Famous comedian Jaspal Bhatti died in a road accident near Jalandhar on Thursday. Bhatti was going to Nakodar from Bhatinda for the promotion of his upcoming film ‘Power Cut’. The accident happened on Shahkot area of Jalandhar. Bhatti’s car rammed into a roadside tree.

Bhatti’s son and actress Surilie Gautam of his upcoming film were injured in the mishap. Both the injured have been admitted to the hospital. Jaspal Bhatti was one of the pioneers of Indian comedy, and his shows ‘Flop Show‘ and ‘Ulta Pulta’ were one of the earliest socio-political satire works on TV.

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, Updated Oct 25, 2012 at 12:14pm IST
Rituparna Chatterjee, IBNLive.com

Fate has misdirected this episode of ‘Flop Show’. India‘s first stand-up artiste & satirist Jaspal Bhatti is dead.

It was a two minute stand up section with a 20 second skit on the same subject. The capsule, ‘Ulta Pulta’, was the Hindi version of his topsy-turvy grasp of rampant corruption and the humour in everyday life.

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Bhatti began his stint with the Tribune newspaper in 1982 as a cartoonist with a column ‘Oddly Speaking’ on social malaise. He remained with the paper for five-six years before specialising in television stand-up, one of India’s first in this field.
Equally popular was his ‘Flop Show’ that changed TV’s TRP game in the 90s. Each episode started with a lengthy skit and wrapped up with a parody. The credits of the show were nothing Indian audiences had ever seen. Bhatti poked fun at the world, but first, he parodied himself with opening credit that said ‘Misdirected by Jaspal Bhatti’, ‘Underground Singers’, ‘Camera Jerks’ and ‘Jarring Music’ and ‘Over Actors’.
The actors – Jaspal Bhatti himself, wife Savita and Vivek Shauq – became household names for their poker face acts. He went on to write and direct two more shows – ‘Full Tension’ and ‘Thank You Jija Ji’. His ‘Nonsense Club’ was India’s first humour club. The street plays enacted through this club would draw attention to social evils.
His foray into cinema started in 1996 with his Punjabi feature film ‘Mahaul Theek Hai‘ in Chandigarh that parodied the police. Since then he has acted in several films, including Mausam (2011), Fanaa (2006), Kuch Naa Kaho (2003), Tujhe Meri Kasam (2003), Koi Mere Dil Se Poochhe (2002), Hamara Dil Aapke Paas Hai (2000), Kartoos (1999), Aa Ab Laut Chalen (1999) and Jaanam Samjha Karo (1999).
He was promoting his film ‘Power Cut’ – a Punjabi comedy which will be released on October 26 when he met with the fatal accident. Power Cut is produced by P&R Films in association with Mad Arts, Jaspal Bhatti Film School.

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Born on March 3, 1955 at Amritsar in a Rajput Sikh family, Bhatti graduated from Punjab Engineering College, Chandigarh as an electrical engineer.

He became popular with his street plays in the city. His plays were spoofs ridiculing corruption in society.

Before venturing into television, he was a cartoonist for the The Tribune newspaper in Chandigarh.

After a successful stint on television with his show, Bhatti’s subsequently acted in Hindi and Punjabi films and got his due recognition in the film industry with Salman Khan starrer “Janam Samjha Karo” in 1999 where he played Salman’s personal secretary.

Bhatti played the role of Jolly Good Singh, a guard, in Aamir Khan-Kajol starrer ‘Fanaa’. He also starred in the comedy Punjabi film ‘Jijaji’. His first directorial venture was a feature film in his native Punjabi language ‘Mahaul Theek Hai’, a humorous take on Punjab police. It was well received amongst audience.

Bhatti appeared on many reality shows after that. He was seen in ‘Comedy ka King Kaun’ as a co-judge with actress Divya Dutta and also presented his dancing abilities in ‘Nach Baliye’ with wife Savita.

Bhatti set up a training school and a studio in Mohali near Chandigarh called ‘Joke Factory’ and also an animation school ‘Mad Arts’, where he launched a new 52-episode comedy series titled ‘Thank You Jijaji’.

The school also produced an animation film on female foeticide which won the second prize in the Advantage India organized by 1take media. It won a certificate of merit at the IDPA-2008 Awards in Mumbai.

The comedian’s latest film ‘Power Cut’, is based on the frequent power cuts in Punjab