THE TALK
If Charlie Chaplin said “A day without laughter is a day wasted” our own Hyderabadi humourist, the late Ghouse Khamakha said “Auron par hasney walon ka anjam jo hoga so hoga; lekin voh qaum nahi miththi jo apney aap par hansthi hai” (The consequences of laughing at others will be what they are; but the people who laugh at themselves will never be erased). Why is it important to laugh? At others and at oneself. The panel discusses this pressing question with examples from literature, poetry, cinema, and public life. This is no laughing matter. The Nation wants to know!
Anu Menon, Gautam Pemmaraju, Danish Husain
Anu Menon did a masters in drama in London and moved to Bombay to pursue her first love- the stage. For 8 years she was better know As her alter-ego Vj Lola Kutty on channel V. Her stage credits include Lillete Dubey’s Sammy, Raell Padamsee’s Noises Off, Divya Palat’s A personal War (that won at the Edinburgh Theatre festival) Rage’s One on One – part 1&2 and Qtp’s God of Carnage. Anu does stand up as well now and opened for Brad Sherwood and Colin Mochrie of Whose Line is it anyway fame during their India tour. Her stand up special “Wonder Menon” is the first Indian female special to feature on Amazon Prime. Her dream is to do a shampoo commercial or item number.
Gautam Pemmaraju is a Mumbai based writer, independent filmmaker and creative consultant who works in the areas of history, literature and art and retains a special interest in the cultural history of Hyderabad and the Deccan province of India. A Tongue Untied: The Story of Dakhani (2017) on the vernacular satire & humour poetry of the Deccan is his first independent feature documentary film.
Danish Husain is an actor, poet, storyteller, and a theatre director. He lives in Mumbai & runs his theatre company The Hoshruba Repertory. He was instrumental in reviving the lost art form of Urdu storytelling Dastangoi, which he later expanded into a multilingual storytelling project Qissebaazi. His major cinema performances in recent times are the web series Taj Mahal 1989 for Netflix and the film Mee Raqsam on Zee5 platform.
