Review: ‘India’s Laughter Champion’ Is Stuck in the Past, Both Good and Bad

Shekhar Suman and Archana Puran Singh return as judges for 'India's Laughter Champion' and it's perfect.

Archana Puran Singh and Shekhar Suman on India's Laughter Champion.

(Photo Courtesy: YouTube)

In the 2000s, switching channels would often result in going from one comedy show to another and arguably, some of the most popular of them were Comedy Circus and The Great Indian Laughter Challenge (TGILC). The same brand of comedy returns with India’s Laughter Champion which started streaming on SonyLIV (and SET) on 11 June.

Archana Puran Singh and Shekhar Suman, both veterans with respect to judging laughter shows, are back in the judge’s seats and Rajpal Yadav is the ‘SirPanch’.

Rajpal Yadav on India's Laughter Champion.

Stuck in the Past?

The new show retains the look and feel of the old ones from the 2000s and does so with a revamped format. Comedy shows seem to be making a resurgence, especially with OTT shows like Comedy Premium League, One Mic Stand, and multiple seasons of Comicstaan.

But while the elimination format must be new (kudos to the show for changing with the years), India’s Laughter Champion hasn’t changed with the times.

The comedy shows of the 2000s sometimes had entire acts devoted to jokes on the lines of ‘this is how women behave’, ‘women are so and so’, ‘Indian women VS women abroad’, ‘how wives have ruined lives’ and so on and so forth. And that WhatsApp forward humour has somehow not changed in the past decade. Also, the first episode had zero comedians that aren’t men.

The comedians on India’s Laughter Champion continue to write women like Tumblr posts and Twitter memes by male writers. There are some funny bits– Rajat Sood recalling his experience with love, Nitesh Shetty’s bit about buying a house in Mumbai, among others.

Comedian Rajat Sood on India's Laughter Champion.

'India’s Laughter Champion' Holds on to Its Strong Indian Roots

Maybe that’s the best part of India’s Laughter Champion– that in bits it is so quintessentially ‘Indian’; be it the India of Mumbai and Kanpur or even of Viral videos (yes, the ‘Kacha Badam’ tune makes a cameo).

It’ll be extremely easy for a wide Indian audience to relate to at least one comedian in a bunch. But some moments are so uncomfortable and frustrating to watch.

While their jokes might not have aged well, the shows of the past gave comedy many big names including Sunil Pal (The Great Indian Laughter Challenge season 1 winner) and Raju Srivastava (second runner-up), Kapil Sharma (TGILC season 3 winner) and Chandan Prabhakar (runner-up), Bharti Singh (TGILC season 4 second runner-up) and Sugandha Mishra (participant).

Admittedly, it is harder to stand out as a comedian now, especially with content giving comedians a wider space to perform in. But India’s Laughter Champion might have to rely mostly on nostalgia and some of the comedians that work to bring in the audience.

One thing that does work, and worked well in the past, is the host. Parizaad Kolah Marshall became a household name for her charming and impeccable job as a host and India’s Laughter Champion’s Rochelle Rao Sequeira takes up that mantle equally well.

Parizaad Kolah Marshall hosting The Great Indian Laughter Challenge.

Rochelle Rao hosting India's Laughter Champion.

Shows like these provide a great stage for up-and-coming comedians and it's also nice to see that the show brought in comedians with diverse formats and skills– some didn't work for me but they might work for others and vice versa.

Archana Puran Singh and Shekhar Suman are as endearing and spontaneous as I remember and that's not a bad thing.

Judges Archana Puran Singh and Shekhar Suman.

Realistically, the show might still work for an Indian audience because it relies on classic moves that have succeeded before but in an OTT world, where many have the world of comedy (quite literally) on their fingertips. How will India’s Laughter Champion hold up? Only the next episodes will tell.