Comedian Sunil Pal, known for his blunt and controversial opinions, recently spoke about the changing landscape of Indian comedy and the need to evolve with time. During a recent podcast, Pal was asked about comedians who have faded away and those who continue to remain relevant.“It has been 21 years. It is human tendency that we always want change. One has to accept change with time, otherwise you can get stuck in a specific circle and become limited. Both Naveen Prabhakar and Ahsaan Qureshi became a target of this. They didn’t change themselves, that’s what I feel,” he told Siddharth Kannan.
Praising Kapil Sharma , calling Johny Lever an inspiration
While reflecting on longevity in comedy, Sunil Pal praised Johny Lever and Kapil Sharma for constantly reinventing themselves.“In the last 40 years, the great Johny Lever is the only one who lived his era and inspired people to change. I am his devotee and fan. Besides him, I saw a strong force in Kapil Sharma. He also changed himself, and even Sunil Grover. In the last 20 years, there are hardly 5 people who I have seen changing. Otherwise, people are still doing market jokes, old artiste mimicry, and not trying anything new,” Pal added.
Sunil Pal on Sunil Grover’s female characters
However, Pal was far more critical while speaking about Sunil Grover’s popular cross-dressed roles on The Kapil Sharma Show. Recalling their early days of working together, Pal said Grover’s portrayal of female characters made him deeply uncomfortable.
“Both of us have worked a lot together in the early days of our career. His acting as a woman made me uncomfortable. So much so that I once threw up while eating, just looking at him. Coming in a woman’s get up, it makes me feel icky, once shouldn’t do that, I feel so. Otherwise, I am a fan of his work. People who do vulgarity and abuse are earning crores, and I also had this option earlier,” he concluded.
Sunil Grover’s popular comic avatars
For the unversed, Sunil Grover rose to massive popularity for playing female characters such as Gutthi and Rinku Bhabhi on Kapil Sharma’s show. His performances became cultural talking points and contributed significantly to the show’s success, despite drawing mixed reactions from within the comedy fraternity.
About the Author
