Here is the day to have some light–hearted fun with artistes as they share their memorable April Fool's Day prank ever

Mona

Silly pranks, funny banter, fake gifts, the day for some spring-inspired tomfoolery is here! While the origins of April’s Fool Day date back to centuries, in this rather serious, sombre life, a few moments of light-hearted fun are sure welcome. Playing pranks to falling prey to one, artistes share their April 1 memories.

Tiffin treat

When I was in school in Kota, my friend told me not to get tiffin, as she would treat me to a special lunch. So I told my mom not to pack tiffin. When I went to school the next day, my friend told me that she had forgotten to get the lunch box and exclaiming April fool! I was very hungry, got mad at her and started crying. Then she hugged me and gave me a lunch box, which contained butter naan and kadai chicken. She had even brought samosas for me from the school canteen.

— Jasmin Bhasin, actor

Fan fooled me

I have never pranked anyone in my life, but I remember one prank that was played on me and it was quite something! During the early days of my career, I got a call with an offer for a show. They said the shoot would be starting the following week and discussed the budget, so I agreed. So, they asked me to meet them at the bus stand. I didn’t even have a conveyance, so I asked my friend for help. When I called them, they kept delaying. Then he told me he was a fan from Ambala and said, ‘Bhaiya ji, April fool!’ I got so angry at that time I cannot even explain, I really felt like cursing but then I didn’t say anything and came back home. — Balraj Syal, actor

Party plan

Once in college, my friend told me that it was his birthday tomorrow, so he was throwing a fancy party and taking only a few friends to a discotheque, specifically asking me to wear good clothes. So I went and bought jeans for that party and a birthday gift for him. I reached the location, only to discover that it was shut for the day. I called up my friend who screamed April fool! I didn’t speak to him for a few days after that. I was angry, but also realised it was all in good fun! — Angad Hasija, actor

Ludhiana laugh

Once, my friend Mohit called and asked me to drop him at Phagwara, as I was going to Ludhiana. But he was unaware that it was April Fool’s Day; I picked him up and we began chatting. Suddenly, after sometime he noticed we had reached Ludhiana! The way he scolded me was fun. he was angry like hell, but also saw the funny side of it. — Guneet Sharma, actor

Late show

When my song Ik Diamond Da Haar released, Meet bros and I went for the promotions to a lot of places. Once we went for the shoot of a Zee Punjabi show, and I got late by two hours. The very mischievous Meet bros decided to play a prank on me. They called me to their vanity van and said they won’t be able to shoot as they had other plans for the day as well, and asked me to shoot alone. I got horrified, I was almost on the brink of crying and then they suddenly started laughing and the prank was revealed; a camera shot all this. — Jyotica Tangri, singer

Ghar ka khana

My friends know I like homemade food. When I was shooting for Har Shaakh Pe Ullu Baithaa Hai, they got food for me on the sets and it was full of red chilli powder. I had one bite and it was hell. Till date we laugh at it. This is the beauty of this day.

— Shradha Rani Sharma, actor

April Fool’s Day goes a long way

The April Fool’s Day tradition, which dates back to centuries, has had some real public trickery! Here are some famous pranks:

Back in 1856, some Londoners got an impressive invite to witness ‘The Annual Ceremony of Washing The Lions’ at the Tower of London. Only the stunned visitors came to know on April 1 it was long past when lions were housed in the Tower!

In 1957, BBC played a story about a bumper Swiss spaghetti harvest only to be inundated with callers on how to do the same. The standard reply was — ‘Place a sprig of spaghetti in a tin of tomato sauce and hope for the best.’

In 1965, a Copenhagen newspaper published a report on the parliament passing a bill to paint all dogs white for better visibility and road safety!

Food chain Taco Bell managed to fool, and further anger, Americans by placing an advertisement in newspapers that the company had purchased the historic Liberty Bell to ‘reduce the country’s debt’ and renamed it the Taco Liberty Bell.

Google has been a serial prankster. In 2005, it famously launched Google Gulp, a fictitious drink on April 1 claiming that ‘this beverage would optimise one’s use of the Google search engine by increasing the drinker’s intelligence’! A real intellectual prank. Right?

Celebs often take their fans on a joyride on April Fool’s day, however, Sorry-hitmaker Justin Bieber crossed the line with a fake pregnancy post in 2019. The ultrasound with puppy image did not go down well with Beliebers!