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Yvonne Jacob (BOMBAY TIMES; February 10, 2023)

When Johny Lever is on stage, there’s never a dull moment. This was on display during his recent interaction at the Pune International Film Festival (PIFF) where he conducted a masterclass on the topic of ‘Humour in cinema’.

Speaking about his journey, Lever said, “Comedy is something that cannot be taught. It can be improved with practice, but if you’ve got it in you, it will come out naturally.”

From stage shows to acting in over 400 films, Lever’s name has become synonymous with comedy. However, he shared that acting was challenging. “I didn’t have knowledge about acting. I wouldn’t understand how to give actions or reactions because it requires you to get into the character. That was a challenge for me. I mimicked actors like Ashok Kumar, Jeevan and Jagdeep, but the transition to acting was difficult and I struggled for 12 years to get that right,” he said.

Recalling a time when he was trying to do a scene for director K Balachander’s film, Lever shared, “During the scene, K Balachander asked, ‘Yeh kaun hai?’. That gave me sleepless nights. So, I tried to learn and now when I’m called for films and someone asks who the writer is, people say ‘Writer kyun? Johny Lever hai na. Woh kar lega.’ But yes, there were times when I would go on the set and start acting and people would tell me ki bhaiya camera toh idhar hai.”

Lever said he considers Charlie Chaplin as his godfather and the late comedian Johnny Walker as a man with profound knowledge. Lever also added that comedy was a serious business and not everyone can do it. “But nowadays directors and writers lack the discipline and compromise on content. One cannot just make people laugh at trivial things. Comedy must be ingrained in a person and comedians are born with it. Reacting to other actors’ is an important trait for comedians on screen and that’s something I learned through observation during shoots,” said Lever.

Finally, talking about why he prefers to stick to comedy, he said, “Main serious roles kyun karoon? Even when I’m at a funeral, people will look at me and laugh.”