#WorldLaughterDay: In conversation with Sunil Grover aka Gutthi

Mr. Funny Bones of television, Sunil Grover, is one man who has entertained us for more than a decade now, but his character Gutthi (Comedy Nights with Kapil) made him a household name. On the occasion of World Laughter Day, we thought of getting into a candid chat with this star comedian and the humble man happily shared about his journey with us. Sharing his story of becoming a comedian Sunil remarked, “Since my school days, I used to mimic people and mostly everyone used to love that. Once I participated in a competition in school, where I was supposed to perform for six minutes. But when I witnessed the response from audiences I continued with the act and extended it for twelve minutes. Though I was disqualified from the competition for extra time, somehow I managed to receive a special prize from my performance. And it somehow made me feel that I can continue with this.” When we quizzed him about his iconic character Gutthi, Sunil in his usual manner replied, “I have drawn inspirations from small town girls to prepare for this role. Though not closely, for it would have created other problems, I have observed their mannerisms to get into the skin of this role. And as far as essaying the role of a woman is concerned, for me Gutthi is a character and I am living through it." We also asked him about the changing nature of comedy in films and he replied, “I believe that with time the role of comedians in Bollywood have changed. Unlike earlier days, we hardly find comedians, who used to only do comedy roles in films. Nowadays the genres of films have changed and even the hero of a film is doing comedy roles.” A diehard fan of ace comedians like Mehmood, Kanhaiyalal and Keshto Mukherjee, Sunil himself believes that comedy shows on television have provided lots of opportunity for the stand-up comedians and have helped them to create a place for themselves in the industry. We wish the young man all the best for his upcoming ventures.