Bharti Singh has been roped in as the celebrity guest judge on the finale episode of The Great Indian Laughter Challenge 5.
The stand-up comedian had started her journey from this reality show eight years ago and when she was approached to be part of it again, Bharti immediately agreed.
“You won’t believe it, but I have postponed my honeymoon to Europe for this show. I was supposed to leave on 17th, but because the shoot is on 19th, I cancelled my tickets and booked for 23rd. All the hotel and flight bookings had to be redone, but I have no complaints. I started as a contestant on the show and I am excited to go as a judge,” says the newlywed Bharti. Didn’t her husband Harsh Limbachiyaa have any objection? “He asked me if I was sure about it, I am here because of this show, so there was no way I was going to miss it. And he said okay.” The comedienne was among the top contestants of season 4 of the show.
“I had thought I will do one episode and go, but people liked me and I continued,” she says proudly.
However, this season no women contestants have made it to the top. In fact, there was only one woman contestant, who got eliminated in the initial rounds. “I think girls are not really inclined towards stand-up comedy as they feel it is insulting. They are more geared towards becoming heroines of daily soaps. They don’t realise that comedy never fails,” says Bharti, who is planning to do a stand-up act in the finale episode.
The popular stand-up comic is also feeling nostalgic and missing her co-contestants — Sugandha Mishra and Shrikant Albela She rues the fact that stand-up comedy is on its decline. “Everybody has got into skits, and stand-up comedy is being sidelined. Laughter Challenge has not only brought back stand-up comedy, but returned after eight years, another reason I wanted to be a part of it,” she smiles.
Incidentally, this will be her first telly appearance post her wedding.
