Why He Won't Wait Around For 'Mainstream Media' To Take A Chance

Neel Kolhatkar’s “dangerous” comedy critiques bogan ‘culture’ and, with it, Australia’s racism. The Sydneysider is now touring his latest stand-up show, Truth Be Told. “The show itself revolves around my commentary on the media and race issues… and intermingled among all that is a lot of characters and accents and impressions,” Kolhatkar reveals. “There’s no real overriding theme, per se, but I suppose my material is very truthful. I do tell it like it is. I’m not necessarily bound by political correctness all the time [laughs], hence the title Truth Be Told.”

Today Kolhatkar commands cult status online, with his YouTube channel attracting 200,000 subscribers. 2013’s infamous Australia In 2 Minutes clip has had over three million views. Mind, Kolhatkar also examines relationship dilemmas, and the quirks of being young.  

Australia’s contemporary political landscape provides a rich source of material for a cultural comedian like Kolhatkar. As such, he appreciates Tony Abbott’s gaffes. “It’s great: every time he slips up, it’s good for comedians, ‘cause then we can just take advantage of that!” Kolhatkar’s comedy has as its backdrop conservative commentators, and shock jocks, but he’s given up trying to follow the media. As it happens, Kolhatkar, whose ethnic background is Indian, accepts that, yes, people have the right to be bigots. “Ultimately, I do believe in free speech, so I think they should be allowed to say the things they do on the radio and things like that. Whether or not I agree with it is besides the point.”

The French Charlie Hebdo tragedy has again shown that satire can be inflammatory. The “outspoken” Kolhatkar has himself offended. “There’s been a lot of people who have been offended or who send quite [says archly] critical messages to me on social media, but that’s just the nature of my profession, and it’s the nature of who I am as a comedian. I always wanna push the boundaries. To me, that’s the best kinda comedy. That’s the comedy that just pushes the boundaries enough to be absolutely hilarious and something new and something that people haven’t heard before, yet not offending the mainstream, [but] offending a few people here and there… It’s very subjective. But my favourite type of comedy is comedy that really is out-there and [that] is dangerous – to an extent, of course [laughs].” In fact, Kolhatkar’s satire almost expresses affection for its objects (including One Direction’s crazed teen fans).

Kolhatkar is developing his career, or, as he puts it, “diversifying my portfolio”. Kolhatkar is “very serious” about acting roles – ironic for a comedian, he notes. But, considering his experience – writing, directing and producing – Kolhatkar wants to generate his own work, through short films (check out Equality online) and web series, culminating in features. “I’m not gonna wait around for an opportunity from a mainstream media outlet. I wanna do it myself.”