Outrageous. Crass. Edgy. Filthy. Abusive. Humiliating. Bold with a capital B. Call it what you may, but I dare you to deny that the All India Bakchod Knockout wasn’t laugh-your-ass-off-until-your-lungs-give-out-and-your-eyes-start-to-water funny.
For the uninitiated, a roast is an event in which a specific individual, a guest of “honour”, is subjected to jokes at their expense intended to amuse the event’s wider audience. Oh,the irony ! It’s a mock counter to a toast, a ritual in which a drink is taken as an expression of honour and goodwill. The host of the event is called the “roast-master.” And the person whose pants are taken off in public is said to be the “roastee”. To quote AIB,
The idea is very common in the West with the likes of comedic legends Joan Rivers, Russel Brand, Ricky Gervais, Charlie Sheen being humiliated and insulted by their peers in front of the common public. The panel here comprised of Karan Johar, the “roast-master” and the AIB guys Tanmay, Khamba, Rohan and Ashish, stand-up artists Aditi Mittal and Abhish Mathews, film critic Rajeev Masand, Raghu Ram and the roastee hunks Ranveer Singh and Arjun Kapoor.
The event was a humongous success when it was held in Mumbai on 20th December. The trailer for the roast, launched less than a week ago on AIB’s YouTube channel has some 900,000 views and had everyone charged up for the scheduled 8 pm streaming of the entire event on 28th Jan,2015. But just as luck would have it, there were a few snags and the internet went crazy over the one hour delay.
*SPOILER ALERT*
Everyone on the panel took a dig at EVERYONE else. Unsuspecting Bollywood people were dragged into the insults. No one was spared. Not even the poor Alia Bhatt and Deepika Padukone, who were in attendance at the event in the front row with the who’s who of film town.
Here’s a blow by blow account (pun intended) of what went down at Indian comedy’s best night :
Karan Johar
Prodded for coming out of his closet to the point where he was a sport enough to crack jokes about it himself. And his reactions, as always were total PAISA VASOOL.
Raghu Ram
He was picked on for using abusive language and obviously, the ‘Roadies’ series he created for MTV. His wife was the one cheering the loudest while poor Raghu was being ridiculed on the stage. Such couple. Much Wow.
Tanmay Bhat
Addressing the ‘figurative’ elephant in the room, everyone made his weight the butt of all Bhat jokes.
Rohan Joshi
Dubbed as the pretty face of AIB, he was made fun of for being famous for dating Alia’s sister, Shaheen Bhatt. So now we know how the ‘Alia: Genius of the year’ video happened.
Rajeev Masand
He was critiqued rather thoroughly by Ranveer, who did a flawless imitation of him. And the credibility of his ‘journalist’ claims was questioned by Khamba, though Masand’s comebacks during his roast weren’t that powerful.
Gursimran Khamba
His father’s name is Manmohan Singh. Poor guy.
Arjun Kapoor
Did you know he flunked in 12th grade ?! Touchy topic for him. Also ridiculed for the filmy Kapoor khandan he’s a part of.
Ranveer Singh
Dating Deepika Padukone, his alleged ex, Anushka Sharma, his sleazy Casanova image, his movie choices and basically every other thing he does was made fun of.
If you’re scandalized by just these tid-bits, watch the videos for yourself to discover all the sexual innuendos. It’s unadulterated entertainment even though its been heavily edited to be made suitable to be uploaded on the YouTube channel.
Video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EinuOwzmFos
The camaraderie of the Gunday co-stars was there for all to see as they sat there, taking in all the insults with a smile and then hurling back good humored insults at their prosecutors. The janta loved seeing their favorite Bollywood personalities under the layers of their professional veils. It was a treat to watch them get grilled.
It was a simple, effective and a brilliant execution of the concept of ‘roast’. Kudos to the entire panel for taking all the jokes in a positive stride, without letting any starry-airs dampen the spirit of the show. And all of this for a good cause ! The event raised over 40 lakh rupees for various charity organisations these celebs support.
Take a bow AIB ! You’ve revolutionized the comedy scene in India.
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By- Navni Bhatia
