Balraj Syal's on Will Smith slapping Chris Rock: Comedians become easy targets

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By Team Bollyy
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Balraj Syal's on Will Smith slapping Chris Rock: Comedians become easy targets

A joke is a joke, whether it is liked or not is very subjective, says actor and comedian Balraj Syal, who is currently seen in the reality show Smart Jodi. However, he adds that even if it is not appreciated, expression of violence to showcase your disapproval is absolutely wrong - Jyothi Venkatesh

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“According to me, his reaction was unfair and very unprofessional. If, here instead of Chris Rock, Dwayne Johnson, The Rock, was here, even then, would he have come on stage and slapped? And secondly, I think this was not right.

Especially when such big artists go and give such kind speeches like we are a family, we are here to entertain people and stuff.

What if Chris Rock had slapped him too in front of everyone? I think, hats off to this guy, who still managed to crack his jokes even after he got slapped and went on to do his job.

That's an artist. Whatever Will Smith did was very wrong. I understand he didn't like the joke, it was hurtful for him. Even here it happens. If you all remember, Ashutosh Gowariker didn't like Sajid Khan's joke.

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He went on to the stage and expressed himself. My reaction to this is that he shouldn't have done it. Going on the stage and slapping an artist, being an artist yourself, it’s not right,” he says.

There are other ways of dealing with this, adds Balraj. “A lot of times it happens that comedians crack jokes and celebrities do not like it.

I think this is a very subjective issue. I think the way to respond, the way to react, the way to handle those situations is actually what Chris Rock did.

He kept doing his job. ‘The show must go on’. I think Chris Rock proved that. If he had answered the slap with a slap, reacted in the wrong way, Oscars would have become a joke.

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I think it's the best way. do your work, and if someone doesn’t like it, it's okay. And people should be focused on their work. I still remember when I was hosting a film Awards in Punjab, I was anchoring the show with someone was the producer of one of the films and also the hero of that film.

And that film didn't do well. And we were working on the script and he said let's make fun of my film. We made good jokes out of that. He cracked those jokes on stage.

But when the writer of that film came on stage to receive an award, he misbehaved with me. He said I don't even know you, we put in a lot of hard work to make a film.

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Being an artist, being a stand-up comedian, a lot of impromptu things come to our minds. But my work there was not to insult anyone and I didn’t say anything to him,” he says.

Talking about the content for comedy, Balraj says that the lines of right and wrong are blurred. “It's very subjective. Some say we should not joke about somebody's health issues.

I can say that we joke about obesity, maybe due to some disease he has become fat. We joke about somebody being thin, we joke about someone's height, there can be many reasons for it.

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So, I think it's very subjective and there's no way to decide what to do in our shows. Nowadays stand-up comedians, on YouTube, use harsh words, they roast the audiences who are sitting in the front row. You cannot watch that show with your family.

So, I'm not defending them and I'm not against them. They've written 18+. What does 18+ mean? If you're not watching a film which is 18+ in front of kids then why are you expecting that stand-up comedy should be watched with kids when it's written 18+.

I think it's very childish. We always say comedy has become vulgar. Why don't we say this in front of those big directors whose films are being made below the belt, in which they use bad words, and you cannot watch them with family.

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Why don't we say that to them? I think we comedians have become easy targets for everyone. There are things to avoid this and what I do is I ask them what not to do and we try not to do those jokes. That's it.

There's no other way until and unless you know them personally. Because you never know which person is in which mood. It might be hurtful for them sometimes,” he says.

He adds, “I still remember cracking jokes about Arbaaz Bhai. I have worked with him so many times. He takes those jokes supportively, with such a happy smiling face and we also know our limits. We know where we shouldn't hurt them.

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But still, if you see Shah Rukh Khan, Arbaaz Bhai, many jokes are made about them on comedy shows. They do it on themselves too. They take it so sportingly. And who doesn't like it, it's their personal choice.

But I won't tell anyone that he should take it. I will only say that if you don't like the joke, you should not just go on stage and slap a fellow artist.

This is very wrong. Because a lot of times, many artists in films, shows, events, and awards have done such kind of thing and such a thing must have hurt someone.

Art is art and an artist should deal with other artists with some dignity. They will do their work. If you do not like their work, you can normally say it.”

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