A dozen of India’s top comedians are going to be performing in Mumbai on 30 January, “to donate to various organisations working to help the nationwide protests against the CAA-NRC – both by raising awareness as well as providing legal aid to democratic and peaceful protestors.”
Standup comedian Rohan Joshi, who will host the fundraiser show, told The Quint, “The hope is to be able to turn this into a monthly programme. If the protests are going to be for the long haul, this (raising funds) also needs to be for the long haul. That is the hope.”
The Lineup
- Abhishek Upmanyu
- Biswa Kalyan Rath
- Kanan Gill
- Kaneez Surka
- Pavitra Shetty
- Prashasti Singh
- Rohan Joshi
- Sahil Shah
- Samay Raina
- Varun Grover
- Varun Thakur
- Urooj Ashfaq
Rohan Joshi: ‘Comedy Festivals Would Kill for Such a Lineup!’
How did the idea for this come about?
Rohan Joshi: It was Kaneez (Surka) and Amshula, a friend of ours who is also a lawyer, who took the lead on this. You’ve seen the lineup. There are comedy festivals that would kill to have that lineup. I don’t think there’s ever been a show with a lineup of this sort. Just slammer after slammer after slammer!
How long is the show expected to be?
Rohan Joshi: I think it’s going to be a two-hour show. We’ll be doing shorter sets but it’ll be a nice, fun two-hour show.
Kaneez Surka: ‘Using Art For Aid’
Comedian Kaneez Surka, who helped bring the various artists together for the show, told The Quint, “All the artists are doing this pro bono. We were donating individually anyway and we’re so active (about this) on social media, so we thought, why don’t we use our art to raise money for aid?”
Kaneez added, “This is not a normal show. We’re not doing this for publicity. We’re doing it positively use whatever influence we have, and also to show our solidarity as citizens.”
On being asked about the type of material the audience can expect at the fundraiser, since some of the comics on the lineup don’t do much political comedy in their usual sets, Kaneez clarified, “We’re not all necessarily going to be doing only political comedy, we’re going to be doing our own sets.”
Venue, Ticket Prices & Other Details
- The logistics for the event are being managed by OML.
- Tickets are already up on Insider, and have been priced at Rs 699, Rs 999, Rs 1,299 and Rs 1,599.
- The venue for the event is Bal Gandharva Rang Mandir, Bandra.
- The event lists the Internet Freedom Foundation, an Indian digital liberties and rights organisation, as the ‘charity of the month’.
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