Actor Sugandha Mishra, who has part been of multiple comedy shows such as Comedy Circus Ke Taansen and Kapil Sharma show, now stars in the recently launched show, The Drama Company. While she agrees that the position of female comedians has improved, she says it will take time for more progress, as Indian comedy is a male-dominated field.
“It’s more difficult for a good-looking girl to enter comedy, because such girls usually want to do acting first and look pretty. As a comedian you may have to look bad too, to justify your character, but good-looking girls often face this conflict...whether they should do it or not,” says Sugandha.
The 29-year-old actor says it is also difficult for women to make a mark in the comedy circuit, as they face several limitations. “ My first show Laughter Challenge had some big comedians and to participate with them was a challenge. Being a man, they had no limits at all for comedy. They could perform anything, but being a female, I can’t do everything. Like toilet humour, I can’t do double-meaning comedy and I don’t approve of it either. I don’t even look funny that if I crack a joke on myself, people will laugh. To perform with those limits has been very challenging,” says Sugandha.
She stresses on the importance of giving female stand-up comedians proper roles in shows.“Sometimes it would happen that we are doing some gags, the makers of the show would keep the girl for giving cues and give the punches to the men. I have always worked on my choices and left shows where I have been uncomfortable. I have always emphasised on not making the female comedian eye-candy for the show,” she says.
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