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The charm of New York City is inescapable — you either love it or hate it (I don't understand how), but you can’t ignore it. As the temperature starts dipping and the season starts drifting towards winter, the searing winds start to whizz through your ears.
The plethora of people thronging the innumerable streets of the city are forever on the move and always in a rush — the subway is as egalitarian and culturally-driven as can be. The chances of you bumping into a Tambrahm and a Russian are quite even.
Amid all this plurality, “Late-Night Shows” are an integral driver of the pop culture narrative. Their comical takes on anything and everything under the sun are prime-time material and have a wide reach.
The Daily Show’s new host, Trevor Noah — a South African stand-up comedian who replaced the legendary Jon Stewart — has the audience in splits, as he goes about satirically lambasting American politicians and politics. He mocked the Canadian elections, Donald Trump, CNN’s Wolf Blitzer, Democratic Presidential hopefuls including Hillary Clinton. Just about everything!
Watching the show, I was, in a sense, taken aback by the enthusiasm of the audience and the sheer irreverence with which Trevor went after the some of the most powerful politicians in the United States. This led to another obvious question — “Doesn’t one have to think twice about going after the powerful people in the country?”
While the maturity of the audience impressed me, I also understood that such irreverence is an core aspect of the American fabric — an attribute I wouldn’t adore all the time.
Now imagine having show like that in India. Would it would work within the fabric of India’s cultural aesthetic?
Here are the reasons why I feel it would work:
The first thing young Indians want is for their politicians to really chill a bit. Young India wants such shows — politics blended with light-hearted humour. If Barack Obama, one of the most powerful men of the free world, can take part in these talk shows and laugh at the barbs thrown at him, then why can’t our political leaders do the same?
Most of India’s politicians are either too old-school or way too serious about what they do. While one understands that politics is a serious game, it could do with a dose of light-heartedness. It would surely help them reach out to their audience in a better way.
Also, there is an urban demographic dividend craving for quality political content in India. The stage, therefore, is ripe for a product that can cater to a semi-political audience who want to understand the subject better in palatable doses. The show that comes closest to the American talk shows is Cyrus Broacha’s The Week that Wasn’t. But then, it's only a weekly show and mostly comical — it's not a satirical show that communicates a message along the way. The shows in the West manage to do that with élan and communicate current affairs to their audience through satire.
Second, the political class, especially in India, think they are demi-gods. They are granted all the privileges in the world and think they are royalty. Satirical shows would be a very effective tool for keeping politicians grounded and make them shed their egos. It would make them come to terms with the fact that they too are just as human as others and instill in them that they are expected to be representatives, not rulers, of the people.
Third, ironically enough, I think the Indian politician would not mind such shows. The politician would be astute enough to know that people are watching the show and turn it into an opportunity to reach out to an evolving electorate. These shows would essentially help humanise the politician’s image and forge a bond between him and the citizen.
We never get to see the softer sides of our politicians, who constantly project a sense of bravado, caught as they are in the turf war of ‘Indian rajneeti’. More importantly, I think the Indian politician would also realise that humour is the best way to reach out to a much wider audience that doesn't spend much time analysing politics and yet happens to be the electorate that brings them to power.
On top of all this, I think such new types of television programmes would bring out the plurality of a country as unique as India. If the American civilisation, which is but a few centuries old, can bring about so much colour in their lives, why can’t Indians do the same with the abundance of cultural and sociological diversity at our disposal?
While I don't say that we should ape the West, I think there is a welcome space for innovative ideas on TV that paints serious subjects with a humorous palette and makes sombre people laugh a little.
