Gentle humour and rambling style

Asokamitran writes with gentle humour. He laughs at people's weaknesses, but kindly, never cruelly:

• the make-up men, who could turn any decent face into a 'monster';
• the 'office boy' in his forties, who thought he was a buried genius;
• the legal adviser, the 'opposite' of a legal adviser, who lost his job because the poets were sent home;
• a studio that wore khadi and hated Communism without knowing what it was.

Humour lets him criticise the world of films without hurting anyone.

His style is chatty and rambling: one idea leads to the next, as in a friendly conversation. The make-up department leads to the office boy, the office boy to Subbu, Subbu to the Story Department, and so on.

We also learn about the author himself: he loved reading and writing. He was the one who noticed the short story contest in The Encounter, and he bought books from street sellers.

To write a humorous sketch in his style: pick a character you know, exaggerate their habits gently, and let one memory lead to another.