UK comic Cleese cheers up Indian murder suspects

BOMBAY, India (Reuters) -- Hardened inmates of a high security Indian prison laughed their troubles away with British comic actor John Cleese Tuesday.

About 80 prisoners -- most of them awaiting trial for murder -- clapped, hooted, made faces, stuck out their tongues and roared with laughter in the first "laughter program" at Central Jail in India's commercial capital Bombay.

"We all feel so much better when we laugh. It breaks down barriers between people. You can connect with them and language does not matter at all," said Cleese, who visited Bombay with a television crew to make a program about the human face.

The session was led by Madan Kataria, the founder-president of the Laughter Club International, who took the prisoners through a range of laugh exercises like the ferocious lion laugh, "namaste" (folded hand Indian greeting) laugh and the "mobile phone" laugh.

"People in jail suffer from depression, insomnia and have a lot of anger and resentment inside. Laughter removes negative emotions and helps them relax," Kataria said.

But Cleese, who has made millions laugh with his films and sitcoms, wasn't sure the idea would work in Britain.

"It would be very interesting to do something like this but I don't know if I can get the English to join in," he said.

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