Flop Show is an Indian television sitcom that first aired on Doordarshan DD Metro in 1991 (March-May) and had reruns on DD National Channel. The show was written and directed by satirical humourist Jaspal Bhatti, who also played himself as the main character. His wife Savita Bhatti produced the show and also acted in all the episodes as his wife. The sitcom was a satire on the socio-cultural problems faced by the common man in India at the time. Although only 10 episodes of the show were ever produced, the show has had a long and powerful legacy.
Flop Show has a distinctive opening sequence. It starts off with a dedication to those whom the specific episode is poking fun at. This is followed by the title song “Flop Show”, which mocks the show itself as being misdirected. It features most of the main cast collectively playing musical instruments as a band. Jaspal Bhatti appears as an eye-patch wearing, menacing-looking director. The other cast members are dressed variously as a police inspector, a doctor, a peon, etc.
All 10 episodes of Flop Show are satires done on the socio-cultural problems of the common man. The show was immensely popular and still gets repeated re-runs on various Doordarshan channels. The show was shot completely in Chandigarh with some episodes being shot at Punjab Engineering College (Jaspal Bhatti is an alumnus of that college). The cast remained the same in every episode, although they played different characters as each episode essayed a different story.
Another distinctive aspect of the show was a joke in between the casting credits at the beginning and a satirically reworded popular Hindi film song played at the end of every episode.
Flop Show is one of the most popular Indian television sitcoms ever to come on TV. It premiered on the Doordarshan between March to May 1991. The late Jaspal Bhatti, a renowned comedian, and satirist was the writer and director of the show. He played the role of himself on the series as the lead character. Savita Bhatti, his wife, was the producer. She also played the role of his wife on all the episodes. The series highlighted the various socio-cultural issues which the common Indian man faced at that time in the country. In spite of there being merely ten episodes of the series, it is still remembered and adored by the audiences to this day. Its legacy and memory are highly phenomenal.
“Flop Show” is also fondly remembered for its opening sequence which is unique and distinctive. It kicks off by giving a dedication. This is addressed to all those people whom that specific episode will be ridiculing going ahead. The dedication is preceded by the catchy title music “Flop Show”. This track makes the show’s tone self-deprecating and mocks itself for being unfit and misdirected. A large part of the regular casting performed as collectively playing various musical instruments. They acted as the members of a band. We are introduced to Jaspal Bhatti who comes on with his eye-patch and shows himself as a highly menacing director. Other members of the cast also come on. They dress up as various characters like that of a doctor, an inspector, a peon, and more. All the ten episodes of the series are satires. They depict a variety of socio-cultural issues which plague the common Indian man.
The show gained astounding popularity among all sections of the society and is fondly seen even today. In fact, it is still aired on various channels of Doordarshan owing to demands for a re-run. The series was entirely shot in Chandigarh. Some of the episodes are also shot inside the campus of the Punjab Engineering College. The director of the show, Jaspal Bhatti, himself graduated from the very same college. All the other cast members played the roles of numerous characters in each of the episodes. But the cast basically didn’t change even though each episode showed a whole new story. Another notable feature of the series is that there is a joke inserted in the midst of the credits played at the start. In addition, there is also a reworded famous Hindi cinema song which came on after episode concluded.