Flop Show (Old Doordarshan TV Show)
Flop Show was one of the most popular shows ever shown in Doordarshan. The Jaspal Bhatti created comedy drama Flop Show was based on a common man who encountered several problems in his daily life. It was aired on Doordarshan in 1991 on the month of March and lasted till the month of May, same year. The show was directed by Jaspal Bhatti and produced by his wife Savita Bhatti who was also acted on the show as the wife of the leading man Jaspal Bhatti. Flop Show was a comedy show where people see the day-to-day problems in satirical ways.
| Cast | Characters |
| Jaspal Bhatti | Miscellaneous |
| Savita Bhatti | Wife of Jaspal Bhatti |
| Vivek Shauq | Miscellaneous |
| Rajesh Jolly | Miscellaneous |
| Kuldeep Sharma | Miscellaneous |
| B. N. Sharma | Miscellaneous |
| Payel Chaudhary | Miscellaneous |
The Makers of the Show
Jaspal Bhatti was one of the most popular comedy actor in India. He was always in entertainment news for his talented comedy and his shows and movies. Jaspal Bhatti was popularly known as television actor as he had started his career with television. Flop Show was his first TV show after whihc he had seen in Ulta Pulta, Full Tension, Hye Zindegi Bye Zindegi and Thank You Jijaji. He was in television during 80s and 90s. After that he walked in to Hindi Film Industry and acted as lead comedian in several movies.
He was awarded by Padma Bhushan in the year 2013 for his excellent contribution in satirical shows on Indian Television and Film Industry. But unfortunately he could not receive the award. Jaspal Bhatti died at the age of 57 in the year 2012 in a car accident. He worked till the last few days of his life.
Flop Show was produced by Bhatti’s wife Savita Bhatti who also acted in the show. Savita used to act as his wife in all his shows, but never appeared in any movies with her husband. Jaspal Bhatti was famous for making political jokes on his shows. But he never triggered any particular person, party or community. He always made others laugh by making fun of him-self. Flop show is the biggest example of this as the name itself tells that it will be a flop show and won’t be worth watching. But on the contrary the show became hugely popular and still continues to entertain people with same old episodes.
Story Line
| Name of the show | Flop Show |
| Director | Jaspal Bhatti |
| Producer | Savita Bhatti |
| Editor | Vishnu Malhotra |
| Season | 1 |
| No. of Episodes | 10 |
| Run Time | 25 minutes approx |
| Telecasted on | March 1988 to May 1988 |
| Telecasted network | Doordarshan |
Flop Show was based on a common man who faces several problems in his daily life. Mostly the show concentrated on socio-cultural issues in India. There were only 10 episodes shot and aired on TV. Each episode depicted different issues in India that a common man faces. The first episode was all about the chief guests who appear on any event late. But the show showed that Jaspal bhatti who was playing the role of the chief guest reached the venue on time. The episode was all about how he was treated and handled after doing that. The next nine episodes showed the problems in colleges, doctors, Government officers, patients’ bills in hospital, Contractor, property and other issues. The last episode of Flop Show was all about the TV shows run at that time. The show itself a joke as the name was Flop show. The makers made joke about their own show at the first place.
Some interesting facts about the show / makers
- Savita Bhatti who has produced the show and also acted has never seen in any other shows or movies other than her husband’s shows.
- Various Doordarshan channels still telecast the show. The old episodes run on several national channels on different times.
- The show was a finite show with 10 episodes but still has the same magic among the people.
- Jaspal Bhatti’s son Jasraj Bhatti has done a movie namely Power Cut which was produced and directed by jaspal Bhatti. Unfortunately he met the accident one day before the release of his son’s debut movie.
Relevance Today
The show was all about such problems which we often face in our daily life. The socio-cultural issues like management in hospitals, government offices, colleges, schools and other that we often encounter in our regular life. There are several places where we meet such people who make things difficult for us. The show came up to us in 90s but still after 25 years the show remains the same.
The relevance of the show today is remarkable. Flop Show made every single problem satirical and entertained us. But the fact is teh same sort of problems still remain the same and we must take them as easily as we can. Some of the issues are big and some can be avoided but in either case one must take things lightly, rather than getting hyper one must try to solve the problems.
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