This article takes off from the screening of episodic sequences from Charlie Chaplin’s classic film Modern Times on screens installed in railway trains in Mumbai. It contextualises the world of factory work depicted in Modern Times vis-à-vis the post-industrial status of work in Mumbai, and evaluates this juxtaposition from the lens of competing theories propounded in the philosophy of humour. The interjection of the film in the public sphere introduces an element of ridicule in public culture, an emotion that is in dire need of assessment and redress.
