Where are the comedians?
by Meenakshi Shankar
May 09, 2008, Mumbai

That is our question to the creators of Comedy Circus Season 2! Because if we look at the hoardings that are splashed all over the town, its quite shocking to catch the actors being promoted and the 'asli' heroes - in this case, the stand up comedians are missing from the publicity hoardings. It did come as a shock to us when the press kit too just had pictures of the actors! Probably someone ought to remind the creators that the show is on air because of the comedians.

So how are the comedians reacting to being sidelined? Well, some of them, a little wary of stepping on the wrong toes gave us very wishy washy comments. The others chose to ignore the issue and said, "We are not here for publicity. We are comfortable with our talent and don't need our pictures to prove how good we are!" Another comedian, on anonymity stated, "It's probably the actors who need publicity because they are not comfortable in their own skin and need to prove a point!"

We couldn't help, but wonder if the ratings of the show have hit rock bottom that the producer and the channel had to resort to starry lights to promote their show? What about the guys who actually bring the laugh! A source did let it slip in that Mr. Kunal Dasgupta, CEO, Sony was actually looking at a year without wanting to worry about the TRP's. But Sony's done contrary to its promise.

Axed shows which tried to be different and brought in shows which were a permutation and combination of the tried and tested genre. So much for innovation!