LOL Hasse Toh Phasse review

How can you have a comedy show and not have anyone laughing, wonders Prateek Sur.

When you have Arshad Warsi and Boman Irani coming together to host a comedy show, doesn't it sound interesting?

When you have stellar comedy stars like Sunil Grover, Suresh Menon, Cyrus Broacha, Gaurav Gera, and many others locked up together in one house, doesn't it sound like too much fun?

When you create a Bigg Boss sort of environment, doesn't it excite you for an enticing reality show?

Unfortunately, LOL Hasse Toh Phasse fails on all counts.

LOL Hasse Toh Phasse is a shame in the name of a comedy show.

How can you have a comedy show and not have anyone laughing?

You know how sometimes there is a brilliant germ of an idea in your mind and you think this could be a blockbuster show, but after a couple of days when you think about it, you realise how silly it was.

That's the same case with LOL Hasse Toh Phasse.

It's an idea that was fantastic at the concept level.

Some of the best Indian comedians coming together, under one roof, and they're not allowed to laugh.

A stellar concept.

But the fact that the makers kept this an unscripted show made things go haywire.

At the very start when the rules are explained, there are three buzzer sounds which the judges would be playing. Not only is it difficult for audiences to remember which buzzer meant what, but it's tough for the contestants too, as many times during the show they keep staring at each other with blank faces wondering what a particular buzzer means.

To add to that, as there was no script, everything was impromptu and cracking jokes at the same time.

So you're unable to even concentrate on one particular thing.

Even when the contestants go up on stage to do a skit, it's not that the rest of the contestants are sitting and watching him/her perform. They are trying to do something simultaneously, which confuses the viewer.

The jokes are too slapstick to make you laugh.

At least in Bigg Boss, you're doing different things and only the best portions are being shown to the audience. Here, you have no choice but to keep all the characters together in one room and let all of them try to grab the limelight at the same time. There's too much confusion.

This is one of the rare occasions when, someone as good as Sunil Grover falters and is totally unfunny.

Gaurav Gera and Aakash Gupta give some respite in bits.

Mallika Dua and Kusha Kapila try their best to incite some forced laughter, which doesn't go down well at all.

Arshad and Boman seem like Archana Puran Singh or Navjyot Singh Sidhu, who keep laughing at *everything* even if it is totally unfunny.

While I can understand why the stand-up comics did it, why did established actors like Sunil Grover, Cyrus Broacha, Gaurav Gera and Suresh Menon have to do this show?

Could be that the lockdown had impacted them and they wanted to make a quick buck?

If I want to watch Bigg Boss, I will watch Bigg Boss.

If I want to watch stand-up sketches, I will watch comedy specials.

If I want to watch Arshad Warsi and Boman Irani together, I will watch Munnabhai MBBS and Lage Raho Munnabhai,

But certainly not this torture of a show. DEFINITELY AVOID.