Singing the talk

With a name like ‘Aisi Taisi Democracy’, it is pretty clear that witty impertinence is the USP of this trio.

The stand-up comedy collective comprises of veteran musician Rahul Ram of ‘Indian Ocean’, satirist and actor Sanjay Rajoura and Varun Grover, engineer-turned-humourist, lyricist for Bollywood films like ‘Gangs of Wasseypur 1 and 2’ and ‘Dum Laga Ke Haisha’ and scriptwriter of ‘Masaan’.

In the city recently for ‘Musicom’, RED FM’s property, Sanjay and Varun took time off to talk to Rajitha Menon about their socio-political satire and more.

When did you all come together?
Sanjay:  We have all been friends for quite a long time, even before this came into the picture. We decided to do something together since Varun and I were a little anxious about the comedy scene and what was happening in the name of comedy. We wanted to include music in our performances too and so we brought in Rahul.

How would you describe your performances?
Sanjay: Funny, musical and political.

How do you select your topics?
Sanjay: We don’t actually sit down and choose topics. We highlight the things that affect us and the people around us as well as the issues that are dear to us and bring them into the public discourse.

Any do’s and don’ts?
The most important thing is that we do not joke about a victim. We only poke fun at the perpetrator.

Most memorable moment on stage?
Talking about myself, I don’t look at it that way. I am on stage and speaking about topics I feel very strongly about and that in itself makes it memorable for me.

What could be a goof up on stage?
The worst that can happen is you put in a punchline at the wrong time or reveal the punchline before it is time. Or maybe there is no punchline. But I don’t really care about that. Too much concern about these moves the focus away from the topics you are talking about.

Favourite artistes?
Sanjay: The people I admire come from different fields like physics, mathematics, social work and so on. I am not that focussed on artistes only.

Are you all ideologically similar?
Varun: Broadly we are but if you go into nuances, then we are not. We have all grown up in different parts of India and so have different world views. Rahul is hopeful about things while Sanjay is quite cynical. I am mostly amused.

Weirdest reactions you have got?
Varun: Some of the more unexpected reactions we have got have been from people who are strongly attached to an ideology or party. People have come up to us after a performance and said ‘we are supporters of the politician you made fun of but we still loved your jokes’. We get lot of angry reactions on Twitter though.

A dream performance?
Varun: Performing in front of a room full of politicians from all the parties and seeing their reactions. I don’t know if it will be a dream or nightmare. But I think if we perform Rahul Gandhi or Narendra Modi jokes in front of them, they will probably take it in a better spirit than their fans.

Future plans?
Varun: When we started this show three years ago, we thought we will probably 3-4 shows and then disperse. We have done around 40 shows till date and we just want to continue doing it and refine it. People are getting offended easily now but it is our responsibility as artistes to not offend them but still be as relevant and as funny.