What do Shekhar Suman, Saurabh Dwivedi and Stephen Colbert have in common? Nothing but that their first names begin with the letter ‘S’.
Suman and Dwivedi have some other similarities. Suman is an actor. He played a journalist in the Doordarshan TV series Reporter and also anchored two satirical talk shows — Poll Khol on Star News and Movers & Shakers on Sony.
Dwivedi is a journalist, popular for his long stint on ‘The Lallantop’ video news show. He made his acting debut in the Netflix film Kartavya last Friday.
Coincidentally, Suman began a new talk show called Shekhar Tonite last Friday on his own YouTube channel while Dwivedi launched his latest journalism venture, `Indian Express Hindi’ on YouTube.
Colbert and Suman are on opposite sides of the exit-entry doors.
Colbert, the American comedian, political satirist and host of The Late Show on CBS, will walk away from his decade-long stint there, a week after Suman had walked onto the sets of Shekhar Tonite, which is modelled on talk shows like Colbert’s.
Change: that’s something else the three men share.
Need for socio-political satire
Suman will be hoping that Shekhar Tonite lasts at least a fraction of the 10 years Colbert did on The Late Show, but that he doesn’t suffer the same fate as Colbert, whose show is widely believed to have been cancelled by CBS for political reasons, although financial problems were the public explanation.
Suman, better beware.
In the stand-up satirical monologue he delivered in his first episode, Suman reminded us that the latest IT rules in India can ask for content to be taken down or deleted within three hours of its upload, if the government thinks its “misleading content”.
With his political jokes about leading politicians such as Prime Minister Narendra Modi, present and past chief ministers Suvendhu Adhikari, Mamata Banerjee, and MK Stalin on the show, he may find himself being taken down.
His show could raise eyebrows, which may explain why Shekhar Tonite is not on any leading entertainment or news channel. It’s running on Suman’s YouTube channel, which has 73K subscribers. Was this intentional, or was it too hot to handle for branded channels?
On the show, he introduced himself as the ‘Voice of the People’ and promised to speak the “truth’’. Well, let’s hope both survive. If there’s one thing we’ve been missing on Indian television, it’s socio-political satire. We take ourselves far too seriously. A few laughs would do us a world of good.
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14 years on
There are other stand-up comics doing very sharp, witty commentaries on contemporary India, but Suman was one of the first. His popularity in sitcoms such as Dekh Bhai Dekh gives him an edge with audiences. Also, he’s been there, done that decades ago.
He makes this comeback in this weekly show, 14 years after Movers & Shakers moved on. Of course, he’s grown older, but otherwise he’s much the same.
If he made fun of former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee back then, he’s taking sly shots at PM Modi’s “56-inch chest” now and M K Stalin, who was “Uninstalinned” by Tamil Nadu CM Vijay in the 2026 Assembly elections.
He’s still relaxed and energetic, delivering his jokes with panache and ease—his entire face comes into play as he opens his mouth so wide you can see his tonsils. (Joking.)
Shekhar is no boxer. He lands his punches softly. Will they have a sting? Aaah, watch and find out for yourself.
During the 40-odd minutes, Shekhar Tonite welcomes guests for a chitchat, too. The first guest on the show was Union Minister Nitin Gadkari, who is too agile and experienced to fall into any verbal traps Suman laid for him.
For those whose interest in politics is limited to the headlines, don’t despair: There are Bollywood stars to look forward to in future episodes. And the Band Stand, which periodically sings “Shekhar, Shekhar Tonite!”.
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Saurabh Dwivedi’s far cry
Dwivedi has been trolled on social media for his acting debut in Kartavya. Perhaps audiences who have followed him as the star reporter/commentator of The Lallantop find it difficult to accept him as an evil, conniving villain.
He’ll be hoping his return to journalism with ‘Indian Express Hindi’ will restore their good opinion of him. “I missed you very much… and I have returned,” he said in his first appearance as the anchor of this new venture.
His objective is a gamble: to take the English print version of The Indian Express to the Hindi-speaking heartland with videos, in-depth reports, “boots on the ground” or explainers and opinion – yanne ki, all that The Indian Express is known for, in Hindi, in a video format. Dwivedi hopes it will be: “clear, simple and lively.”
In the first week, we’ve seen newsy 15-30 minutes daily programmes anchored by Dwivedi in the same way as he did in The Lallantop shows—earnest, smooth and aggressive with a touch of poetry here and there. The topics are wide-ranging, from government formation in Tamil Nadu and Kerala to the rise in oil prices and a shift in farming habits.
There are also short, on-the-spot reports by correspondents on topics of the moment: Diljit Dosanjh’s failure to mention India in his appearance on an American talk show; the Supreme Court’s criticism of its own UAPA case bail denial, etc.
The difference is more in the inflexion than the delivery. The difference is in his appearance – he discarded the trademark gamchha for branded shirts and kurtas. This suggests he’s trying to combine his Lallantop earthiness with a more urbanised delivery. Will it work?
It’s early days yet. The channel has more than 178k subscribers in just six days. This is a far cry from The Lallantop’s 34.8 million subscribers, but Dwivedi has a large fan base which might follow him wherever he goes.
Wait and watch.
The author tweets @shailajabajpai. Views are personal.
(Edited by Saptak Datta)