Enlarge Image
Nargis Fakhri on her quirky humour, what’s kept her from doing a standup show and how she was never part of any clique
Upala KBR (DNA; June 6, 2016)

Nargis Fakhri is currently in New York, recuperating from ‘medical issues and injuries’. But before she left, she spoke to us about how she regularly gets into trouble for her sense of humour. She tells us that it developed out of a self-defence mechanism from her childhood days and that it’s now second nature to her. So much so, she’d even do a standup show, if called to do one.

Nargis says she would like to call her standup show, These People. “I have already sent the concept to someone saying that I would love to do a show called that. I find human psychology very interesting. I love Russell Peters and I would watch him often because when I first came to India, I didn’t understand the culture. Watching Russell Peters (he was born Indian, but was raised in Toronto) who was able to make jokes a cultural thing and because he was so western, I could relate to him and what he was saying and just laugh at everything instead of being confused. Like okay, ‘Haha! It’s cultural’. I think I could probably do a good stand-up back home, similar to his kind of humour.”

What’s kept her away this far, she adds, “is stage fright, which I have… I know I seem confident and outgoing, but it’s a lie. It’s a mask I have to put on before facing the world. On stage, I get very nervous, I sweat, have palpitations, diarrhoea and have even vomitted a few times, I can’t breathe. Someday I will get over it… Who knows?”

The actress admits that her quirky sense of humour has often got her into trouble, especially in India. But she tells us that it wasn’t always that way. “Lot of people made fun of me when I was growing up in New York, so I developed a sense of humour. Kids are mean when they are young. I was chubby then and couldn’t dance well, so everyone made fun of me. Now I can tell people ‘Look at me! I can dance! Screw everyone!’”

She continues, “I was always the outsider. I never wanted to be part of gangs and groups and cliques. I was always everyone’s friend but no one’s friend. Also, when kids started drinking, I didn’t like to get involved, so that’s another thing that pushed me away from people. I spent a lot of time alone and that’s when I developed my sense of humour. It may seem cool now, but as a kid, it’s not, because then you are struggling and sad, thinking that you are all alone.”