Today, we interviewed Mr. Sunil Pal, a very talented, humorous actor and one of the finest comedians in India. He has also won the first-ever season of The ‘Great Indian laughter Challenge’. He has also maintained his popularity with his many shows and social media handles. As we had a chitchat session with him, he discussed much more about himself. His hard work, his dedication and luck showed up together and he reached his destination successfully after a long hard working journey.
Let’s listen to his journey, his life, his motivation and his thoughts in this article. We are sure this will inspire you to work and be focused on your dreams. With years of experience performing on stages big and small, Sunil has honed his craft to perfection, and he’s ready to take on the world one joke at a time.
How was your early life? How did this journey start?
1995, along with my dreams and my other belongings, I came to Mumbai from the small village of Mursa in Chandrapur district.
‘Mursa se Mumbai ka safar, mu se mu ka safar, mukaam banaya, aur abhi bhi mu se hi kaam chala raha hu’.
When I came to Mumbai, I was unaware of many things, without anyone by my side. I then started working as a ‘Fatka Boy’ at a tea shop. I never imagined that a worker at a tea shop could get so much popularity. As I started working there, I met many people from various parts of India. I heard and noticed their behaviour, accent and body language and eventually learnt a lot of mimicry. I tried to imitate them and after a few days started calling orchestras for work. I referred a lot of my contacts including my friends and my customers for work and eventually got many opportunities to work in various famous orchestras. Eventually, I got an opportunity to meet Johny Lever – the Badshah of mimicry. I went to meet him and performed a mimicry act as I had got the opportunity. Later, that day, Johny Lever asked me to visit one of his film sets where he was currently shooting. I was not having enough fare to visit the set so I invited one of his friends with me. On the set, I was offered lunch. Later, during the break, Johny asked me about my work. I grabbed the opportunity and performed with all my heart. He asked me to meet his younger brother Jimmy, and from him, I had to polish his skills. I was completely unaware of who Jimmy is. I then researched about him from the crew members and somehow managed to get his contact number and connected with him. Jimmy advised me to keep visiting him. He used to take me everywhere with him, made me meet everyone and introduced me to the industry.
One fine day, while I was returning from one of my tours, I met someone on the train. He was looking drunk so to avoid conflicts with him, I agreed to listen to him. He gave me someone’s number and asked me to connect with him. I connected him and I got invited to a particular location. I reached there and suddenly, found that I was invited by someone big. I was offered to visit Singapore for a big performance. Unaware of all this, I, over there met Urmila Matondkar, Sukhwinder Singh, etc. Out of nowhere, I came to know about Shahrukh Khan. Overwhelmed, I got excited to perform in front of all these big celebrities. That was the moment I came to know that I was performing for ‘Shahrukh Khan Night’. So from there, I started working with celebrities and my journey elevated.
Jimmy after a few days, called me and informed me about some audition for a laughter show. After knowing I was going to perform for some new channel, I seemed to be quite disappointed. Still, it was something I wanted to do. By god’s grace, the show was a super hit one and in which I was announced as the winner. My success graph had shoot upward and after that, I got a chance for many movies, many shows, brands, etc.
This was his inspiring success story that he had shared with Sociobits. Apart from this, he mimicked a lot of actors, from Pankaj Tripathi to Farhan Akhtar. You can watch the video to see his amazing mimicry.
Your one movie got mentioned in the Guinness book of world records? Why?
The movie ‘Bhavnao ko samjho’ was entirely written by me. The movie cast was something really very interesting. There were 52 standup comedians from across the country acting in a single movie and because of this, it is mentioned in Guinness book of world records. The movie is still watched on YouTube and it is one of the craziest movies you will find on the internet. Apart from the actors, many singers like Sonu Nigam, Shreya Ghosal, etc were involved. It was indeed a musical film. This was my first film and after that many, more movies were released.
What is Gali-Galoch?
A new launch by Sunil Pal, The movie displays the ‘so called’ standup Comedians that in name of comedy talk unusual things. Initially, I was only disappointed by men but in recent times I am disappointed by women as well. They talk nuisance on stage. I call them ‘Kalankar’.
‘Samaj me gandagi faylate hai ye log’
I believe the stage is like a mandir and how these people talk bad things on the stage. The movie is based on this concept.
Which topics need to be avoided in Comedy?
Standup comedy is an art and the person having this art can even speak on an empty glass of water. It needs proper skills. People can talk on any topic if their skills are proper. Comedy is a vast topic and if we need to talk, a comedian can keep talking for hours on that topic. Today’s comedians talk senseless things and when they get stuck in any situation, they start ‘Gaali-galoch’. Also, the OTT platforms that promote these things, need such fake audiences. Many singers like Badshah have already admitted that they use fake audiences and purchase fake views. This is a clear case of Bhrashtachaar in this industry.
Do you believe these things happen to get viral?
Usually, I don’t believe they are Kalakaar. Artists need to be at least honest towards their skills. If you are honest and kind towards your work, I believe in this world, no one could stop you from being Johny lever, Kapil Sharma, etc. These people are one of a kind and nobody could replace them as they work really hard and they are very genuine towards their work. Movies from the south are always hit because instead of talking nonsense they focus on content, they focus on the script.
Recently, the great comedian Raju Shrivastav ji passed away. What do you miss about him the most?
There are a lot of memorable things. Our bond was very strong. His career started way before us. He was an ustaad. He had done many more shows and events than us. He was an inspiration to us. We used to follow him in everything. While I was in Chandrapur, I had heard him on the radio and was fascinated by him. Things were relatable to him. He also helped me for getting various projects. The universe has done wrong, he passed away very soon. This is so unbelievable, I cannot even believe and I don’t actually want to believe that he is no more.
“jab tak standup comedy rahegi, tab tak vo zinda rahenge”
His work is remarkable. I request the government of India, as he has made people laugh for straight 40 years to award him with Bharat Ratna. He was very close to everyone, and he used to get very friendly to everyone because of his kid behaviour. I have never seen him arguing for any reason, he was also soft-spoken. His journey is very inspiring. He came from Kanpur and started his journey from the scratch. I believe there will be soon a biopic on him.
We believe Sunil Pal is an outstanding comedian but also a very good person. He is not only a master in comedy but also he is a scriptwriter, he is an actor and most important he is very kind. His inspiring journey and his hard work show that no matter where you come from if you have skills if you desire to be someone, no one can stop you from achieving it. We wish him luck with his upcoming movie ‘Gaali-Galoch’ and wish him the best for his future. To watch the entire video, check out our YouTube channel.
