Jollity comes easy to Punjabis. Their propensity for laughing at themselves is legendary. One can get some idea of their sense of humour when one notices that television shows and even VCDs with comic content are far more popular than serious or romantic productions. Channels prefer to have comedians as anchors for various musical programmes. One such in-demand comic anchor is Sudesh Lehri. In fact, Alpha Gaddi has certainly proved to be a great launch vehicle for him. Appearing as the song-based show’s comic anchor, he has impressed viewers with his talent.

Coming in different get-ups, he has portrayed characters from different walks of life, age-groups and genders, including transvestites, quite convincingly. No wonder he has won the Rafi Award for best comedian twice and is in great demand for live shows both in India and abroad. Apart from performing in three ETC Music Awards functions, he has performed abroad as well.

One was not surprised to watch Hasde Hasande Ravo on MH1 every Friday. It is a competition-based show that intends to unearth new talent, more or less on the lines of Star One’s Great Laughter Challenge. Considering the response, Hasde`85obviously is a hit in the region as it has showcased the talent of those who wouldn’t ordinarily have got a chance to reach out to audience on such a scale. However, only four comedians survived the stiff but mirth-filled contest. By the time this piece is published, the four wannabe star comedians would have featured in the grand finale and the winner decided.

Looks like MH1 has finally decided to add some variety to its mainly music-based programming. Apart from the comedy-based show, it has a very interesting magazine, Jaggi 420 Not Out, which features, apart from a spoof section, interviews with stuntmen and other common and not-so-common people. This time the sardonic electronic eye focused on the Indian hockey team. Quite a rip-roaring fare it was.