In Kerala, Political Humor is Embraced

India may have dented its image as a champion of press freedom after the anticorruption activist Aseem Trivedi was arrested in September for lampooning the Parliament in a cartoon, but, in fact, political satire has a long history in many parts of the country, especially in Kerala.

No-holds-barred portraits of political leaders are daily fare on every local channel, and the targets of such shows even see it as an honor of sorts.

Such tolerance for ridicule lies in the fact that mimicry has long been the staple of entertainment in Kerala. Most of the top movie stars in Malayalam-language cinema, also known as Mollywood, started their careers as mimicry artists at temple festivals and other public functions. In the old days, they imitated sounds around them, like the birds, the animals and the machines. Then they move d on to imitating popular movie stars and eventually to political leaders.

With the explosion of the 24/7 television channels, many of them news channels, the mimicry artists found their way to the small screen. To meet the competition from entertainment channels, the news channels started showing movie clips in the guise of entertainment news and introduced several programs with sharp political satire.

The longest-running of these series is “Munshi” on Asianet, a daily show poking fun at the prevalent political and social practices. A fixed cast of half a dozen men, who represent not only different political views but also different castes and communities, discuss the day's major event with sharp wit and comical action. They take sides, attack politicians by name and generally reflect the frustrations of the common man. Fin ally, the wisest of them all, Munshi, or the Pundit, a wise old man who does not participate in the conversation, sums up the whole situation in a proverb or a pithy quote.

The actors live and work together day in and day out to produce their program, which reminds viewers of the cartoonist R.K. Laxman's Common Man, who appeared every day on the front page of a national daily to offer his commentary on the faults and foibles of politicians.

Asianet has another serial called “Cinemala,” in which actors appear as politicians. Mimicry is used very effectively to bring out the most comical aspects of the political leaders, and the actors bear striking similarities to politicians like the defense minister A.K. Antony, the Kerala chief minister Oommen Chandy and the Communist leader V.S. Achuthanandan.

All the channels seem to have found their own versions of Antony, Chandy and Achuthanandan, with varying degrees of similarity with the originals. Just as the real Charlie Chaplin once lost a Chaplin look-alike contest, the real politicians will have a hard time competing with their impersonators, as the latter appear to be more authentic than the former.

Slapstick comedy is not the only medium for political satire. Following the lead of a show called “Natakame Ulakam” (“All the World is a Stage”) on Amrita TV, several others have emerged as one-man talk shows, in which political events are described with various degrees of ridicule. Some, like “Varanthyam” (“Weekend”) on Indiavision and “Sakshi” (“Witness”) on the leftist Kairali channel, show actual clips of news events to prove the point that facts are often stranger than fiction.

Torn out of context in some instances, the words and deeds of politicians appear ridiculous. One favorite item features political leaders falling asleep on the dais, often when the speaker talks about the need to awake, arise and stop not until the goal is reached. Some shows literally put words in the mouths of politicians by playing the soundtrack of a film.

Asianet's serious news program, “Cover Story,” is the hardest hitting of all the political programs. The anchor, Sindhu Suryakumar, minces no words in her critical analyses of men and matters and reinforces her arguments with hard facts. She also uses songs and scenes from Mollywood to great effect, but the mood is serous and purposeful. Much to the credit of the authorities, nobody has either tried to intimidate her or to influence her, and she carries on merrily, exposing all politicians.

“In my channel, I am happy to juxtapose a serious program on international matters with a slapstick on Indian politicians,” said T.N. Gopakumar, editor in chief of Asianet News. “I professionally believe that this goes to strengthen the aspirations of the people, who exercise their right to vote to elect a better government. Of course, we ensure that satire does not cross the borders, turn into vendetta or malice.”

A major dilemma of the politicians is whether to laugh or cry when they become caricatures in popular comedy shows. The appearance of their doubles indicates that they have arrived on the scene, and they may rejoice on that account. Only those who matter politically are imitated and ridiculed. On the other hand, upcoming politicians are not likely to be pleased to see their weaknesses exposed on television.

“As a devotee of free speech, I tell myself that it is flattering to be found worthy of being satirized, so one just grins and bears it and hopes the damage is not lasting,” said Shashi Tharoor, a member of Parliament and recently-named minister of state for human resources development. He was recently portrayed in one show's sketch as doing a cinematic dance with his wife, lampooning his image as a romantic Bollywood-style hero.

For more seasoned politicians, it is just an occupational hazard they have learned to live with. Mr. Chandy, the state's chief minister, was philosophical about his many appearances on these shows. “Satire is part of the vibrant visual media in Kerala, which enjoys freedom of expression,” he said.