COURTESY MIRROR JULY 22
For me, comedy’s a medicine and the one who makes you laugh, a pharmacy’
Sunil Grover on how his brand of humour has helped people de-stress and combat chronic depression
| Himesh.Mankad @timesgroup.com | TWEETS @HimeshMirror
Sunil Grover started his career in the ’90s alongside late comedian Jaspal Bhatti in the TV show Full Tension. Little did he know that over the years, he would not only go on to become one of the most loved comedians of our country, but also help people overcome severe tension and chronic depression.
When the actor was in Dubai recently, prepping up for a live stage performance, a lady walked up to him, surprised him with a hug and a warm “thank you” for getting her out of depression. “As an actor, one doesn’t realise the impact one has on the lives of others because we’re mostly working in a closed environment like a studio. But it’s beautiful when you see the smiles you bring to the faces of people,” Sunil admits.
The actor who was last seen in the Salman Khan period drama Bharat, reveals that this wasn’t the first time this has happened to him. “A few days ago, I was waiting to catch a flight in the airport lounge when a lady came up to me and confided that she used to have 100 mg of depression pills, the dosage has now gone down to 10 mg because of my TV shows and live acts. Over time I have realised that humour de-stresses people. For me, comedy’s a medicine and the one who makes you laugh, a pharmacy,” he asserts.
From Rishi Kapoor to Akshay Kumar and Varun Dhawan, actors across generations have admitted that the toughest thing for an actor is to make people laugh. “Yes, comedy is difficult and being a comedian is tough,” he acknowledges. Ask him on how he got into comedy, and he replies, “It comes naturally to me, but I had to constantly polish my skills. As a child I used to mimic family members and teachers and slowly started taking part in interschool competitions and before I knew it, it had become my profession,” he smiles.
The 41-year old actor goes down the memory lane to talk about the stage act that changed his life. “I decided to become an actor at a very early age and remember participating in a competition when in the eighth grade. I had to limit my performance to seven minutes but didn’t keep track of time. I didn’t even hear the warning bell because I was only focused on the people sitting in front of me who were laughing uproariously. I was disqualified as I was on stage for 12 minutes, but I consider that my biggest victory as I could hold the audience for such a long time,” he recalls, adding that that’s when he realised the power of humour. “I still remember that character’s name, Mariyaal Singh Pisaddiram.”
Sunil recently posted a picture on Instagram with the caption “D3” sparking off speculations that he had signed Salman’s cop-drama, Dabangg 3. The actor laughs off the rumour, saying, “I was trying to rectify my Vitamin D3 deficiency by standing in the sun.”