In Mumbai for a special tour, US comedian Aziz Ansari addresses sexual misconduct charges. Suman Mahfuz Quazi reports
Aziz Ansari
American actor, humorist and protagonist of the much-liked web series Master of None, Aziz Ansari, who was also accused in the #MeToo movement, was at the Todi Mill Social on Wednesday night, surprising the audience by steering a joke in the direction of the accusation. "I felt scared and humiliated and ultimately I felt terrible. It was an intense experience," he told the crowd that suddenly fell silent.
His performance was the surprise element at the stand-up do at Social that also saw Mumbai-based comedian Varun Thakur perform. Ansari seemed awkward at first but soon glided into the flow leaving the audience roaring, but also dumbfounded in parts.
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He opened the set humouring people about his own scepticism around performing in India, in what was a first at the venue and sort of a warm-up for his on-going tour with performances in Mumbai and Delhi this weekend.
Ansari's credibility as a stand-up artiste shone through the night, as he jumped from American politics, to the quirks of being an Indian to the contradictions of being a woke adult with seamless flow.
At the event, the security was tight, the audience was requested not to take pictures and a team with a hawk eye and torches spent the entire duration of the hour-long set flashing lights on people using their phones.
At the end of the show, when asked if he prepared differently for the performances in India, the comedian shared, "No, I did not. I had no idea which is why I did this gig. There are so many things that you forget while performing so I thought doing it for a smaller crowd would help," adding, "I loved performing for this audience."
City comedian, Sumit Sourav, who was attending the show and interacted with Ansari, said, "There were some bits I connected to and was noticing the structure and flow. There was emotional tension and he breaks it with a punchline. I enjoyed the gig."
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