Our niece, Amarjeet Kaur, whom we call Ruby, is married to Rajvinder Klair, who is a first cousin of the Late Jaspal Bhatti (1955-2012) All inputs, by way of text and photographs for this article, have been provided by the  couple.

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Fame preceded him. Long before the ‘baraat’ arrived at the residence of our uncle, Agyapal Singh in Sector 27 B, Chandigarh in Oct 1993, we had heard a great deal about Jaspal Bhatti. The tall and handsome bridegroom, Rajvinder was driven in by his illustrious cousin, Jaspal. A few days before the wedding, we had received a card, which contained a tinge of the characteristic humor of the eminent comedian who was a well known cartoonist and on the threshold of a career in the Television serials at that point of time.

Someone in the family did not approve of the spoof, and scored off the last line, in which the guests were requested to bring their own crockery for dinner. However, when we met him, we found Jaspal had a very serious look. To make him laugh was not just difficult; it was well nigh impossible! He seemed to believe that it was his job to make people laugh, and he did not like any one intruding into his personal territory.

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Rajvinder and Amarjeet migrated to the US, a few years after their marriage, in 1999; but Jaspal Bhatti began to intrude into our living rooms through the Television at regular intervals. He chose subjects of social relevance and devised TV serials with great care. 

We learnt that Jaspal Bhatti had obtained a degree in Electrical Engineering from the well known Punjab Engineering College Chandigarh and joined a government job. However, even when he was in the college, he took more interest in satire than electrical engineering. His ‘Nonsense Club’ was very popular and they held road shows, which were very popular. During his brief service in the government job, he developed an intense desire to expose the inefficiency and corruption in the bureaucracy. The politicians, in his eyes were a set of buffoons, who deserved to be depicted as jokers in cartoons which he created without any effort. However, he was careful to avoid any particular individual or political party. In fact, most of his satire was aimed at himself or his wife, Savita, who acted with him in all his TV serials. Given below are a few glimpses of his work.

When vegetable and fruit prices sky-rocketed, Jaspal Bhatti devised the above method for depiction

Soon, Jaspal Bhatti was our ‘Laurel and Hardy’ rolled into one!

In 2002, he launched a ‘suitcase party’ in which the valise was indicative of cash stacked in it.

Computers were, forever, a laughing matter for him. He believed that they were a nuisance.

 To save time, he decided to read two books, simultaneously, and browse through the screen, all at once.

Almost on the verge of giving it up as a bad job. You see despair on his face.

“To Hell with computers!” He said, and started dancing with his wife, Savita.

“Jatt kudian to darda maraa, modhe upar daang  rakhda!”

“Power Cut” his last movie, was released a day after he was killed in a road accident in Oct  2012. For this movie he composed a song, “Ki karuga jatt, je ho gayi power kutt?”

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A Tailpiece 

 Jaspal Bhatti added a new dimension TV serials. He broke the classical mould of  ‘soap’ stories which stretch on and on. Humor came to him naturally. And it was pristine clean. It could not hurt any one. We are told that when he was shooting for his last movie, “Power Cut” he needed to film a herd of sheep. For the shot, he was told that he would have to guarantee the safety of the animals. He readily agreed to undertake the responsibility, but added in all earnestness, “I assure you that no harm will come to your animals, but I can not guarantee the safety of the life and limb of my actors and the crew!”

His words proved prophetic. The herd of sheep suffered no injury, but the Director of the film lost his life, in the act. He died with his ‘boots’ on. Be that as it may, they say, that the show goes on. Jaspal has gone, but the spirit of his work is immortal.