By YKA Staff:
To mark the occasion of India’s 69th year of independence, comedy collective “All India Bakchod” just offered us an interesting throwback to the eve before the fateful day — an extremely awkward ‘exit interview’ between Britain and India, where they discuss (with great irony) their experiences surrounding colonisation.
Much smarter and socio-politically conscious than AIB’s usual fare, the video has India highlighting the mindless violence of the colonial period (“They would hang us if they felt like it, and randomly on weekends shoot us on the leg”) and Britain in classic show of white-oppressor privilege trying to gloss over the same. There aren’t silly laugh-out-loud moments. Instead, the humour is sharp, incisive, and often, thought-provoking.
In one memorable sequence, the Indian leader pledges to not repeat the same kind of oppression that the British inflicted on the nation — to not shoot civilians, to not muzzle the press, to not practise divisive politics, to uphold the spirit of democracy. Considering the kind of violence the country has faced in the past year alone, the segment is thought-provoking and reflects on some uncomfortable truths. In another, particularly significant scene, the two countries discuss Section 377 — and their shared bigotry and homophobia. There’s even an Alan Turing reference thrown in to highlight how both nations (and not just India) have failed their LGBTQ populations.
However, the video is not without its flaws. There’s a bumbling, caricaturish Pakistani who tries to infiltrate the meeting, and somehow ends up becoming the ‘disturbing element’, which is slightly stereotypical, however much in jest it may be. Despite that, the video is still genuinely something different, and something important — meant to make you question the concept of ‘independence’ itself. And what an occasion more apt to do so than this 15th of August!
