Early years
Jaspal Bhatti was born on 3 March 1955 at Amritsar in a Rajput Sikh family. He graduated from Punjab Engineering College, Chandigarh in Punjab, as an electrical engineer. He was very famous for his street plays like his Nonsense Club during his college days. Most of these plays were spoofs ridiculing corruption in society. Before venturing into television, he was a cartoonist for theThe Tribune newspaper in Chandigarh.
Flop Show
His low-budget Flop Show show in the early 1990s is remembered even today. His wife Savita Bhatti produced the show and acted in all the episodes as his wife. Only 10 episodes were ever produced, but the show has had a long and powerful legacy and is well remembered. One of his co-actors Vivek Shauq has been very successful since his stint in Flop Show, having found a footing in Hindi cinema. On 10 January 2011, Shauq died from septicemia.
Subsequent work
Bhatti's subsequently acted and directed the popular TV series Ulta Pulta and Nonsense Private Limited for the Doordarshan television network. What attracted audience to his shows was his gift of inducing humour to highlight everyday issues of the middle class in India. Jaspal Bhatti's satire on the Punjab police Mahaul Theek Hai (1999) was his first directorial venture for a full-length feature film in his native Punjabi language. It was well received amongst audience for its simple and honest humour. He played the role of Jolly Good Singh, a guard, in the movie Fanaa. He played a comical college principal in Koi Mere Dil Se Poochhe. He also starred in the comedy Punjabi film Jijaji. Bhatti acted in Hindi Movie Aa Ab Laut Chalen with Kadar Khan in 1999.
Bhatti appeared in SAB TV's Comedy ka King Kaun as a judge with actress Divya Dutta. In his latest stint, Bhatti and his wife Savita competed in a popular Star Plus show Nach Baliye which went on air in October 2008.[1] The couple put their best foot forward to entertain the audiences with their dancing and comic skills.
The cartoonist, humorist, actor and filmmaker was focusing on acting as he was getting numerous offers from Bollywood producers as a comedian.
In his later years, Jaspal Bhatti set up a training school[2] and a studio in Mohali near Chandigarh called "Joke Factory".
He also launched a new 52-episode comedy series titled ''Thank You Jijaji''[3] on Sony's family entertainment channel, SAB TV. It was shot at his own MAD Arts film school at Chandigarh.
At a 2009 carnival at Chandigarh, Bhatti put up a stall displaying vegetables, daal and oils. The onlookers were invited to throw rings around them to win these costly goods as prizes to poke fun at the government's failure to control inflation.[4]
In 2009, Bhatti school’s, Mad Art’s, animation film on female foeticide won the second prize in the Advantage India organized by 1take media.[5] It won a certificate of merit at the IDPA-2008 Awards in Mumbai.[6]
Bhatti was granted the Lifetime Achievement Award, at the first Golden Kela Awards.[7]
Political Satire
Bhatti was known for floating his political parties during elections to highlight the problems faced by the general public.
In 1995, he floated the 'Hawala Party' delighting passers by with his original poker faced takeoff on growing political corruption in the country which was already a hotly discussed topic in the context of the Jain-Hawala Diaries.[8]
In 2002, Bhatti announced that he is starting the "Suitcase Party" & released his manifesto alloting 5 seats to his family & more seats to be decided based on the suitcase size of the prospective candidates[9]
In 2009, the comedian announced that he is floating the "Recession Party" & Bhajna Amli, alias Gurdev Dhillon, as his party's face from the Ludhiana. In his trademark satirical style, he kept his party's symbol as opium, drugs and alcohol for which he claimed that there will be no shortage of supply if his party is voted to power.[10]
Critical response
India’s leading media critic Amita Malik says of him: "Bhatti has the correct style for TV, an understated, quiet humour which sinks in without shouting, and which mercilessly exposes both corruption in our every day life and the typical people, who thrive on it. The grim fact and the hard truths of our society so bitter otherwise are made so funny through the adept handling of Bhatti, that cleansing laughter is created out of common malpractices."[11]
Personal life
Bhatti married Savita Bhatti on 24 March 1985[citation needed] and has a son, Jasraj Bhatti, and a daughter, Raabiya Bhatti.[12]
Death
On 25 October 2012, he died in a car accident. The Honda Accord car which the 57-year-old actor/director's son Jasraj Bhatti was driving hit a tree near Shahkot in Nakodar area of the Jalandhardistrict. The accident took place at around 1.30 am, when Jasraj lost the control over the vehicle while taking a blind turn and rammed into a roadside tree. The actor, along with his son and actress Surilie Gautam, was driving from Bhatinda to Jalandhar for the promotion of Power Cut (2012 film), which is based on frequent power cuts in Punjab. Bhatti was sitting in the rear seat of the car and received serious head injuries. Bhatti was taken to a private hospital in Jalandhar where he was declared dead on arrival by the doctors.
Yash Raj Chopra