You can’t be in Mumbai and not know a good one. But this week the joke has a political edge to it. Mayor Ritu Tawde has come out in favour of banning stand-up and says she’ll be in touch with Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis about it. The reason? An FIR has been made over some content from Pranit More that has been all over social media.
What sparked the showdown
Some video from a show with More had the Maharashtra Cyber agency moving. They’ve put in an FIR after a clip from a stand-up in Gurugram made the rounds online.
The file, lodged at the Nodal Cyber Police Station, has the names of More, Himanshu Jangra, Sejal Pawar and the rest on it. We’re talking U/s 75(1)(iv), 75(3), 294, 353(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023 r/w 67 of the IT Act, 2000.
From what we’re told, the video is full of things that are hard to stomach – remarks on women, consent, even the dead. On top of that, they say it was put out there to get some views and make some money.
Maharashtra Cyber is making these claims:
– You had the recording and the promotion of it
– And then the kind of talk about women and the deceased
– All in a bid for some engagement and to monetise
The mayor’s hard line
Tawde doesn’t pull any punches. She sees the clip as an insult to our culture and is for a ban. She’s going to let the chief minister have it in writing.
She also made a point of the crowd at the event, like KEM Hospital student Sejal Pawar. Her view is that you see these things happen time and again; comedians hide behind a laugh and go too far. Time to step in.
The chief minister’s balancing act
Fadnavis is on a different page. He is for free speech, but with a caveat: be responsible. The Constitution gives you the right to speak, but it also has guardrails so you don’t abuse it.
He put it this way: when you let loose, you can run roughshod over someone’s dignity. So the message for those on stage is clear: you can have the mic, but you own what you say.
Why the audience is at the centre
This isn’t some behind-the-scenes tiff. It’s a matter for the front row. What do we put up with at a public show? One camp will talk to you about dignity, the other will caution against a blanket ban.
A ban is a big ask for the fans and the venues. With an FIR in the books, the authorities have their means. The question is, do you handle it one by one or do you put the whole format in a box?
The debate beyond the stage
Those with Tawde will tell you it’s time to put a stop to it. The naysayers will have it that you stifle creativity with a ban and the law is enough to deal with the odd transgression.
It’s a mix of taste, the law and politics. In Maharashtra, that’s a crowded room.
What comes next
Formally, Tawde will be putting pen to paper for the CM. Everyone is waiting to see how the state plays its hand, with the FIR and the two leaders’ stances in play.
Comedians are getting the hint. The word is out: the room is listening and the censors are on to you. Every word is being weighed.
It won’t be over with one viral moment. As the letter makes its way to the chief minister and the case moves along, Maharashtra will have to decide if the boundaries of a good joke are set by a ban, by the law or by common sense.
