TGILC takes a break

Laughter is the best medicine but an overdose of it can kill you. This adage is now being followed by the makers ofThe Great Indian Laughter Challenge, who have decided to take a break post TGILC 3. In the past, the contest has been followed by The Great Indian Laughter Champions - a generic stand-up show. However, the channel has now decided against it. This comes as a real surprise to its viewers who've been longing to see the likes of Kapil Sharma, Chandan Prabhakar, Amanullah Khan again. So what exactly went wrong? Prem Kamath, VP, Marketing and Communication, enunciates, "We decided to take a break as we felt this was in best interest of both the channel and the show. However, we'll definitely return for the fourth season. TGILC is very much our (Star One) property." Despite better quality the TRPs presented a different picture for TGILC 3. Prem Kamath chides, "If you look at the market today, there hardly is any show that crosses the 7 point mark. In terms of indexation, there was a drop in TGILC 3 vis-?-vis previous editions. However, TGILC has always been a hit with the masses". Director Pankaj Saraswat had this to say, "Taking a break was the need of the hour. Viewers felt that there's an overdose of comedy. We never wanted this to happen with our show. Also, the viewer interest declined as they were watching more of these musical reality shows. In the current scenario, we've done the right thing. We don't want to be like other shows, who basically have taken cue from us." One person who heralded the decision was none other than TGILC's resident judge Shekhar Suman. The metrosexual Shekhar says, "It was high time and I'm glad that they've stopped it. Viewers were divided between Indian Idol and TGILC. This year, these musical reality shows have done really well." He adds further, "Personally, I'm glad that TGILC has taken a break as it was having a damaging effect on my career. Just because I'm associated with few comedy shows, people tend to treat me as a comic artist. I'd like to be known as a versatile actor." A break will only make the people salivate for TGILCin future. After the above quote, it remains to be seen whether Shekhar Suman will feature on TGILC again.