No reason to ban anything: Stand-up comedian Kanan Gill

Amidst the clamour over the government's crackdown on porn websites in the country, stand-up comedian Kanan Gill of popular YouTube channel Pretentious Movie Reviews, says "there is no reason to ban anything" as people will eventually realise that it infringes their basic freedom.

"There is no reason to ban anything. I remain positive. Things are bad now but they have been worse...eventually, things will be flexible...even our generation is going to enter the government, so things will change," Gill told IANS at a media interaction for OML's "The Comedy Hunt on YouTube" here on Wednesday.

"With vulgarity and banning porn, eventually people will realise that it is silly and that their basic freedom is being curbed," he added.

With the controversies surrounding supposedly profane and vulgar YouTube videos, the Bengaluru-based comedian finds it odd that people are becoming more conservative even in today's changing landscape.

"Honestly, nowadays people are becoming more liberal, but the public side is becoming more conservative. It is very odd. This generation is more liberal than the previous one. But on the face of it, TV and films are being censored. So why the incongruity," he commented.

However, the young comedian remains "positive" about the present landscape of stand-up comedy in India.

"Things that we do now, they are going set precedents. It would be ideal to get a positive precedent. And maybe we will. There is the thought in the back of everything's head that what if something bad is going to happen, comedians will think, 'Oh, maybe I should not have said it'," he said.

"Whatever happens now in the next few years will set the precedent for how far we can push in comedy in India. On the whole, I remain positive. Young comedians should become emboldened and undeterred. They should be like 'f**k you", I am doing this'," he added.

Even as stand-up comedy is continually taking gigantic strides on YouTube and other social media platforms, Gill believes that the conservative and liberal sections of the society may become at "loggerheads" with each other.

"The divide is bridged on content on the internet where people with liberal opinions can get to have their points ahead and at the same time the people with conservative ideas will be there too. So this is going to build to a point where they have to come at loggerheads where they say 'this is okay and this not'," he added.

Regarding the negative reaction on certain YouTube videos, which may be perceived as vulgar or profane, Gill says "nothing good will ever not divide an audience."

"If something is worthy of being something, it should divide an audience. If all comments on your video are positive, then not all people have seen it," he added.