It was a night of immense laughter and fun. A constant series of clean jokes incited laughter and giggles for nearly two hours as one of the top Indian comedian amused Doha audience with his caricatures, tickling jokes and satirical commentary on social issues.
The gathering at Al Mayassa Theatre, Qatar National Convention Centre remained on the edge of their seats as Johnny Lever, a seasoned comedian and film actor, kept entertaining them. He was accompanied by his talented daughter, Jamie, as well as comedian Gaurav Sharma.
The laughter programme named ‘Johnny Lever Live’ was organised on Thursday night as part of Desi Comedy Nights 2019 and was hosted by Millennium Entertainment.
Johnny Lever is one of the first stand-up comedians in India. He has received 13 Filmfare Awards nominations for Best Performance in a Comic Role, and has won the award twice, for his work in Deewana Mastana (1997) and Dulhe Raja (1998). He began his career in 1984 and has acted in more than 300 Bollywood films.
Subramanya Hebbagelu, Joint Secretary, Indian Community Benevolent Forum, said: “It was superb. It was all laughter. It was a great experience to be there. For me, it was one of the best comedy shows I have ever attended.
“I liked how he mimicked different Bollywood actors such as Amitabh Bachchan and Shahrukh Khan. He also highlighted the working environment of the film industry through his jokes. Everyone in the auditorium appreciated the comedian for one of his acts that shed light on how children need to take care of their parents after they get old.”
The comedian, who visited Qatar after about 32 years, shared his thoughts and views on comedy and acting during a press meet in Fraser Suites West Bay.
On the unique father-daughter combination, Johnny said: “I have never thought that one day my daughter will perform with me on the stage. Suddenly, she decided to do stand-up comedy. I know that performing on the stage is not easy. I challenged her and she proved her talent. I think talent finds its way out. In her first ever 10-minute-long performance in London, she received a standing ovation.”
Jamie said: “People used to see Johnny Lever in me whenever I caricatured someone. They used to catch my facial expression since my childhood. It was natural for me to imitate others.”
Johnny sees a lot of change in the current style of comedy when compared to the old days. “Many new things have been added to the art of comedy. There are many words used in the comedy today but we did not use to use the slang words.
“A lot of time is spent to produce quality comedy. There are too many double meaning comments used today. We used to follow our seniors. The writers used to take a lot of time to pen the comedy. Now, the writers do not have time. When enough time is not given, you cannot produce quality comedy.”
Johnny says it is very difficult to get hold of the audience. The stand-up comedy is not an easy job. “We should cover all sorts of audience during our performances. We need to take care of all generations. Future of the stand-up comedy heavily depends on what the audience wants or expects. In my shows, mostly families turn up. I will continue entertaining the families.”
For the star comedian, comedy is the art of observation. “Observation is a key for the stand-up comedians. The comedian has to observe continuously and constantly. It is like going out for hunting. I used to sit among drug addicts just to observe how they behave. Life is full of wonderful things. You can pick whatever you want as a comedian. Minute observation rules the comedy.”
Comedy has become an addiction to Johnny. “I become restless, if I do not make people laugh. I have been addicted for many years now but I am happy that people like whatever I do.” The comedian likes to remain humble no matter what he achieves. “Our elders have told us to keep our feet on the ground despite having a lot of success.”
Speaking about his ideas, he added: “I started comedy while watching Aman Ullah, a world renowned comedian from Pakistan. I have also been impressed by Umer Sharif and Moin Akhtar, two other star comedians from Pakistan.”