When people so much as think about comedian Cyrus Broacha, laughter automatically erupts. But the funnyman thinks that the exploitation and abuse of animals are deadly serious issues. That's why he eagerly agreed to shoot a brand-new ad for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) India that encourages people to avoid circuses that use animals. In the ad, which is part of Peta India's campaign for the freedom of animals used in circuses and which is being launched just in time for Independence Day, Broacha's mouth and eyes are wide open while his hair stands straight out next to the caption "What Circuses Do to Animals Makes My Hair Stand on End. Boycott Animal Circuses". The ad was shot by ace photographer Himanshu Seth, and Ambereen Yusuf did Broacha's hair.

"I revel in my freedom to play outrageous jokes on people and to speak my mind, but animals in circuses are robbed of their freedom and everything else that's natural and important to them", says Broacha, who is also a TV anchor and political satirist best known for his TV shows Bakra on MTV and The Week That Wasn't on CNN-IBN. "And if that weren't enough, they're often beaten into performing cheap tricks that can be confusing and even painful."

This isn't the first time that Peta's and Broacha's paths have crossed. In 2010, he received the group's Hero to Animals Award for refusing on ethical grounds to ride a bull on the TV reality show Khatron Ke Khiladi.

Peta's investigations have revealed that animals in Indian circuses are subjected to chronic confinement, physical abuse and psychological torment. Whips and other weapons - including ankuses, which are heavy, steel-tipped rods - are often used to inflict pain on animals and beat them into submission. Animals perform confusing, unnatural tricks not because they want to but out of fear of violent punishment. Dogs are crammed into dirty cages and rarely let out, and birds have their wings clipped and are confined to small cages. Horses are kept tethered on short ropes, and elephants are kept chained.

Peta is urging the Indian government to follow the lead of Bolivia, Greece, Cyprus and Bosnia and Herzegovina - countries which have already banned all animal acts from circuses.