Mumbai, the humourist's muse

Mumbai, the island city, has been the muse to artists like journalist Behram Contractor, who was fondly known as BusyBee, cartoonists R.K. Laxman and Mario Miranda, all of who have successfully captured the soul of the city. However, where does Mumbai get its humour? “Mumbai gets its humour from its people, the markets, maidans, institutions, the transport systems, and politicians,” explained standup comedian and writer Anuvab Pal, who was a part of the session titled Mapping Mumbai’s Madness: Humour in the City. As part of the Kala Ghoda Arts Festival Series, Avid Learning conducted a session that included adman Rahul DaCunha, filmmaker and photographer Sooni Taraporevala, and Anuvab.

Rahul points out that Mumbai came to develop a humour partly because of the city being a melting pot of cultures. “Take Bombaiya Hindi, for instance, it is such a mix of different languages,” he explains, “There’s English, Marathi, Gujarati and, of course, some South Indian languages in Indian English. Take into consideration the term ek photo kheecho (please click a photo). It translates directly to ‘remove a picture’. I don’t think this sentence will make any sense for someone from Delhi.”

Anuvab went on to add that there is a story spread across the landscape of the city, and that’s what makes the humour relevant to exclusively Mumbaikars. He said, “Mumbai is a lot like a Woody Allen world. Us Mumbaikars have the city in common, and that is what makes these stories universal.” Though Sooni is quick to remind that these details are relevant to only Mumbaikars explaining that it was when her film Little Zizou, typically based in Mumbai, made it to international film festivals that she realised just how Mumbai-centric the film was. “While the film was well-received, the nuances were typical to Mumbai and failed to connect to people from Delhi and other parts of the world. Suddenly, it seemed like a film that would come to be appreciated only by Mumbaikars.”

Today, with mainstream comedy, Anuvab explains that artistes have to make a conscious effort to ensure that their content isn’t confined to just one city. “This is a stark contrast to two decades ago when Johny Lever was on the stage. Regardless of the city he was in, even if there were Mumbai references, people connected with the content. Today, there is a gap. While some artistes like Kunal Kamra and the comedy group AIB continue writing or performing stories on the city, I think what this generation needs, and misses, is a BusyBee.”