Cyrus Broacha is an Indian television presenter, comedian, political satirist, theatre actor, podcaster and columnist. He came to prominence in the late 1990s and early 2000s as a video jockey on MTV India, where he hosted programmes such as MTV Bakra and the satirical news show The Week That Wasn't. He is widely regarded as one of the pioneers of stand-up and topical comedy on Indian television.
| Name | Cyrus Broacha |
|---|---|
| Profession | Television host, comedian, satirist, theatre actor, columnist |
| Community | Parsi |
| Base | Mumbai, Maharashtra, India |
| Education | Cathedral and John Connon School; Sydenham College, Mumbai |
| Notable shows | MTV Bakra, The Week That Wasn't, Cyrus Says |
| Networks associated | MTV India, CNN-IBN, IVM Podcasts |
Broacha was born and raised in Mumbai in a Parsi family. He attended the Cathedral and John Connon School in south Mumbai, and later studied at Sydenham College of Commerce and Economics, also in Mumbai. During his school and college years he was active in theatre and inter-collegiate cultural festivals, an experience that shaped his career in live performance and comedy.
Broacha joined MTV India as a video jockey during the late 1990s, becoming one of the channel's signature on-air personalities along with peers such as Cyrus Sahukar and Maria Goretti. His best-known programme on the channel, MTV Bakra, was a hidden-camera prank format in which members of the public were placed in absurd situations. The show enjoyed a long run and several seasons, and is credited with popularising the prank-show genre on Indian television.
On the news channel CNN-IBN, Broacha hosted The Week That Wasn't, a satirical weekly review of Indian politics and current affairs in which he portrayed multiple political figures through impersonations, costumes and sketches. The programme ran for many years and became one of the longest-running political satire shows on Indian English-language television.
Broacha has hosted and appeared on a number of other shows, including travel and lifestyle programmes, comedy panels and reality formats. He has also been a frequent guest on talk shows and award functions as a host or comic performer.
Alongside television, Broacha has had a sustained career in English-language theatre in Mumbai, working with leading directors and producers on the city's commercial stage. He has acted in and co-written several plays, often comedies, and has performed at venues such as the National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA) and Prithvi Theatre.
Broacha hosts Cyrus Says, a long-running conversation podcast on the IVM Podcasts network, in which he interviews guests from sport, entertainment, politics, business and the arts, often in a freewheeling and humorous style. The show is among the better-known English-language podcasts produced in India.
He has written newspaper and magazine columns over the years and is the author of humorous books, including the novel Karl, Aaj Aur Kal.
Broacha's comic style combines verbal wit, mimicry, self-deprecation and topical political satire. His work on The Week That Wasn't in particular is regarded as influential in establishing a space for political impersonation and satire on Indian television, at a time when such formats were uncommon in the country's news media. As one of the early MTV India VJs, he is also associated with the rise of youth-oriented English-language entertainment programming in India during the 1990s and 2000s.
Broacha is based in Mumbai with his family. He has spoken in interviews about his Parsi background and his long association with the city.