Munawar Faruqui

Munawar Faruqui

    

Disclaimer 

As I am a fan of Munawar Faruqui this post might not entirely be unbiased (unlike his content) .

I have been a fan of Munawar Faruqui ever since he dropped his first video on YouTube and with his newer videos the admiration for him increased 10 fold. 

I love stand up comedy and spend hours watching videos on YouTube and I can write in stone that Munawar is like none other (no, I am not exaggerating ) . 

Throughout the videos you are either laughing hard or having "ohho" moments (without him putting the editing effects ). 

Recently I decided to Google him up to find out more about him . And I was shocked to read articles where he was called Hinduphobic , his jokes are misunderstood, just so much hate ( itne hate kyu troll - Bhai ?) . I didn't find  decent articles on him even on Quora ( I really think highly of Quora). So , I decided to write about him ,  if trolls can Invest their time and energy in spreading hate, guess it's time people spend energy on spreading love and reality . 

Why I Admire Munawar Faruqui 

Intelligent writing 

Munawar Faruqui is one of the most versatile artists I have seen. He has explored Comedy (of course), singing, rapping, vloging , writing shayaries , roasting (frankly, better than most roasters in India)

If you follow stand up comedy closely you would know that writing a joke is not easy. Now imagine writing jokes while bringing certain awareness to the audience….it's difficult and Faruqui aces it. Personally, his writing is extremely intelligent mixed with witty humour. 

Speaks His Truth 

Not only through his comedy but in general Munawar has been vocal about his political and social views. He doesn't hesitate to speak his truth even if his opinions differ from the trends. This requires a lot of courage. 

I think all of you remember the whole ruckus about YouTube vs Tiktok. While everyone was gambling on views by abusing tiktokers and calling them names , Munawar took his time to address the whole issue logically. In is Diss-claimer Munawar raises several valid points which very missed by most. His main focus was not YouTube vs Tiktok but problems of migrant workers, the problems in lockdown, the virus and so much more. In the video he also addresses the growing hate culture in India which gives rise to unnecessary trolling. 

It was one of the most wholesome videos summarising  all the problems going on. 

Later on he continues to make Diss claimers concerning issues such as Nepotism, News channels and Exams 

    

Aware of His Responsibilities

When the lockdown was announced some celebrated , saying it was a blessing in disguise , now there was time to spend  with their family. On the other hand millions were out on roads , walking miles to reach homes. Thousands had lost jobs and found it difficult to feed the families. Times like these test our conscience. Many joined hands and helped in their possible ways . Faruqui , like many other public figures, didn't hold back and did what he could ( by the way where is the PM cares funds ka paise ?).          

Munawar also penned down a heartfelt poem about the travelling migrants and their plights. 

     

His response to his trolls 

Along with fame comes the inevitable trolling. One has to learn how to handle it. On several occasions Munawar has shared screenshots where he had a polite chat with his trolls and by the end of the conversation the hatred is converted. Some fans on his instagram lives have shared how earlier they used to oppose him but now respect his opinions . 

    

He seems to be  open to  constructive criticism. ("Mein aur zyada mahenat karuga" )

The Controversies 

There are several ways to give constructive feedback or criticism but most trolls choose just hatred.People start bombarding comment sections and inboxes with abuses . 

Munawar Faruqui recited a joke on lord Shri Ram and that obviously didn't go well with most Hindus . Frankly, I did not find it offensive. None of the religions in this country are so fragile that a mere Joke can harm it's foundation . Sometimes I wonder, if we have strong faith and belief in your religion why are we shaken by harmless humour ? What exactly is the real problem, the joke or our mentality? 

While reading an answer on Quora about Munawar, I read something interesting ,

"Downplaying of burning Hindus burnt alive in Godhra 2002". This is in reference to one of his videos . I was surprised that people actually misunderstood the joke. Have you heard of dark humour ? Tamay Bhat , in one of his interviews said that dark humour is important. It helps you laugh at things you previously feared (therefore making you understand those things better ) 

Zakir Khan very rightly said that an artist is an observer. His/her job is to observe and share these stories with the audience. The form they  choose to deliver these stories is upto the artists,  it can be in the form of poetry , comedy, story-telling etc. Munawar chose to share his story through comedy , more precisely dark comedy. End of story!

 Jawab 

         

As I have mentioned earlier , Munawar has always tried to reason out with his trolls and has been open to criticizism but sometimes a smart answer is required (for people who fail to understand politeness) He has recently posted a video where we gives Jawab to all his trolls . 

When he first announced Jawab i wasn't really excited. I thought it might just be something like "Yalgaar" . But it's Munawar Faruqui that we are talking about, it obviously had to be unique and fun ! First of all the lyrics are gold or as we all now say , the lyrics are OP.The song has  so much depth and layers, so many references. The tone of the song is not that of seeking sympathy or of self pity. In fact he reassures his trolls that his hardwork is gonna  take him places .  He also condenms the hate online and calls out to crowd mentality. 

Aur trolls ko kya laga ? Gaali denge toh daar jayega , woh shanaa gujrati hai , teri gaaliyon se Dhanda banayega ! 

Let's Spread Love 

The objective of writing this Blog was also to convey that talented artists are precious. We need artists to help weave love in the society, to laugh , to express, to learn. However, most artists who utilize their platform to speak about social issues or political issues are targeted and threatened. Society sees these people as a threat. It's surprising that people like Kunal Kamra and Dhruv Rathi are called Anti-nationals while Hindustani Bhau and Shubham Mishra are idealised (their sole purpose is to hurl abuses at people ) . How are people like Hindustani Bhau given support while an innocent artist is subjected harrassment? How do people think that they have the right to break venues and then roam around freely ? Shouldn't these people be our concern ? Shouldn't we be condemning these acts instead of jokes ? If an artist or anyone for that matter shares their opinion and it differs from our own, should we silence them , threaten them ? Why have we become so rigid ? Only by respecting people and their opinions( even if it  differs from your ) will be evolve.