The Dakhni humourist on stage, celluloid and social media

Baigan! Quite literally that purplish vegetable with many a moniker: eggplant, aubergine and, in the Indian subcontinent, brinjal. But say "baigan" in Dakhni, and the vegetable acquires a wide variety of hilarious connotations. In one context its expresses disbelief. As in, a response to an oft repeated Dakhni exaggeration: "mere bawa bamboo se taare giraate" (my father can knock down stars with a pole)."Baigan," comes the answer, an expression of dismissal and disbelief, the equivalent of calling one's bluff or quite simply "Don't fib!" Or, in the case of students: "Exam mey pass hua?"(have you passed the exam), a response with a droll comes forth, "baigan, miya", meaning, "no, dude". And in the context of 50-years of Dakhni comedy and its evolving, largely three phases, baigan and its lexical co-existents hau and nakko are now taking social media including Facebook and YouTube by storm.
But before one speaks of Dakhni YouTubers and "viners", a peek into the sarcasm and bluff laden pages of Dakhni comedy history shows that it was very much in existence since the 50s.
While those in the know point out that there existed a tanz-e-mizaah or comedy "scene" in the Hyderabad State ruled by the Asaf Jahi dynasty, its first phase became immensely popular in the 70's and 80's with Babban Khan's Adrak Ke Panje entering into the Guinness Book of World Records and Dedh Matwale. Jokes were broadcast on radio and recordings of comedy skits on audio cassettes were lapped up by the Dakhni folk and the Hyderabadi diaspora in the West Asian countries. But the phase was on the moribund in the early 90's when television sets invaded homes. This, coupled with a lack of innovation and stale material - usually restricted to the bluff - brought its end.
A revival of the Dakhni comedy came with the revolutionary 2005 release The Angrez which spawned off a film industry in the city - Deccanwood. The movie, a caricature of the Old City folk in general and a group of friends in particular, and their misadventures with theangrez¸ or foreigner, catapulted the smooth talking loafer Saleem Pheku, the soft target Ismail Bhai and Jahangir, the one who calls Saleem's bluffs such as a steamy night with Mallika Sherawat in a star hotel, into icons.
Soon, the Gullu Dada series followed suit. The paan-chewing reformed gangster Gullu re-popularised another expression aain so much so that actor Adnan Sajid was flooded with phone calls from fans and hecklers alike requesting him for a "aain!" rendition. But as it appears that post The Angrez and Gullu Dada series, there Deccanwood has reached a saturation point as fresh ideas are needed.
Enter the tech savvy YouTuber. Firmly rooted in Dakhni, but with fresh ideas and a contemporary outlook, groups like The Baigan Vines, Hyderabad Diaries (HD) and Angaar Talkies (AT) have filled the vacuum, a result of the gradually declining popularity of Deccanwood.
With a massive youth connect, The Baigan Vines has dealt with topical subjects in the most tongue in cheek or slapstick manner. Cases in point: the unending fight between those who swear by the Hyderabadi biryani and those who bat for the Arabian cultural import Mandi. Another is the hilarious take on a mostly Muslim engineering students from different parts of Hyderabad. The "vine" caricatures a religious student who forces his professor to accompany him to the masjid, a lungi wearing mechanical engineering student whose only understanding of a generator is that it is a contraption which makes a "grrrr" sound, all this during an examination. Similar videos have been made by HD and AT.
Apart from immense popularity among the youth, there are three other factors which work for these young YouTubers. The first is fresh material on Hyderabdi culture, religion, politics, neighbourhoods, Muslims and students, among others for sketches. The second is the continuous engagement with fans on social networking sites like Facebook. And the third a monetisation of their popularity. As it turns out, prominent local businesses such as Pista House, Hyderabad House and chain of ethnic wear stores Jahanpanah have turned sponsors. This factor is clearly indicative of their popularity.
And at a time when the Dakhni is reduced merely to a spoken language, Dakhni YouTubers, with the massive reach on social media, can perhaps play the crucial role of ambassadors of Dakhni culture.