Hyderabad, April 19 -- Jokes aside, it is time to turn serious. The man who brightened dull evenings and brought smiles to weary faces is no more. Babban Khan, the king of comedy, has passed away, drawing the curtain on one of the most celebrated and longest-running shows, Adrak Ke Panje.

He breathed his last on Friday night, April 17, after a brief illness. He is survived by his wife, Shaila Khan, and their two daughters. The mortal remains of the showman were laid to rest at a graveyard in Hyderabad's Shantinagar on Saturday, April 18.

Who can forget these iconic lines? They once echoed across packed auditoriums, defining an era of humour that was uniquely Hyderabadi. Those echoes now belong to memory.

For 35 remarkable years, Adrak ...