BSNL Naga laughter sensation ready to kick off
Dimapur | February 2 : The Open stand up Comedy contest ‘BSNL Naga Laughter Sensation’ has left a lot of people agog. With the surge of reality shows nationwide, Nagaland has also been bitten by the reality TV bug. Tagged to be the ultimate reality show and a first of its kind show in North East India, it’s no wonder that the entertainment loving Nagas curiosity have been nudged! The sole objective of the show is to unearth the funniest stand-up comedian in North East India. The organizers also say that the show is to encourage, motivate, showcase and create a platform for talented people of the North East. The event has been initiated with the objective of making laughter a common thread to bring the North East people together. Local celebrities are touted to be part of the show and there are even talks of national celebrities to join the judges’ bandwagon to add the zing to the event.
Director of events group Finishing Touches, Tovikali, said Nagas are always into music and sports and it is a good thing that they are also venturing into a new field – comedy. “We should all appreciate and encourage the guts of the people behind the event to try out something new and unexplored,” she said. Having produced numerous successful shows herself, Tovikali said that there have been few acts of comedy during certain events and the people seem to enjoy it. So she felt the open stand-up comedy might just be a great show.
Director of another events group Event Factory, Atsunglir Jamir also explained: “Naga comedians have always made jokes on our language, making use of our varied accent of different tribes and dialects. We have yet not witnessed many original jokes and mostly I feel the essence of the jokes is left out. Naga jokes are funny within our region or community, but it’s lost to other people besides our community or region; comedy usually transcends universally. But there might be hidden talents which might surface through this show. So the only thing is to wait and watch.”
Freida, college student and comedy fan says that when national laughter contests started in TV channels, it wasn’t excellent material and everyone scorned at the idea. “But look at those shows now – they are the ones with the highest TRP ratings. Similarly the BSNL Naga Laughter Sensation might run into a poor response in the beginning. But my opinion is that Naga people are naturally very funny and possess a wicked sense of humor.
We just have to get over our fear of the camera and it might just work out” she added.
Nagas are known to have a tight lipped smile and a barely audible laughter when a joke is cracked. Sadly one do not possess the ability to laugh whole heartedly on any joke- a local joke or foreign. Very unlike the Punjabi folks who can take a joke aimed at themselves coupled with a voracious thundering laughter. If you Google stand up comedians by nationality, do not be surprised to see nil familiar names. Perhaps it is a serious time to take life a little easily and spare a few guffaws.