Humorist Jaspal Bhatti killed in road mishap

Jaspal Bhatti, known for his sitcom Flop Show first aired on Doordarshan in 1989, died in a car accident near Jalandhar last night. He was 57. The sitcom, a tongue-in-cheek comment on social and cultural issues among middle class India, became hugely popular and is still re-run on Doordarshan's various channels. Bhatti wrote, directed and starred in all 10 episodes of Flop Show with his wife Savita who also played his screen wife. Bhatti, born on 3 March, 1955 in Amritsar, graduated as an electrical engineer from Punjab Engineering College in Chandigarh and worked as a cartoonist for The Tribune before striking out as a TV comedian. In college, he was involved in street plays, most of which were satires on corruption. Jaspal Bhatti also directed and starred in other sitcoms for Doordarshan including Ulta Pulta and Nonsense Private Limited. The first film he directed was the Punjabi language Mahaul Theek Hai in 1999. Mr Bhatti appeared in films like Fanaa that starred Aamir Khan and Kajol. He played a guard called Jolly Good Singh in the film. He also appeared in other films like Hamara Dil Aap Ke Paas Hai and Koi Mere Dil Se Pooche. Periodically, Bhatti also appeared on TV, first as a judge on Comedy Ka King Kaun and then as a contestant, with his wife, on dance reality show Nach Baliye. He ran an Academy of humour and studio in Chandigarh called Joke Factory. Bhatti’s son Jasraj as well as actress Surilee Gautam were also injured in the crash. They were travelling around Punjab to promote their new Punjabi film Power Cut.