The joke is on me

If no one else at least the funny boys from All India Bakchod AIB will be happy to hear theyrsquove kicked off a craze that wonrsquot run dry even in the face of criminal action And Karan Johar who agreed to be the butt of prurient jokes before a stadium full of people including his motherEmployees of Aurangabad firm Omond crack up during a Roast conducted by The Awkward Fruit In December last year from Indiarsquos most famous and audacious comedy collective came the Roast a custom dating back to 1949 involving comics and celebrity guests who agree to be mocked in front of thousands A recording of film stars Arjun Kapoor Ranveer Singh and Roastmaster director Karan Johar being cooked by a Roasters panel saw three lakh hits in two days and later FIRs against 13 with sections ranging from criminal conspiracy to speaking vulgar obscene and pornographic words publicly before a women audienceFour months later the Roast is alive and thriving at the most unlikeliest of venues the workplaceThis time its purpose stretches beyond taking off someonersquos pants for fun to conflict resolution stress redressal and upping output Instead of Kapoorrsquos poor academic record and Joharrsquos sexuality a rumoured office romance and smoke breaks that stretch over hours become fodder for insult comedyKamal Trilok Singh and Akshata Agarwal conduct a weeklong research module to dig up dirt on employees before the Roast Pic Bipin KokateEntrepreneur couple Kamal Trilok Singh and Akshata Agarwal who run comedy club The Awkward Fruit tried their hand at dragging the Roast out of the club and into the office this April when digital services and products firm Gozoop allowed them entry into their Santacruz headquartersldquoStandup acts in the office arenrsquot new but usually sexual political and cultural content isnrsquot touched The Roast is braverrdquo says Agarwal who handles the research and logistics of the eightmonthold business leaving creative output to SinghIt takes researchPreparations began a week before the Gozoop Saturday Roast with Singh dropping in for a hushed meeting with the HR team to gather field information on employees ldquoOnce wersquove selected the Roastees we make elaborate notes on each one Sometimes we donrsquot spare the HR either By joining hands with an insider wersquove managed to dig up dirt on them toordquo says SinghShy reticent latecomers or staffers who canrsquot boast of impeccable hygiene usually make perfect Roastees ldquoThe idea is simple Focus on interdepartment relationships office romances taboos and the weird aspects of agency life that allow the staff to have a good laughrdquo says Gozooprsquos 30yearold founder Rohan BhansaliRohan BhansaliSingh who was allowed access to social media groups frequented by the Gozoop staff says the employees werenrsquot aware of his presence helping him catch them off guard with his scripted gags Bansi Raja HR head helped Singh identify the sensitive and emotional from the lot to avoid breakdownsOn the appointed Saturday Raja ushered all 150 members of the staff into their conference room where an informal stage was set Bhansali who sat it in the front row was the first to be roasted by Singh ldquoThe moment you see your CEO in a vulnerable spot but laughing his head off you know you can loosen uprdquo says Singh From the muchmarried colleague who downloaded Tinder ldquojust to see how it worksrdquo to a hapless staffer named Osama no one was sparedBut a riotous Saturday wasnrsquot the only consequence of Gozooprsquos initiative Bhansali claims the most tangible change he has observed is rising spontaneity among his team ldquoThings we never addressed like a certain someonersquos annoying habit were joked about publicly Honesty a key element of the Roast has brought us closer made us a more cohesive forcerdquo he explainsBagging clientsGetting a corporate outfit to agree to being the subject of ridicule and cough up money for it isnrsquot easy The couple had to keep at clients for months before cracking their first Roast deal But the inquiries are now trickling in and word of mouth is their strongest weapon JP Morgan and Motilal Oswal are part of their rosterThe AIB Knockout and its infamous YouTube success may have also done the Roastrsquos image more harm than good believe some ldquoThe Roast is now synonymous with outright insults but it could very well have elements of harmless humourrdquo says Amogh Ranadive member of Weirdass ComedyThe outfit launched by actor and standup Vir Das who is a regular at corporate comedy events but isnrsquot too comfortable handing the Roast format ldquoMy brand of humour doesnrsquot involve picking on people Ripping into them doesnrsquot excite me My style is more about burps and fartsrdquo says DasBut hersquos excited about the prospect of comedy charting new frontiers and finally getting its due ldquoThe more the comedy the betterrdquo he smilesWit at workKhyati Birla psychotherapist and professional coach thinks the Roast may work in the corporate arena provided the age of staffers is taken into consideration ldquoA younger workforce doesnrsquot mind being targeted Irsquom not sure how seniors in management would take to it Itrsquos a perfect icebreaker as far as startups gordquo she says