Thalua | 50 years old Comedy Club, Banaras

Thalua Club is a playful yet piercing ethnographic portrait of a unique comedic tradition rooted in the lanes of Banaras (Varanasi). Some of the earliest members of the Thalua Club are Acharya Sitaram Chaturvedi, Bedhab Banarasi, Ishtdev Prasad Gaur, Bedhadak Banarasi, Bhaiyyaji Banarasi and Kantanath Pandey Chonch (Chonch Banarasi). Later, Babu Gulab Rai and Vishwanath Mukherjee gathered people to establish the Thalua Club in 1960. The club carries forward a distinctly Banarasi art of roasting, where laughter is both a mode of resistance and a celebration of intimacy.

In the spirit of what scholar Bhargav Rani (2023) calls veer-alasya (heroic laziness), the Thalua Club thrives on doing nothing spectacular—except laughing at oneself and others, shamelessly and joyfully. Each performance centers around an “honored guest”—a respected local figure—who becomes the target of good-natured ridicule. This ceremony of showing respect by Thaluas is called Mundan Samaroh. Friends and neighbors take the stage to poke fun at his quirks, habits, and especially his domestic life, often pushing the boundaries of social decorum. No one is spared, and no one takes offense—because in Banaras, the ability to be roasted with grace is a sign of maturity and social status. This film resurrects a disappearing culture of leisurely gatherings, where satire was not just tolerated but celebrated as a form of community-building.

Thanks to the organizers Sh. Pramod Shah and Sh. Vinay Kull, and guest of honor Sh. Saand Banarasi, all Thaluas gathered again on November 10, 2019 in Banaras to felicitate Dr. Jeetendra Nath Mishra and to symbolically shave his head.

Many thanks to Sana Sabah for courageously filming the Thaluas and for her wonderful translation work assisted by Rana El Kadi.