New Delhi, Nov. 21 -- It was 6 August 1999. On his birthday, Cyrus Sahukar set out for what would be his first day at work as a video jockey (VJ) for MTV India in Mumbai. What he did not anticipate was getting kidnapped. A few rough-looking men carrying hockey sticks grabbed him as he stepped out of his Juhu hotel. He was shoved into a waiting van and whisked away. A few bystanders called the authorities and by the time the vehicle reached Mahim, it had been intercepted by the police.

What the police-and Sahukar-found out much later was that the "kidnapping" was a prank, played by Sahukar's namesake and colleague-to-be Cyrus Broacha for the latter's nutty show Bakra.

Sahukar's narration of the incident-and Broacha's recollection of it-a...