Flop Show

It's a great comedy tv series, every episode is great and it's one of the best if not best comedy tv serials ever aired before 2000 on indian screens. In my childhood I watched it's all episodes and still whenever I rewatch it, it's quite reshreshing.

I remember watching this series when i was hardly a 6 year old and boy it was a favorite at my home. I had a chance to watch it again a few days back and was really impressed by the the serial. Though it is a comedy I dare bet more thinking went into it then today's serious soaps. The serial took up everyday matters showing the moral degradation of the society and presented the things with simplicity without being too simplistic. This serial uses traditional humor to keep viewers interested which is quite a far cry from the coarse humor is frequently employed on TV these days. Jaspal Bhatti as an Actor and Director does more than justice to his twin roles but to me, he really stands out a director, the way the characters are developed in such short episodes deserve recognition- I cannot remember any character that I found hard to identify with in any of the episodes. The technical execution of camera, editing and sound is par-excellence (given the low budget and other constraints). Also the serial tells a lot about life in urban India some 20 years back which stands in sharp contrast to the congested roads, pollution and high rises that are so common in India cities today.

A series which everyone of the family can sit and watch. Must watch for you and your family!!

Brilliant writing, vision, acting. Absolute gem! Jaspal bhatti is the show.

This Indian comedy series came on Doordarshan in the late 80s, early 90s, when high-end production sets and the juggernaut of cable networks had yet to infiltrate the Indian public. Surprisingly, the series was incredibly funny and served up satire a la Jaspal Bhatti of the then social situations. Each week was a different plot and different characters, unlike the running TV serials of today and the 'Hum Panch' variety. Bhatti's veritable genius then is incomparable even in today's light. He wrote, directed and acted on the show along with his wife and several regular cohorts. The series always dealt with current issues with a subversive edge on comedy and surprisingly, very little buffoonery. A classic episode is the one dealing with renters and landlords. Must see Hindi TV.

It's hard to find any other TV serial that matches Flop Show in its comic content. Each scene of the show has some unique and genuine comic value. This TV serial was made before the era of background laughter, so the laughter cues are very subtle. And the comedy itself is not forced, as other reviewers have already mentioned. But for me, the greatest strength of the show is how Jaspal Bhatti develops each character. For a 20 minute odd episode and each episode having minimum 7 to 8 main characters, you don't feel that any character was less developed or not required. In fact, you can identify with each character instantaneously. Vivek Shauq stands out in this regard. In every episode he adds his own unique flavor to each character. It's a shame that he didn't do well in Bollywood.