There is little doubt that just a couple of years or so after it’s inception, TMKUC has established itself as a prominent, popular sitcom. It might even be the most watched television programme out there with the exception of certain reality shows. This however throws up a few worrying questions about our country’s television audiences and their propensity to settle for mediocrity as long as such mediocrity tickles the funny bone.
It is said that nothing shows a man’s character more than what he chooses to laugh at. Admittedly, TMKUC has it’s share of funny moments, but then it’s equally easy to laugh when some unsuspecting neighbor is paid homage to by a bunch of pigeons. The social and cultural stereotypes being propagated by the show are staggering – as if we as a society didn’t have enough reminders already as to why exactly it’s so important that efforts are made to assimilate the different peoples that live in this great country. As regular watchers will know, the show is about a fictional colony called ‘Gokuldham Housing Society’ set in Mumbai. The set of buildings is occupied by families from different parts of the country – and therein lies the lack of thought and perhaps inadvertent but rather disappointing choice of character backgrounds. The principal characters belong to different ethnic and communal backgrounds, but their lifestyles and professions are so predictable and stereotypical, you’d be inclined to believe me if I were to say that they were written up some auntyji in 1920s India.
So of course, you’ve got the businessman from Gujarat and his rustic but good-at-heart wife. Both have noticeable problems with English vocabulary and pronunciation – like all good ‘Gujjus’ are supposed to. In fact the wife’s weird tone of voice and their combined struggles with the English language are oft-used vehicles of humour within the show. Then there is the Punjabi household whose breadwinner is a strapping, robust guy – a mechanic by profession. Once again, playing up to the widely held notion that Sikhs have more brawn than brains and generally being less ‘intelligent’ than others, the character in question is often showed as behaving like a bumbling fool in the most mundane of situations. The reverse is also depicted, in that there’s a highly ‘intelligent’ but meek scientist from South India, who as a matter of fact, happens to be dark as charcoal. You don’t need me to tell you that being intelligent and dark-skinned are no prerequisites to hailing from the south. Another character is obscenely obese and is depicted as craving for large quantities of food at all times. Of course, it doesn’t matter that weight control has more to do with what and when you eat, rather than how much you eat. Then again, I guess it’s easier to play up to set stereotypes and derive cheap humour from it rather than giving some thought and respect to the idea that such characteristics exist across the board – and a mishmash of them can be found in an individual from any community.
Not all is bad with the show however. It remains the only programme out there that has tried to take up and address several social issues that nobody else bothers about. The harmony and friendliness between different characters is also admirable, especially considering the personal insults and obscenities that abound on the great Indian television scene dominated by the likes of Dolly Bindra, KRK and Rakhi Sawant.
That being said, any show that relies on humour from social stereotypes and physical characteristics like height, weight and skin colour doesn’t deserve my time or attention. It’s a shame most others cannot bother to think along the same lines.
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