Those of us in Marcellus who grew up in the 1980s watching Doordarshan, find it hard to get to forget Jaspal Bhatti, not least for his satire of the IPO market of that era immortalised in this video of the mythical PP Waterballs IPO – see here.
Tina Das of The Print reminisces about the legendary satirist and comedian from Amritsar who tore into the babus & netas from the 1980s & 90s:
“Born on 3 March 1955, Bhatti grew up in Amritsar and studied electrical engineering at Punjab Engineering College in Chandigarh. It was here that he formed the Nonsense Club, whose skits on dowry, adulteration, corruption, and black marketing became quite popular. Its members once went to a theatre with a placard saying, ‘Buy tickets in black from here.’
“He would perform live satire at the Chandigarh Sector 17 mandi, and [as part of the skit] buy MLAs,” said political satirist Sumeet Gill.”
What we did not know the 1980s is the role Jaspal Bhatti’s better half played in helping him put his biting satire on the screen:
“After graduating, Bhatti joined The Tribune as a cartoonist in 1983. His drawings focused on social and political issues of the day, and used satire to poke fun at politicians. He moved to the electronic medium and created his first television show — Rang Vich Bhang for Jalandhar TV.
But it was the Punjabi skit Rang Chipang, part of Chitrahaar, that played cupid for Bhatti and his future wife Savita. Savita was impressed by Bhatti’s work. The duo tied the knot in 1985, with Savita continuing her education after marriage.
Their home in Chandigarh became their office too, where Savita wrote scripts for his skits while he conducted rehearsals. Soon, the two became a power couple on Doordarshan, with series like Ulta Pulta (1986), Flop Show (1989), Nonsense Private Limited (1995), Full Tension (1995), and Jijaji (2005). Savita not only produced Flop Show but also starred in it as his wife Preeti. The show was a breakthrough in actor Vivek Shauq’s TV career too….
Ulta Pulta was a series of monologues modelled after public announcements, delivered in Hindi by Jaspal against a monochromatic background, followed by short scenes illustrating everyday absurdities. The satirical sketch show was a scathing critique of corruption.
From politicians and doctors to shopkeepers and in-laws, no one escaped his commentary.
Flop Show had ten half-hour episodes, with Bhatti as the protagonist, playing a new character each week. He floated mock political parties — Hawala Party, Suitcase Party — that lampooned the power elite.”
Unfortunately, Mr Bhatti left us just when we needed him most: “Bhatti died in a road accident on 25 October 2012 at 57, a day before the release of his second feature Power Cut, starring his son Jasraj. He was posthumously awarded the Padma Bhushan in 2013.”
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