Finding Funny

Teaching aspiring playwrights the key points to writing humour was the workshop by actor Rakesh Bedi in the city
Finding Funny

HYDERABAD: Being a writer  is a challenging job; add writing humour to it, and it becomes even more exacting. “But not everybody can be a comic writer, one should also have a flair for it.” This was one of the many points highlighted by well-known comedian/actor Rakesh Bedi who is best known for his role in films like Chasme Buddoor and the serial Yeh Jo Hai Zindagi.

The actor was in town conducting a workshop on writing comedy as part of the ongoing Qadir Ali Baig theatre festival at Salarjung Museum on Thursday.

“An artist always wants to do something unusual and one must progress with time, create new ideas and walk the uncharted paths. That is how you grow and write from your experiences. Comedy writing is an in-built craft. One must have the flair, sense of humour and a bit of cranky, mad tangent in one’s personality to master the art of comedy writing,” said Rakesh.

With a career spanning over 40 years, the talented actor also shared his secret mantra behind successful humour writing. He revealed, “The basic ingredients of comedy writing are plot, character sketch and the timing. A thin plot with a lot of jokes will not work against a good plot with jokes. The middle part forms the most difficult and the crux of the play for it leads the story to the climax. Screen time is extremely precious and humour will wait for no man; for the beauty of humour lies in the sense of timing.” Comedy is a strong medium of expression and is not everyone’s cup of tea. Comedy must always be bright and spontaneous. “The art of any skill ceases to exist after a point of time, craft alone takes it further and art and craft always go hand in hand,” added the actor.

Rakkesh Bedi’s recent play Simla Coffee House has received a heightened response. “There are so many plays that are held in Hyderabad but aspiring playwrights don’t really get a chance to interact with the creators. This workshop not only provides a platform for interaction but is a celebration of theatre and writing”, said Noor Baig, writer and manager at Qadir Ali Baig.

The workshop witnessed a good turnout of young theatre enthusiasts, actors and budding comedy playwrights.

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