It’s the end of the year. Imagine that – a whole year went by and it feels like we were just celebrating the end of 2005 ! And since I’m in the let’s-review-the-year mood (see my Top 5 films of 2006), here are the Top 3 hindi comedy shows on TV :

1. Naya Office Office : This is on Star One, and stars Pankaj Kapoor as harassed, common man Mussadi (the last name varies episode by episode). Mussadi battles various sarkari karamcharis (government employees) at get telephone connections, water connections, insurance, or driving licences and many more “public services”, and deals with unscrupulous government officers demanding bribes, samosas, sarees, movie tickets etc. The main protagnist remains Mussadi in all of the episodes, although his name, occupation and character changes. Similarly the “sarkari karamcharis” are named the same and played by the same characters in every episode, and their traits even remain similar, however they are placed in different offices each time. Like Ushaji likes having people cut her vegetables while she reviews their applications, or like Bhatia who wants samosas, or like Pandey who wants to be called Pandeyji. This beautifully scripted show is bolstered by great acting, and strong social issues and messages hidden behind the humorous facade. Watch it here.

2. The Great Indian Comedy Show : Also on Star One, this is an Indian “Saturday Night Live” hosted by a couple of people like Ranvir Shourie , Vinay Pathak (both Ranvir and Vinay starred in Khosla ka ghosla), Tarana Raja, Suresh Menon and folks who debuted on the “Great Indian Laughter Challenge”. You can see excerpts on Youtube here.

3. Chhupa Rustom : This is a reality based show, on NDTV. Remember MTV’s “Bakra” ? A lot like that, but better. The cast of CR design awkward and very funny public appearances and the unwary public reacts. Quite interesting. Where “Bakra” targeted the common man unfairly (I thought), CR targets the very same people fairly. I’m not sure if that makes sense; you’ll have to watch to find out.