Comicstaan (Season 3)
Introduction
Quickly onto the next weekend release and I finally finished watching the third season of Comicstaan streaming on Amazon Prime. Now, I had really enjoyed the first two seasons of Comicstaan for so many reasons. Firstly, it did not have the melodrama which is now synonymous with so many reality shows these days. Secondly, the rounds which are designed add variety to the show thereby also honing the skills of the contestants. Thirdly, the feedback of the judges isn’t always positive and they have been mindful of giving constructive criticism unlike again some of the reality shows today who just go on false praising the contestants when you as viewers can also make out the faults in them. So there was everything going in favour of the third season of Comicstaan, does it live up to the hype, lets find out!
Concept
The concept of Comicstaan has largely been to divide and dedicate each episode for a particular style of comedy. And season 3 was no different. Some of my most favourite rounds were Improv, Sketches, Roast and Observational Round. One of the most unique rounds though was the Alt round where the contestants had to choose an Alt self and create a character or a personality and weave a set around it which was a lot of fun. Also each episode had a different mentor assigned to the contestants, who was given the responsibility to extract the best out of them! And yes there were no lines like ‘Aap Mumbai Aa Sakte Hain'(probably because they were already in Mumbai🤔 or ‘Aag Laga Di Aag Laga Di’ because phir bujhaane kaun aayega(who will come to put the fire out). Now, that you know I s*ck with these jokes in a pathetic attempt at doing standup myself, I will just move on to the next section😅.
Gags & The Impact
Now, I must admit that the show did get off to a wobbly start in the first couple of episodes. The jokes wern’t really landing and not many jokes had me chuckling either. I was tempted to end the show there but I was glad that I continued. Things started to Improve from the Improv round (no the rhyme wasn’t intentional😅). This has always been one of my favourite rounds where the contestants have to think on their feet and this is when the season started to build some momentum. The Sketch comedy which hasn’t been my favourite in the history of Comicstaan, this time around spinned a surprise and I was absolutely stunned and pleasantly so at the innovative concepts which the contestants could bring in.
Another favourite round Roast was probably the best of the season and it made absolute sense that Rohan Joshi was at the helm of it. And the observational and Alt rounds sealed the fate of yet another successful season of Comicstaan. The finale was the cherry on the cake with all four performances being standouts in their own way. Overall, I had a blast!
Performances
The panel of judges which included the likes of Neeti Palta, Sumukhi Suresh, Kenny Sebastian and my favourite Zakir Khan must really be applauded for giving some genuine feedback. I think the feedback was honest and never put on and it ensured that the culture of honest feedback in the history of Comicstaan remaimed intact! The hosts Abish Mathew and Kusha Kapila were fabulous and the mild banter between them, the judges and the contestants were one of the highlights of the show. Which brings me to the contestants.
Natiq and Shamik were exceptional writers and they will only get better from here. Adesh Nichit had the best growth as a contestant as per my humble opinion. From fumbling in the first round to probably enacting one of the most memorable comedy set pieces in Comicstaan history, it was a memorable journey. Pavitra Shetty was quite good as well. I have seen her perform live(also we both are Biomedical Engineers from rival colleges😅) and she is some serious talent to consider. Aman Jotwani like Adesh, came on his own towards the end of the season and I feel the man has a bright future. Now coming to my three favourites! Shreya Priyam has a unique style of comedy which really makes her special. She was outstanding in a few rounds(who can forget her lizard act) and slowly but surely I got accustomed to her style of comedy. Aashish Solanki was pretty consistent throughout but boy that final act was the one for the ages! Probably one of the funniest acts of the season came on the night of the final and he was outstanding! If I had to pick that one contestant whom I had to choose from the lot as my favourite amongst the favourites then that would be Gurleen Pannu. She was hilarious to the core who kept coming back episode after episode and delivering one memorable performance after another. She is the one to look out for in the comedy circuit! She was brilliant!
Conclusion
The third season of Comicstaan was pretty good and I had a blast watching it! Available on Amazon Prime.