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For the humour-itarian soul

If you want to make God laugh, tell him about your plans….Woody Allen must have made many smile by saying this, and some of you are still smiling. Indeed, laughter, the one ‘communicable’ attribute that people don’t mind passing on, and being affected as well.

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Jasmine Singh

If you want to make God laugh, tell him about your plans….Woody Allen must have made many smile by saying this, and some of you are still smiling. Indeed, laughter, the one ‘communicable’ attribute that people don’t mind passing on, and being affected as well. Famous comedian actor, Jaspal Bhatti, was one such man who took upon the task of spreading this infection, and he successfully managed to touch everyone with this. So much so, that the mention of his name still brings a curve on our faces. Dedicated to this man, who passed away in October 2012, Chandigarh Sangeet Natak Akademi has dedicated the Humour Festival to his loving memory.

The curtain for this festival has already been lifted. In the coming days, the festival will see stand-up comedy, physical comedy, poetry, theatre, bringing the best from across the country that will last till May 24. 

For the man, Jaspal Bhatti, who inspired everyone around him to find a solution to every problem through humour, even the socially relevant ones, this festival will definitely teach each one of us the very act of survival! Remembering him are people who knew how he made sense of ulta pulta things.

Simple and straight 

Like everyone knows, of course, he was a great humourist, and one admirable quality in him was that he was uncontrived, very simple and yet such effective humour. I worked with him on three advertisements, and I must say it was fun. Another thing that I noticed, on his cremation, even those who didn’t know him personally, but had only seen him on TV or known him as a humourist, were present there to pay their tribute. Imagine the number of lives he touched! 

GS Channi, theatre activist  

Gifted one

I am reminded of two incidents that I would like to share about Jaspal Bhatti. On one occasion, we were to meet Nek Chand who was celebrating the silver jubilee of Rock Garden. I bought a bouquet of flowers to be gifted to Nek Chand. The minute we turned the ignition of the car, Jaspal ji asked me to stop the car, he went to his terrace, collected all the scrap and asked me to get it decorated and gift it to him. I was skeptical about such a gift, but he said, he has become Nek Chand from this, so this is a befitting gift!

On another occasion, we had coffee and sandwich at a hi-end hotel in Delhi, the bill came to about Rs 1,500-1,600, which surprised Jaspal ji since it was just coffee and a sandwich. Then he saw a waiter approaching him, he gave him another Rs 500 and asked the waiter to keep Rs 200 as tip, but the former kept the entire amount. I asked him, did the waiter return Rs 300, to which he replied, “Koi nahi next time ek salute extra maar deyga.’ 

Vinod Sharma, actor

People’s person

He was focused towards his work, and never left track of what he was doing. Also, he was the common man’s superstar. Being a celebrity and sitting in your AC room, talking about issues is easy. He was one person who would be in the front, on the road, marching with people, sharing their problems, being equally affected by it. Today, people love him, miss him and respect him because they think they knew him, which is a great achievement that happens to few people only!

Savita Bhatti, wife

Less is more

There are so many things that I will remember him for. Earlier, sardaars were portrayed as taxi drivers or something like that, but it was because of him that the portrayal of sardaars has risen in the film industry. Writers today cannot match up to his punches. While it takes them one complete page to create an impact, Jaspal Bhatti could do it with minimal words. 

We were shooting for a show, where both of us were playing politicians. In a scene, I visit his home and see wrestlers in the garden. I ask, you are a politician and these wrestlers, what are they doing here? And Jaspal Bhatti says, “Booth capturing vi ta karni hundi hai!”

BN Sharma, actor

jasmine@tribunemail.com

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