BOLLYWOOD TELEVISION MUSIC ‘FEMALE COMEDIANS HAVE LIMITS’

Sugandha Mishra says that the comedy circuit in India is male-dominated; women are cast for eye-candy purposes and to give men cues

Actor Sugandha Mishra (left), who has been a part of multiple comedy shows such as Comedy Circus Ke Taansen and Kapil Sharma show, stars in the recently launched show, The Drama Company. While she agrees that the position of female comedians has improved from before, she says it will take time for more progress, as comedy is a male-dominant 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,” she says. 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 men, they had no limits at all for comedy,” she says. “They could perform anything. Being a female, I can’t do everything — like toilet humour and double meaning comedy, which I don’t approve of. To perform with those limits has been very challenging,” she says.

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 show makers would keep the girl for giving cues and give the punches to the men. I have always left shows where I have been uncomfortable. I always emphasised on not making the female comedian an eye candy on the show,” she says.