KalPoint.com (KPDC): Please tell us something about yourself, your family and brought up?

Mr. Ali Hassan (AH): In my family, I have my mother, 2 brothers and 7 sisters. 5 of my sisters are married. I haven’t yet got married because I wanted to set up my career before that. Now I have plans to get married in the near future. I have always worked hard persistently throughout my life. I have always sought help from Allah and He has always helped me. My father died of heart attack a year ago. But he has contributed a lot to my success. My father was the one who forced me to go to India to participate in Laughter Challenge and whatever I am today, it is because of the encouragement and prayers of my father and his prayers were with me and will remain will me forever and off course the help of Almighty Allah is the most crucial element.

Mr. Irfan Malik (IM): We are 5 brothers and 2 sisters. I am married and I have a son who is 21/2 years old. I saw great struggle through out my life because of the lack of opportunities, but because of hard work and blessings of my parents I have come out of it. I also feel that my son is lucky for me because right after his birth I got offer from India and unlimited success has come my way since then.

KPDC: Please share with us your experience at “The Great Indian Laughter Challenge” and how your pair was formed.

AH: The pair was formed incidentally. The organizers of the Laughter Challenge wanted to include Pakistani artists, especially artists from Karachi. This was because language used in Karachi is very much similar to the one used in India. So they hired a firm here in Karachi and we were selected and sent to India through that firm. We both flew to India individually. Both of us were included in 2 different pairs. But incidentally both of our partners were not available at the last moment. The organizers asked us what you both will do now. We told them that I and Irfan have worked together in stage plays in Karachi. So they allowed us to form a pair together. That’s how we formed the pair.

Experience at Laughter was really amazing. Due to this program we got the opportunity to prove ourselves. We found that in India, there is great professionalism. Each participant of Laughter Challenge had to prepare for 10 days before they performed in the show. We learnt a lot from there. When we flew to India, we didn’t have any idea about the format of the Laughter Challenge. We didn’t have much time to rehearse for our first episode but we worked hard and not only we had a great success in Laughter Challenge but we also won the Laughter Challenge Maha Yudh, which was a competition between the champions of Laughter Challenge. Our Jodi has received the most standing ovations in laughter challenge.

IM: Due to the success in Laughter Challenge, we received great respect. We have received the honor of being the only artists from Pakistan who were invited to the Rajiv Gandhi Award arranged by the government of India. It was a great honor for our country too. But this news did not get any place in channels here, which was highly disappointing and unfortunate. This program included Bollywood stars but we were the only comedians who were present on that occasion. We did many other programs in India and got great appreciation from the audience. We have received great love and respect from Indian government and their people but unfortunately, our success and struggle has not been recognize here in the same way.

We also did special episodes of Laughter Challenge which was arranged in honor of the 1983 World Cup winner Indian team. We did New Year, Holi as well as Dewali special episodes. People appreciated our performance and observation. When we say salaam to the Indian audience on behalf of Pakistan, people extremely appreciate it. We want to reprints our country wherever we go and by the grace of Almighty Allah we have been highly successful in doing the same for our country.

KPDC: Tell us something about your new film ‘Kushti’?

AH: ‘Kushti’ is basically a story of a village. Where there are two groups who were against each other. We both are doing roles of step brothers who have tea shops in the village. The famous WWE wrestler “The Great Khali” is also appearing in this film, which is his debut movie as well, while Om Puri, Rajpal Yadav and Sharad Saxena are also in the cast. It’s a film from Priyadarshan based on new subject with a complete comedy cast. We hope that the film will be released in August in India and Pakistan simultaneously.

KPDC: How was your experience when you acted in the movie with Khali?

IM & AH: During the shooting when he came to know that we are from Pakistan, he was pleasantly surprised. He used to talk with us about Pakistan. He was very interested to know about Pakistan. He belonged to Himachal Pardesh state of India. He used to be a policeman but because of his extra height and strong body he joined wrestling. He told us that he first did 5 years training in Japan and then he went to USA where he did further training for 3 to 4 years and he has worked really hard to achieve this position.

KPDC: What do you think are the major skills that a successful comedian/performer needs to have?

AH: The basic thing is that comedy is a very serious job. One needs to take it seriously. Rehearsal is also very important especially for those who perform in a pairs. It helps create a combination and timing. For example when we both discuss work for our next performance we are dead serious.

IM: Another important skill is strong observation. An artist must have strong observation of his surroundings. Finally, hard work is always important for success in any field

KPDC: Sidhu’s excessive laughter is a special part of Laughter Challenge. How do you see this?

AH: We have talked to Sidhu, he says that I laugh because I want to release all the tension of viewers and contestants during this program. What I have noticed is that Sidhu laughs also to encourage the contestants. Sidhu is actually the life of the show as he possess the same value for Laughter Challenge Program as Gabar Singh had in Sholay Movie, in the movie Gabar Singh asked “Kitne Aadmi Hain”, while Sidhu asks “Kitne Participants Hain”, hence he is a great motivation for new comers and works as an oxygen for the participants.

IM: It’s a fact that Sidhu’s laughter gives early confidence to the performer when he first comes to the stage and it is very vital. Sidhu always try to encourage the participants through his laughter and his comments.

KPDC: How do you see the role of the government in promoting art and artists in Pakistan? What suggestions would you like to give in this regard?

AH: I don’t think there is enough being done for the art and artists. Today we know that our people are facing so many problems. They want to release their tension. That’s why the most popular programs are those which contain comedy stuff. So government needs to pay immediate consideration to the showbiz industry. A well-established showbiz industry is important for a healthy society.

IM: Showbiz and especially comedy provides a way to release tension. It provides entertainment to the people, which is very vital today. It’s very important for the government to take serious steps for the promotion of art and artists otherwise the situation will get worse. You can see the condition of our film industry, it’s pathetic. We must work professionally in order to improve the situation.

KPDC: How do you see the mixture of Indian & Pakistani Artists in programs, how it will benefit the people and artists of both the countries ?

AH & IM: Pakistan comedy has a different taste, while the Indian comedy has its own flavour and when both get together, it creates a new dimension and the Laughter Challenge is all about this and this is the reason why it got such appreciation worldwide and following on the same suits, different channels also started the programs on same pattern, jelling Pakistani and Indian performers together, not only in comedy program but also in other competitions such as singing etc. which encourages a healthy competition and brings out the best out of a contestant. We also want to thank the Indian Government, their officials who were engaged in letting us the chance to exibit out talent and more importantly the people of India, whose role was the most major one for making us what we are today and to whom we are extremely grateful. So I feel governments of both sides should initiate some steps in this regard, which can make the artists of both the countries to perform combinely, through which both countries’ people will get the chance to know each other and to come close with each other.

KPDC: What aspect of people do you observe generally?

AH & IM: We observe peoples’ styles, postures, accent, way of talking, sitting, walking and so on. We can observe people form every angle. Another thing is that when we read books and we find something interesting, we try to alter it according to the current situation. Observation is very important for comedy.

KPDC: Share some views about your Indian trip, were you expecting such a response from the people of India ?

AH & IM: Not at all, we did many shows in India. We represented Pakistan in several cities in India. We did Rajiv Gandhi Award. We also did a show in Banaras on January 26 which is Indian Republic Day. We went to see Taj Mahal but because of the crowd the security squad surrounded us and took us inside the Taj Mahal. We also performed in a Punjabi award show in Jalindhar. KingFisher, a prominent Indian airline, shows our episode ‘Jodi Special’ during their flights. We have recently received an invitation from the Indian embassy in Jeddah to perform in their show in July this year. In short we received great honour and appreciation in India both from the public and the government. We believe that whatever we are and whatever privilege that we receive in India, out country received the proud and privilege for this and we also believe that whatever honour we receive is for our country. Whenever we are invited on stage to perform, we are introduced as Pakistani artists. The name of Pakistan comes before our names.

KPDC: Any message for the youth of Pakistan?

AH & IM: I think the most important thing is hard work. We have done persistent hard work to get this position. We would like to say all the youth to work hard in their professions. Secondly, we should all respect our parents. The blessings of parents will accompany us and help us achieve success throughout our life, furthermore we would also like to say to our countrymen to be united, because only the united nations can march towards the path of prosperity and success.

Question: What would you suggest to those youngsters who want to start their careers in comedy? Where they should start from? (Salman Siddiq, Karachi)

AH & IM: The most important thing is to struggle continuously. Proper homework is also very important. They should read books of great comic writers like Mushtaq Ahmed Yousfi and others. They also need to have a strong observation and the ability to create punch line that provokes the laughter. The more they do the homework the better will be their performance. The young artists should also need to have confidence because they need to face the audience. I believe comedy is the most difficult job; it’s hard to make people laugh. They also need to take one comedian as a model for them whom they can follow. We have learnt from artists like Umer Sharif and others. We had to work very hard. We still work hard and read lot of books for this.

Unfortunately, in Pakistan we don’t have any such platform where the youngsters can learn and prove their talent. When we went to India, they gave us opportunity and we proved our talent. In the last 15 to 20 years, only few artists have made their name worldwide from Pakistan but after the Laughter Challenge and other such programs, there are numerous artists who have made their presence felt. Opportunities need to be created for the young artists. We also have plans to train the upcoming artists so that they can make their way out.

Question: These days a trend has been settled for comedy shows etc. At one point it’s good to make people laugh. But do you think we have been able to maintain the decorum of our values. Don’t we cross the lines between healthy comedy and the other one at times? (Lubna Khan, London)

AH & IM: It’s the fact that comedy should be done carefully in such a way that it doesn’t include any objectionable matter. We should follow our values and religious and cultural norms. We both always try to perform healthy comedy. We believe that if the artists make proper homework and hard work, they will not need to use any disgraceful way to create laughter. Artists should read comic books and work of other great comedians and try to learn from them. The actual comedy is the one that is done in a pleasant way.

Question: How do you see the exchange of artists and films between India and Pakistan? Is it good for Pakistani artists? (Zulfiqar Ahmed, Lahore)

AH & IM: There is no doubt that this exchange of artists is very much beneficial to the artists of both the countries and for Pakistani artists in particular as our artists are getting great opportunities because of this. This is very advantageous especially when we see that there are not great opportunities available for the upcoming artists in our country. Moreover we can also learn from India to improve our film industry. Pakistani film industry should make films for the whole of Pakistan and not only for some specific section of the society, what is happening is that we are making films for a very limited number audience. We must extend our scope. Because of the sub-standard of Pakistani films, Indian films are getting huge appreciation in Pakistan. Pakistani film industry should accept the competition. This will induce the Pakistani film makers to improve their films.

KPDC: Thank you so much for being here and enlightening us with your thoughts. C U on Net.

AH & IM: We also enjoyed being here. C U On Net 2.

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