Among India’s shining breed of comedians, Kanan Gill shines brightest among millenials. This former engineer gained notoriety via the YouTube channel Pretentious Movie Reviews that he started with fellow comedian Biswa Kalyan Rath, where the pair offer their hilarious take on old Bollywood movies. Some of their videos have racked up more than two million views.
Gill, who is also a musician, now travels across India and abroad with his stand-up shows, performing to packed houses. Perhaps as a sign of life coming full circle, Gill is all set to make his movie debut with the drama Noor, opposite Bollywood actress Sonakshi Sinha. The film is set for an April release.
But before that, Gill brings his stand-up tour All Correct Opinions to the UAE as part of the Laugh-a-thon comedy series at Ductac on February 17. He spoke to Gulf News tabloid! about his current comedic obsessions and what he’d do if someone did a pretentious movie review about his film.
For the purpose of people who’ve never heard of YouTube, take us back to where it all began for you. When did you first realise you were funny — like, you might have this comedy thing in you?
I think the need for attention came in pretty early. I knew I had some funny inside me in school. As a teenager I would try to make my friends laugh and write things to make my English teachers laugh. When I was a child, someone said ‘good boy’, and I’ve been hooked to getting approval ever since.
What inspired you to create comedy and when did you first start?
I suppose the first formal comedy was when I was trying to be funny with my band on stage. I also started a blog around that time and people thought it was funny. I got addicted to it and it still inspires me to continue.
Do you miss ‘Pretentious Movie Reviews’ as much as us?
Haha — probably not as much, but it isn’t over. I think it’s important to do as many different things as you can, while you can, because even good things wear out. Rocky I was great but Rocky VI? Not so much.
Which is the most unintentionally funny Bollywood film you’ve seen?
I think a better question is what intentionally funny movie have you seen? Hera Pheri and Jaane Bhi Do Yaaroṅcome to mind.
Do you ever have a dry spell? When you can’t seem to think of anything funny? How do you overcome it?
All the time. It doesn’t unnerve me though, because I don’t believe in writer’s block. I believe in writer’s frustration. I used to write software so I approach this in a similar way. There’s a way around every bug.
You’ve made a massive success of your comedy, touring India and abroad. But acting is a different animal. What was it that made you agree to do films?
I’m excited to do new things. I have no real plans for my life, so when an interesting opportunity presents itself, I say sure, why not?
I’ve got a bunch of offers over the years but either the movie was canned or I wasn’t good in the screen test. I decided that I would do a movie whenever the time came. I guess the time came.
What can you tell us about your upcoming film Noor? What’s it like working with Sonakshi?
I play Saad Sehgal, a childhood friend of Sonakshi’s character, Noor. He’s a funny guy who is worry free and shows people around him the silliness of life. Working with Sonakshi was great, I wish I had some cool stories about Bollywood excesses, but everyone I have met has been disappointingly normal.
What if your film flops? Or worse, what if someone does a pretentious film review about it?
How the film does is out of my control, but I am interested to see what happens. Obviously, I want it to do well, but if it doesn’t, it doesn’t. Oh, I will do a review of Noor before anyone else does. I am the best at making fun of myself.
Comedy is now a booming business in India. Do you think we’ll reach saturation point soon?
We probably will reach a saturation point, but not soon. And even if it does, I doubt it would be comedy as a whole, but a medium of comedic expression like stand-up. And of course, interest will be restored after that. These things are cyclic.
Don’t miss it!
Tickets to Laugh-a-thon start at Dh150 on ductac.org and platinumlist.net. The series will continue with comic Kenny Sebastian on March 9; Biswa Kalyan Rath on April 1 and Abish Mathew on May 13. Discounted season passes (starting at Dh400) for all four shows are on sale until February 17. Doors open at 7.30pm, show starts at 8pm.
