Stand-Up Comic Aakash Mehta: When I Started, There Were Definite Rules About What You Could And Could Not Say On TV Or Internet

Talking to Prateek Sur, Aakash Mehta opens up about the level of comedy, the political aspects of jokes, the audience who’s always ready to take offence and lots more. He also talks about whether or not we, as Indians, have forgotten to joke about ourselves. Excerpts from the candid chat:

When we were growing up, probably Cyrus Broacha and Kunal Vijaykar were the only stand-up comics in India. Now, we have one stand-up comic coming up in every household. Do you think the level of comedy has also grown in these many years?

This is a complex question for me. Because I believe that "level" is an incredibly subjective term. Additionally, when I think of comedy when I was growing up, I would add the likes of Raju Srivastava and Sunil Pal and also Gujarati humourists like Tarak Mehta and Dinkar Joshi. Or Pu La Deshpande from the Marathi-speaking world. If we look at the level in terms of the prolificness of what was being performed, perhaps we have many years to go. Because I think the quality of comedy they were and are able to deliver was a product of time and effort. This new wave of comedy is still young. When we have comedians who've given it as many years and hours on stage, we'll have comedians who will be as prolific. If we’re to define the level of comedy success in a financial measure, some comedians today have surpassed most of our past compatriots combined. But I wouldn't go just by that. The fundamental change that I see in comedy now compared to when I was growing up is accessibility. There are comedians in every nook and corner of the country who have a shot at building an audience thanks to platforms like YouTube and Instagram and comedy Open Mic nights run by other enthusiasts.

Many comics today say that they’re scared of cracking jokes as everyone in India is nowadays ready to take offence to anything and everything. Was it the same when you started off? Were you ever scared before cracking a joke on TV or elsewhere?

The probability of offence taken is directly proportional to the audience size. Even when I started off, there were definite rules about what you could and could not say on television or on the Internet. What's disconcerting is that those boundaries are getting smaller and smaller. And outrage makes less and less sense. The ones outraging and leading these charges also gain a lot of clout and popularity through their actions, which, makes them pretty much like the content creators they are trying to destroy.

Is the current day establishment or rather the authorities in power responsible for this shift, where people are scared to even crack jokes to their heart's content?

"The world suffers a lot. Not because of the violence of bad people. But because of the silence of the good people."
- Napoleon

We are not very good at laughing at ourselves, are we?

Nope. I'd explain more but then someone would get offended.

What is your source of inspiration from where you get the maximum number of jokes? Is it the same since the time you started or has it changed over the years?

Existence and the angst that comes with it is the biggest source of inspiration from me. Life is absolutely absurd and wonderful and horrible and mesmerising all at the same time and I feel like comedy is one of the best ways to make sense of the overwhelming nature of it all. All of life is just raw material for me to talk about... Well.. Life!

Is there any topic that's off-limits when you write gags for your personal shows?

I don't think anything can be off-limits for comedy. Laughter is part of how we deal with everything from grief to joy to disgust to horror. It's never a question of "Whether" I should talk about something. The questions are When, Where and How?

Do you feel that creativity is dying in today’s time on TV and ads, etc especially because the budgets of them have grown too big, and the producers aren’t just willing enough to take too much risk with so much investment at stake?

I don't think this is exclusive to just TV or Ads. It extends to film and comedy and perhaps, to politics too. Everyone is chasing a paycheck as the rising cost of living goes unchecked. I don't necessarily blame the people in suits taking these decisions because they've been taught most of their life that value lies in the balance sheet. But I do blame the audience for giving up so easily on demanding better.

Given an option what would you choose – doing stage stand-up comedy or a comedy show of your own on TV or OTT?

There can be no life without life on the stage and on the road. And you can only get so good without trying new things and formats. But gun to my head, I'd pick the stage.

What next can we see coming from you?

The thing I'm most excited about right now is my new comedy special, Nasty, coming out in the first half of June. It'll be my 2nd special released this year (it certainly isn't the last). This is a show I've been doing since 2019 and it almost feels like my kid is going out into the world on their own.