Cinema has never been my first priority: Karthik Kumar

When actor and standup comedian Karthik Kumar came down to Coimbatore recently to entertain the audience here with his brand of comedy, he had them eating out of his hands. The comedian left no stone unturned to make sure that they laughed like no tomorrow. Karthik, who settled down for a quick chat after the show, tells us, “It looks like the appetite for standup comedy is growing strong in the city.Frankly speaking, we didn’t expect a good turnout and such a wonderful audience, who took all the jokes in the right spirit. We are now planning to do an open mic show in Coimbatore to scout for young talents. The aspiring comedians will get an opportunity to perform along with a lead comedian. We will also be doing more shows in the city at regular intervals.”
When asked if it’s a cakewalk doing standup comedy shows considering the recent bans and the audience taking jokes in a sensitive manner (a case in point being the incident when cops turned up at a standup show in Delhi, when Vir Das was talking about the former President of India, AP J Abdul Kalam)? “It’s not easy but at the same time, you cannot have a blanket ban on any form. You just have to take precautionary measures. For instance, when we recently performed a show in Ahmedabad, we toned down the jokes about the Prime Minister and the Modi wave. We are sensitive to the audience. This apart, doing a standup is much easier than staging a play. Since, theatre is watched only be a certain section of the society, when there is a ban on a play, you won’t see students protesting against it holding the freedom of speech baton. But that’s not the case with standup comedy. Standup will slip into the audience and reach them somehow. I am fighting a case to stage ‘Ali J’ in the country. (The play explores what it means to be a Muslim in India) The play was staged at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival but I am unable to stage it in India,” says Karthik, who continues to fight for the play.
As the conversation veers towards the film front, Karthik says that he has Haiku up for release. “The film is on the lines of Taare Zameen Par and talks about the difficulties of parenting when it comes to a slightly autistic child. Vellaiya Irukkuravan Poi Solla Maataan, on the other hand, is a fun project. To me, cinema has never been the first priority and will continue to remain so. In the meantime, I am contemplating bringing a comedy play to Coimbatore in the near future.”