With Movers and Shakers, Suman redefined late-night entertainment by seamlessly blending sharp wit, political satire, celebrity conversations and cultural commentary — long before the format became mainstream. Decades later, as long-form conversations enjoy a resurgence across podcasts and digital platforms, the actor and host has returned with Shekhar Tonite on YouTube, bringing his signature humour and conversational style to a new generation.
Describing it as ‘not a show in the conventional sense of the term, but a meaningful conversation with my audience’, Suman hopes to create a space for authenticity rather than spectacle. In a candid interview with Vaishali Dar, the actor and host reflects on why Shekhar Tonite is less about generating laughs and more about creating honest, emotional moments. He also discusses the evolution of talk shows and comedy, changing audience preferences, and why meaningful conversations continue to matter in an age of shrinking attention spans. Edited excerpts:
You were one of the defining faces of Indian television talk shows in the 1990s and early 2000s. At a time when the format is seeing renewed interest, what do you think audiences are seeking from a well-crafted talk show that other forms of content often fail to deliver? Is it the host, the guests, the spontaneity, the humour, or something else entirely?
I guess it’s all of that together, coupled with honesty, integrity and fearlessness. People appreciate the fact that there is no hidden agenda, that the decorum is maintained, the language is parliamentary, that the show is at best a conversation you feel a part of and not a performance you watch. Spontaneity and honesty cannot be scripted and you can’t fake it. People are tired of being shouted at, they want to be spoken to.
Many viewers still regard you as one of the pioneers of India’s talk-show culture. Looking back, what made your show Movers and Shakers resonate so deeply with audiences, and do you think today’s hosts face a fundamentally different challenge in capturing and retaining attention?
Movers and Shakers worked as it was Indian TV’s first real late-night voice. It was irreverent, sociopolitical, and it did not talk down to the audience. Today’s host fights for attention span. You are up against 15-second reels, memes, Twitter wars, and thousand notifications. The new challenge isn’t getting people to watch, it’s getting them to stay. But the core is unchanged. Say something true, say it with wit, and respect the viewer’s intelligence.
Your latest show, Shekhar Tonite, is different from much of today’s content ecosystem. It prioritises thoughtful conversation over sensational headlines and manufactured controversy — almost like ‘slow content for a fast world’. Was this a conscious decision, and do you see it as a more mature approach to commentary, satire, and humour?
Yes, 100% conscious. We live in hauteur culture. Everyone is angry in 280 characters. I wanted to build a room where you can finish a thought. Satire does not need volume. It needs precision. Humour doesn’t need cruelty. It needs context. If that’s mature, then yes. I’m not chasing virality. I’m only chasing value. Sincerity in a cynical age. Yes, it’s a more mature, intelligent, grounded, truthful, academic approach to commentary, satire and humour.
You chose to launch Shekhar Tonite on YouTube rather than through a television network or an OTT platform. What drove that decision? Was it creative freedom, audience reach, changing viewing habits, or something else?
Just one reason — creative freedom — to be able to say things unabashedly, uninterruptedly, fearlessly, and democratically. Also, my audience isn’t appointment viewing anymore. They are watching at 2 am on their phone. If you’re not there where they are, you don’t exist.
Humour has evolved dramatically over the years, from observational wit and political satire to meme culture, viral clips, and social-media-driven commentary. How do you assess the state of humour today, and has the line between being provocative and being offensive become more difficult to navigate?
Humour today is both democratised and dangerous. Meme culture has given everyone a mic, that’s good, but outrage travels faster than context. The line moves and it moves daily. My rule: punch up, not down. Mock power, not pain. Provocative questions power, offensive targets the powerless. If you can’t tell the difference, you shouldn’t hold the mic. Also, you have to take certain risks. You have to walk the wire.
Having worked across multiple eras of entertainment media, what are the biggest changes you have observed in terms of content creation, platforms, audience expectations, and tolerance levels?
Audiences don’t want to be preached to, they want to be a part of it. They fact-check you mid-sentence. They are lower for nonsense, higher for authenticity. People forgive mistakes, they don’t forgive fakeness.
In an era dominated by podcasts, reels, and short-form content, can the traditional talk-show format still create meaningful cultural moments, or does it need to reinvent itself for a new generation of viewers?
Yes, the traditional talk show format can still create meaningful cultural moments. Shekhar Tonite is a living testimony of that and a case in point. As I said, you have to be honest and relevant. Traditional talk show format is a paradigm. It still remains the poster child.
You have interviewed several generations of entertainers, politicians, and public figures, do you feel today’s guests are more guarded than those from your television years? Or has social media, paradoxically, made people more candid and willing to reveal themselves?
Both and it’s schizophrenic. They are media trained to death. Social media made them casual, not candid. The job now is to make them feel safe enough to drop the mask. That takes trust, not tricks. The best moments still happen when the camera feels like.
Who as a guest you would love to have, and why?
My ultimate guest would be Mahatma Gandhi if he was alive. That would be my experiment with truth.
Out of politics, films, sports — who are the people who generate the best laughs?
Time and again, I have said my show is not there to create laughs. My show is not a comedy show, that’s so shallow. It is there to create some honest and emotional moments. Shekhar Tonite is not a show in the conventional sense of the term. I, as an actor, when I perform, I perform with a sense of social responsibility and it is a conversation with my audience, a meaningful, insightful, thoughtful, emotional, satirical conversation with my audience. At best, I am a conversationalist and the mood of the show keeps changing every day. So one day it can be emotional, the other day it can be satirical, sometime it can be serious, at other times it can be aggressive. So it all depends on the content of the day when I’m performing.