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3 min readNew DelhiMay 17, 2026 03:50 PM IST
Shekhar Suman, who has judged popular comedy shows such as The Great Indian Laughter Challenge and Comedy Circus, recently criticised modern-day stand-up comedy, saying many young comedians on YouTube rely on “abusive” and “obscene” language to make audiences laugh. He also reflected on how Sunil Pal, who won The Great Indian Laughter Challenge, was eventually “forgotten,” while late comedian Raju Srivastava, who finished as the second runner-up, continues to be remembered by fans.
During a chat with Bollywood Bubble, Shekhar shared how the approach of comedians has changed over the year. “It is forced now; it was simple earlier. The comedians were also good, and had fresh thinking. Comedy has gone towards vulgarity now. It’s obscene. There are double meaning, double standards now. This change came because people stopped thinking. Till the time you don’t think, read or don’t create anything new, then you will only end up stealing jokes from here and there, presenting in a different way,” he reflected.
The actor continued, “If you go on YouTube for comedy, it is full of abuses; you can’t even listen to it. Some people think abusive language is cool and viewers enjoy it, that’s wrong. Earlier, there were also television serials that were funny, like Dekh Bhai Dekh and Sarabhai Vs Sarabhai, they had brilliant writing and scripting. But now, that entire thinking and approach has vanished. Comedians are only focused on making people laugh with a cluster of jokes and punch lines from here and there, it’s an easy way out.”
When asked about which young comedian impresses him today, he replied, “See, both bad and good people have an audience today. I wouldn’t like to talk about anyone specifically. People who are being seen have received love from viewers, and whoever is not being seen, might not have been liked by the audience.”
In the first season of The Great Indian Laughter Challenge in 2005, late comedian Raju Srivastava finished as the second runner-up, while Sunil Pal emerged as the winner. Shekhar Suman, who served as one of the judges on the show, faced considerable backlash over the final result. Recalling the time before the show even began, he shared, “When the show was about to start, Raju Srivastav was a great comic actor. He came to my house and asked if he should do Laughter Challenge after receiving the offer. What if I come second? I said, ‘So what?’ But, he was hesitant because Raju felt that he is a senior in the industry and has a name, and he will feel insulted if he doesn’t win, but I advised him to participate and he did.”
He further added, “When we gave marks and got the results, Raju’s name was in the third position. We were shocked because the way he was performing, we thought he would win the show. I don’t know. Only the channel knows how they calculated. He was very disappointed. But look at God’s fairness, people forgot who came at the first position, they only remembered Raju Srivastav. He was a talented person, went too soon.”
English (US) ·