Tell us about the Super 40 contestants you have selected through Comedy Hunt on YouTube.
Gursimran Khamba (KB): The Comedy Hunt on YouTube which is a web hunt contest conducted to find the next comedy stars, received over 1,500 entries. They included random dance moves, funny dialogues of popular movies, vox pop, skits, spoofs and sketches. Out of these, we selected 40. What’s surprising is that 60 per cent of the total entries were by people who are making videos for the first time.
How will you select the finalistIJ
KB: For seven weeks, we’ll be giving the Super 40 contestant a challenge every Monday based on a theme. All India Bakchod, Kanan Gill and Biswa Kalyan Rath, SnG Comedy, East India Comedy, Jose Covaco, Abish Mathew, Aditi Mittal and Shudh Desi Endings will mentor participants and conduct workshops to make it interactive. On Friday, we’ll have elimination rounds. Top five will be called to Mumbai for a live performance.
Did you get a lot of entries from womenIJ
Rohan Joshi (RJ): A majority of the entries from the comediennes were as video blogs (vblogs). But we are not gender biased. Their videos are not at all male bashing counter videos. We will select the funniest person.
Your view on women in comedy genreIJ
KB: Globally, comedians get a lot of breaks and many are featured on the Comedy Central channel. YouTube is big platform which has featured some of the biggest comedians and superstars. It’s a growing trend in India but there aren’t many creators here. That’s why we needed Comedy Hunt.
Do you feel insecure that there are many other talented comedians out thereIJ
RJ: That’s what we want. There should be comedians in every nook and corner of India. For seven weeks, with this competition, I’ll probably feel threatened. It’s very difficult to hate someone who is funny.
Comedy has evolved over years...
KB: Comedy is subjective. Some will like it, some will not and some will think it offensive. Our entire career is built around the viral video. Comedy and video are a perfect fit. You will discover a generation faultline where you’ll see certain people from Bollywood and other industries who understand comedy and know that it doesn’t mean anything personal. Then there is another set of conservative people who don’t understand comedy. We have to respect that.
RJ: Doing a show like Knockout with Arjun and Ranveer Singh, who have grown up watching comedy, was because they understood the comedy and agreed to do it. It’s sad that we raised `40 lakh for the charity in one show and everybody forgot about it. In Irrfan’s case, he didn’t care. When your last movie made $ 2 million at the box office, you stop caring what others think.
How did the Party song with Irrfan happenIJ
RJ: We got the Party song ready and were looking for a person who is completely off the radar of party songs. Irrfan fit the bill perfectly and we approached him. He listened to it and agreed.
Do you think AIB got popular after the Alia Bhatt videoIJ
KB: The Alia video got attention because it had a celebrity. But before that not many people were taking about our videos like It’s your fault which was about the uplift of women. The media is biased. We never did the Alia video to get publicity. We don’t have news channel pressure as we are not bothered about ads and ratings. We find something funny, we upload it.
Why is it that a lot of Bollywood celebs are looking to YouTube to generate contentIJ
KB: There has been a definitive shift on how movie studios view YouTube now. For instance, when we did the parody for Yash Raj Film’s Dhoom 3, they refused permission. But ever since, it has become standard practice for studios to get in touch with content creators and ask them what they can do about their upcoming movie.
nWhat is your policy of such collaborationsIJ
RJ: We don’t promote movies. We’ll be willing to work with them if we are asked to produce content which we find interesting but we are not going to plug the film. Movie houses have realised that there is a different audience out there which you can engage with. People have started taking YouTube more seriously.
nToday’s youth have stopped watching TV and prefer to log on to YouTube for entertainment. What do you have to say about thatIJ
RJ: Indian TV doesn’t relate to a huge section of people. When did you last see TV appealing to you personallyIJ That’s the reason people have stopped watching TV.
KB: If you look at both the mediums, there is no distinction between screens anymore. It’s all one screen now. People can download stuff and watch it at leisure and timings convenient to them. I’m watching TV content on my phone but it’s not TV. I’m not using a set top box or cable connection. Youngsters watch shows like Breaking Bad on laptops.
nHow can we monetise You TubeIJ
KB: The cost-per-thousand (CPM) in India is not as high as in the West and that has to do with the number of people who are watching it. It’s a social cultural thing more than anything else. As more people come on YouTube and start connecting with the Internet, CPMs in India will automatically become higher which means that funding through the channel will increase.
nWhat about banning porn in IndiaIJ
RJ: A year-and-a-half back when we did the video which also talked about porn ban, the Supreme Court and the Government were mulling over this issue. The good thing about India is that everytime the Government changes, the porn issue comes up because banning porn is the first subject that any slightly conservative minded politician goes after no matter which party he belongs to.
KB: On a serious note, the bigger problem is how we are getting used to our personal rights being infringed upon without fighting back. This has become norm now.