of what’s really plaguing us – dark humour and expletives! The poor, hungry and wretched thank you for your great service!
PPS – Salman Khan fans, get a life guys. Just tweeting the same damn thing – in this case, AIB National Shame – to make it trend is the lamest thing anyone has ever done. If Bhai could talk to you he’d probably say in his faux American accent: ‘Staahp’!
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