I still binge watched and finished the whole thing in one night. (my productivity cheat meal : ))
DISCLAIMER: Despite all the stupid antics I do on Instagram, funny covers, overacting, nonsensical original compositions - I am not a stand up comic! I watch a lot of comedy though. And this post is specifically from an audience's point of view.
Besides UFC, a handful of docu-series (ask me and I'll tell you) and movies (IMDB rating above 7.8), I occasionally watch Comedy Central or comedy shows on Netflix, Prime, etc. I think we all live pretty stressful lives and a laugh or two just helps.
Massive respect to people who write comedy - some of the most noble souls trying to make others laugh, reduce our cortisol levels and forget our worries.
But this show, LOL Hasse Toh Phasse sort of worries me.
SEMI SPOILER ALERT (No, obviously I won't tell you who won, dum-dum!)
Sunil Grover, Suresh Menon and Gaurav Gera were absolutely fantastic! (you probably knew that already, hence SEMI ^)
The show probably would've been bonkers fun if it were just the three of them.
And that's my issue.
(we humans enjoy ranting, pointing out mistakes like expert critics, don't we?)
I am not saying the rest (not taking names) weren't funny AT ALL and we can have a full blown debate, but the difference was the size of a massive chasm between those three and everyone else.
Again, some were funny in bits and pieces, but there were a few who were absolutely banal, stupid, unimaginative or plain old uncreative.
Objection? Let's see -
"They had to get brands?"
Well, there is Biswa Kalyan, Kanan Gill, Zakir Khan, Kunal Kamra
"They had to get female comics (for demographic purposes)"
There is Salonayy, Aishwarya Mohanraj
"They wanted newer talent that needed exposure?"
We've all have seen a few videos of Abhishek Upmanyu, Anubhav Singh Bassi.
Okay, just to clarify, I'm not shouting nepotism/favouritism either.
But it baffles me to see what (inaccurately) represents India's comic talent on a global stage. (LOL HTP is a global product)
That's why we probably don't have anything remotely close to Friends, Seinfeld, Everybody Loves Raymond, Big Bang Theory, Two and a half men. (Again, all ears. Comment below)
There are a few "feel good" shows in India but not out and out comedy.
Kapil Sharma's comedy is the lone warrior on TV sets today.
In LOL HTP, with the perfect environment, a setting where there are so many stimuli, props and other great comedians and smart edits, I was really expecting to be ROFLing throughout!
(I mean there was already so much material in that house without having to hunt for it.)
Still a lot of them failed.
It seemed like a three way tug of war between wannabe singers, mannequins and OGs.
What if the show had the best dancers/singers in India jailed together for six hours? Would it be wrong to expect them to baffle you with amazing performances?
(Actually, scratch the singers* bit. If you get the popular ones, they'd probably fare worse than comics.)
And that's the scary bit. Knowing the audiences know there are better, but still not tapping into that reservoir of talent.
I love that the show had Gaurav Gera, Sunil Grover and Suresh Menon in there. Thank you.
And I also understand that it's an edited version where most of it could not be shown due to time constraints but being loud and unoriginal is not funny. Instead, is it wrong to assume you'd only show me the funniest, craziest moments?
And what happened to all those "Great Indian Laughter Challenge" participants?!
Bottom line
It showed me and hopefully showed majority of the thinking audiences the difference between "real funny" and "reel funny". My rating - 3 stars *wink wink*
But you know what's funny? Me being an authority on what's funny and what's not. Let me know in the comments what you felt about the show.
singers*(I was thinking Sonu Nigam, Shaan, Hariharan, Arijit Singh, Shreya Ghoshal, Sunidhi Chauhan, Rekha Bhardwaj - Anyone with functioning ears dare disagree with me. A Bigg Boss for Singers with regular jugalbandiyaan, strategising, planning, respectful one-upmanship)