Exactly 10 years ago, on January 28, 2015, a three-episode video named AIB Knockout was uploaded on YouTube. The video went viral in no time as netizens got a chance to see something that was never attempted before in India. It featured Ranveer Singh and Arjun Kapoor being roasted by a bunch of comedians, Tanmay Bhat, Gursimran Khamba, Ashish Shakya, Rohan Joshi, Aditi Mittal, Raghu Ram, Rajeev Masand and Abish Mathew, with Karan Johar as the Roastmaster. Alia Bhatt, Deepika Padukone, Sonakshi Sinha, etc, were present in the audience and they could be seen laughing their guts out about jokes on Arjun and Ranveer as well as on themselves.

10 Years of AIB Knockout: The unforgettable episode which pitted Aamir Khan against Pooja Bhatt and which changed the idea of humour in India forever

The jokes were about Arjun's academic failure, Karan's sexuality and Ranveer's reputation as the ladies man. At the very beginning, Ranveer smooched Karan on the lips that too in the presence of Karan Johar’s mother in the audience. Ranveer remarked that he has been doing more than what he just attempted on stage and yet, he’s not getting a role in a KJo film. This happened in the first 10 minutes and later on, jokes were cracked on many other topics and celebs as well.

Three days later, the members of AIB gave an interview to Mumbai Mirror to explain how they managed to come up with the Roast. They revealed that Deepika Padukone, Sonakshi Sinha, Anurag Kashyap, Sanjay Kapoor and Alia Bhatt booked a seat each for Rs 4,000 each. Tanmay Bhat said, “The three stars (Karan Johar, Ranveer Singh and Arjun Kapoor) weren't our first option, they were our only option.” This interview also revealed that some jokes were deleted at the script stage when the trio felt that it could upset someone in the film fraternity. Some jokes were cracked live but didn’t make it to the final cut because “some stars didn't want all of it going out”.

In no time, things took a turn. FIRs were lodged and the government stepped in. The AIB members met Bishop Agnelo Gracias, the Auxiliary Bishop of Bombay, to address concerns raised by the Christian community. They even offered an unconditional apology to the entire Christian community for any offence caused by their performance. Soon, the video was taken down.

Aamir Khan, meanwhile, made his displeasure clear over the contents of the show. He said at an event, “I scolded both Karan and Arjun and told them that I didn't find it funny at all. You can't give 25 gaalis and think that people will like it. I am not a 14-year-old that I will be impressed by gaalis.”

Pooja Bhatt, who had worked earlier with Aamir Khan, lashed out at the latter. She thundered, “I feel it’s hypocritical self-styled moralists and the Aamir Khans of the world, who are more frightening and injurious. I am appalled at his sudden self-righteous mode. He has completely forgotten his body of work — the double meaning song, ‘Bhaag DK Bose’ — in Delhi Belly, and the PK poster where he left nothing to the imagination, putting Sunny Leone to shame!”

Within a week’s time, the three episodes were deleted by AIB Knockout. They broke silence on the developments by saying, “The video came with a clear disclaimer with several age and content warnings. No one was forced to watch it; we didn’t buy airtime on every single TV channel on Earth to broadcast it. YouTube videos do not magically auto-play in front of you. And yet the videos got over 8 million views. Far more importantly, on the video page, the people who liked them outnumbered the people who disliked them by ten times to one.”

It further said, “The format was the same as any international roast i.e. insult comedy, delivered in the form of one-liners designed to be as rude as possible. It is performed with the understanding that none of the material is to be taken seriously—none of the performers actually mean the ‘offensive’ things they say to each other on the night.”

It then stated, “With the Knockout, in our own juvenile, idiotic way, we wanted to push the envelope of comedy in this country. But then the envelope pushed back. Things got to a point where people who have supported us, people who work hard to make what we do come to life, were put in a position where things could get deeply unpleasant for them. And that’s a problem. We can live with abuse, hate, anger, fury, rage, ignorance, bigotry and perhaps even bullying. But we don’t want anybody to get hurt because of us. And we do mean anybody.”

With this incident, the Roast culture ended as soon as it began. Last year, a roast series was started by Aashish Solanki, but it was clear that Bollywood stars remained cautious. Huma Qureshi was the only film actor who appeared on the show. In fact, Ashneer Grover, co-founder of BharatPe and former judge on 'Shark Tank India', featured on the show but expressed his discomfort with the jokes and requested that his segment be removed. Due to concerns over potential legal action and associated costs, Solanki decided to delete the entire episode. It exposed the ‘doglapan’ of Ashneer but also made it clear how Indian celebrities remain uncomfortable with the Roast culture even a decade after the AIB Knockout episode.

The AIB Knockout was an attempt to introduce a new style of comedy in India. But the extreme reactions it generated made it clear that India was and perhaps, still not ready for it. It made it loud and clear for stand-up comedians to not cross certain lines and that unwritten rule continues to exist even today.

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