Indians are easily offended, feels Krushna

Popular comedian and actor Krushna Abhishek, who has been entertaining fans by playing various characters and by mimicking Bollywood celebrities for over a decade now, says one has to be careful while cracking jokes as people tend to get offended.

Krushna, who has entertained fans through his humorous gags on popular TV shows like "Comedy Circus", "Comedy Classes", "Comedy Nights Bachao" and "Comedy Nights Live", is currently seen alongside comedienne Bharti Singh in "Bittu Bak Bak" -- a comedy filler shown between film breaks on Sony MAX.

"It's (doing comedy is) very difficult nowadays. It is not in the Indian system and blood to take jokes on themselves. But few people love it. A few of them love roasts and do not mind jokes on themselves," Krushna told.

"People appreciate and laugh more on filmy jokes -- be it in ‘Bittu Bak Bak' or Kapil's (Kapil Sharma) show or any comedy show for that matter," he added.

Krushna's popular entertainer "Comedy Nights Bachao" courted criticism after actress Tannishtha Chatterjee expressed her views on being made a target of racist comments during her appearance.

In "Bittu Bak Bak", Krushna plays Champaklal, producer of B-grade Bhojpuri movies, and Bharti is seen as his assistant Suzie. They are also seen as Professor and his student Bittu.

"We are not here to make derogatory remarks on anyone. So this should be fine," Krushna said. "This (mimicking) doesn't really affect anyone's image. I feel that it is good that we are mimicking an actor. If we stop taking your name or mimicking you, then from where will you (the actors) get the publicity?" Krushna quipped.

"In a lot of colleges in Punjab, there are students who mimic me, Sudesh ji and Bharti. They also mimic Kapil and the characters he plays. We have seen it in colleges and liked the fact that people are mimicking us and the characters we play," Krushna said.

"There are a lot of artists who like it. However, a few of them get offended because actors who are mimicking the artists go overboard and start insulting them. We should not insult them and we should maintain the dignity. You can't insult someone. In fact, even we will feel bad if someone insults us," he added.

By Sandeep Sharma