The election is no joke… ask these comedians how hard it is

Purpose of conveying a special message through video
Kumar Sanu Jena, 29, grew up in a village in Odisha's Jagatsinghpur district, famous for its tradition of vibrant drama troupes. Today, he leads a team of 25 people, and often sees actors from cities like Bhubaneswar and Cuttack coming to participate in comedy plays. Jena's team has made many videos in this Lok Sabha election, but one of their videos has gone viral. Titled 'Our MLA', the video focuses on the election campaigns of two Odia superstars who come to the village to seek votes. Although fictitious names and party symbols were used in the video, Jena and her team found two lookalikes of BJD and BJP candidates. Jena says that her aim was to highlight how different parties try to bring the stars of Oriya cinema into their fold. He also wanted to show how leaders make big promises but fail to fulfill them. Jena says that every party comes in every election and promises that it will give us this, that, but nothing happens. He also says that he does not express his personal opinions in his videos and avoids making them one-sided.

Reels brings people's problems to the fore
Devesh Shukla, a 26-year-old theater artist from Lucknow, brings out people's problems using humor in his videos (reels). In one reel he shows the plight of villagers who have been waiting for the road to be built for years. In the second reel he shows the problem of 'young leaders' who are used by experienced MPs in the election campaign but are later sidelined. Shukla says that these reels are also helpful in connecting with the youth, for whom unemployment is the biggest concern. He says, 'I know that the government cannot give jobs to everyone, but the matter of concern is that people pass competitive exams and keep waiting for appointment letters for years, or the exams get canceled due to paper leaks. . it happens.'

There will be no political satire from today onwards
Satire has been used to make fun of politics for centuries. If we look at history, there used to be jesters in the courts of kings who used to point out the king's mistakes through humor. In recent times, politics has also been satirized through humor in films and television shows in India. Late Jaspal Bhatti satirized the problems of the common man like corruption and complex procedures of government offices in the 1980s, which was well appreciated by the people. The 1983 Hindi film 'Jaane Bhi Do Yaaron' is known for raising serious topics like corruption in politics and media through humor. Over the past few years, a number of English-language political satirists have emerged in India who create content primarily for urban audiences, including names like Akash Banerjee and Varun Grover.

Although less well known, there are equally popular comedians in their regions who highlight local issues. For example, the popular Kashmiri channel 'Kashmiri Rounders' has over one million subscribers on YouTube. The channel has uploaded several videos showcasing the concerns of voters in local dialect in the first election held after the abrogation of Article 370.

No one likes to raise questions – Shyam Rangeela
Why political comedy in these difficult days? Rangeela, who came into limelight in 2014 after uploading a video imitating PM Modi, says this is because people feel connected to it. If you raise an issue through satire, the message reaches the people directly. They laugh, but also share and discuss it with others. Comedians say this. Shyam Rangeela has raised many issues in his satirical video, including rising petrol prices, paper leaks and more. He also has to face criticism. He said that if I make a video on Modi, BJP supporters criticize me. When I imitated former Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot in a video showing how paper leaks have become common in the state, Congress supporters criticized me. Nobody likes to raise questions. Despite some threats and cancellation of nomination, he says he will continue to raise his voice. My journey started with comedy and it will always be my first love.