“Comedy is the most difficult. Comic timing is something which you either have it in you, or you don’t. You have to have a good sense of humour to be able to understand it. A split second can make you lose the punch.” -Deepika Padukone
Comedians in India have come a long way since The Great India Laughter Challenge first premiered on television in 2005. Now we’re flooded with comedy snippets on social media and we even have stand-up comedian shows happening every weekend. However, this industry has been dominated by men with all-male collectives like AIB, East India Comedy and SnG Comedy ruling the circuit for a long time. Now, more and more women are coming to the forefront in comedy and we’re blessed with more relatable content on social media.
So, here are eight hilarious ladies in India who are cracking us up, one punchline at a time.
This list has everyone, from veterans who have secured their place in the industry to new comedians who should be on your radar.
Mallika Dua
Our favourite Tinder Aunty, Makeup Didi, and fashion blogger Shailishka all rolled into one, Mallika Dua makes us fall in love with her characters because she’s very relatable and adds the right amount of drama to her videos. She has grown up in Delhi and the aunties, as well as the parlour ladies here, have been her source of inspiration. She studied theatre from Pennsylvania and continues to say that she loves acting more than comedy or writing. What a wow, Dua! After all, we would have never thought an orgy could also be described as “do chaar friends ko bula ke octopus position.”
Follow her on Instagram
Kaneez Surka
Kaneez is an actor, improv artist, comedian, and Youtuber from South Africa who started her career with the show, The Week That Wasn’t with Cyrus Barocha. She then appeared in several sketches by different comedy collectives and became a viral sensation. Kaneez is one of the first women in India to get into improvisational comedy and is part of The Improvisers with Abish Mathew, Kannan Gill, and Kenneth Sebastian. She even hosts her own show called The General Fun Game Show, where she calls comedians and social media celebrities to compete with each other in hilarious challenges. In addition, she is a judge on the comedy shows, Comicstaan and Queens of Comedy.
She fell in love with Mumbai as soon as she moved here, but never thought she could make comedy her career. She would do theatre and comedy shows but always had her job as a back-up. It was only after her divorce that she focused on the things that she truly loved, with comedy being one of them.
Follow her on Instagram
Sumukhi Suresh
Sumukhi Suresh is an actor, writer, stand-up comedian, and director who has made her famous character ‘Behti Naak’ almost a legend. She also played the role of an uptight NGO worker, Sumukhi Chawla, in India’s first mockumentary show, The Better Life Foundation. She even started a women-only, by-invite stand-up comedy show, Disgust Me, which focuses on sexual humuor and talks about “disgusting habits about women that make them super unattractive.”
For Amazon Prime, she wrote and acted in Pusphaavalli, a web series that brings the flaws of women to the forefront. In an interview to a leading newspaper, she said, “Pushpavalli is a very flawed character. I think that women aren’t always black or white, there shades of grey to every woman. I wanted to make her a relatable yet flawed character.” She has also hosted Comicstaan Season 1 along with Abish Mathew, and in the second season became part of the judging panel.
Follow her on Instagram
Radhika Vaz
Radhika Vaz is an improv artist, a comedian, a writer, and a performer. Her show Older. Angrier. Hairier. focussing on parenting, children and domestic duties has been performed all over the country as well as many parts of the United States. She is also an author of the book Unladylike: A Memoir and her web series Shugs and Fats about two hijabi women who are on a mission in Brooklyn to hold on to their cultural beliefs has won the prestigious Gotham Award in New York.
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Urooj Ashfaq
Urooj Ashfaq came into the limelight after being a part of several online sketches and proved herself a phenomenal actor. She later garnered attention for being part of the show Queens of Comedy, where her dry sense of humour was appreciated. In her stand-up routines, she has focussed on topics such as cannibalism, burquas, tattoos, psychopaths and more. She also hosted the comedy show Comicstaan Season 2 on Amazon Prime.
Follow her on Instagram
Prashasti Singh
Originally from Amethi, Prashasti Singh has frequently addressed the cultural shift from a small town to Mumbai during her stand-up routines saying “sheher ke bache kar sakte hai toh hum kyun nahi?” Her quick wit and delivery of punchlines that has everyone rolling on the floor laughing. She came into the forefront during Comicstaan Season 1, where her stand-up ‘Fuckboys and Relationships’ left the audience in splits. While talking to a media house, she said that her style of comedy is more anecdotal and she picks up events in her life to write about. This girl should definitely be on your radar because our money is on her.
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Sonali Thakker
While Sonali Thakker waited for her chartered accountancy exam results, she found her true passion: comedy. She first began with open mics and worked as a freelance writer. She has now written an hour-long special, Almost There, about her failed career as a CA and how being ‘happily single’ is unheard of in her Gujarati home. Sonali is more fond of doing live shows than putting up content online as she likes that personal connection with the crowd.
Follow her on Instagram
Deepika Mhatre
Deepika Mhatre is a domestic helper by day and a stand-up comic by night. She wakes up at 4 am every day to sell imitation jewellery in local trains, and then goes to about five houses to cook meals and at night gets a standing ovation from the crowd. It is her point of view as an outsider looking into people’s homes that makes her stand-up routines so special. In her act she once said, “I have seen stand-up comedians often sharing stories about their maids, but now, I will speak.” More power to you, Deepika!
Follow her on Instagram
Just a fun fact: I got distracted and started watching these ladies’ videos on YouTube while writing this article and I’ve barely stopped laughing to write down the concluding line. I have also spent three hours doing that, so be prepared if you’re going down the same rabbit hole.
Also Read: Laughing Their Way To The Bank: Top TV Comedians & Their *Shocking* Net Worth!
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