Film and television actor Pappu. Telegraph picture

Bhubaneswar, April 12: His performances can leave you rolling on the floor with laughter. But immensely popular comedian Satyaprakash Satpathy, best known as Pappu Pum Pum or simply Pappu, had to go through lots of struggle before achieving success. A versatile artiste, he aims to take comedy to new heights in the Oriya entertainment industry.

Hailing from a family of artistes in Kaptipada of Mayurbhanj district, Pappu was a born performer. “My father was the headmaster of a school but had received the President’s award for performing magic. In fact, jatra, music and dance were followed by all members of my family, including my three siblings,” he says. “While all of us were good at studies, we also performed on stage as children and during our school and college days,” says Pappu.

While his siblings gave up performing after college and pursued academics, Pappu wanted to make a mark in the entertainment sector. “After completing chemistry honours, I came to Bhubaneswar to make a career either in acting or in the music industry here,” says the trained Hindustani vocalist. “After a short struggle, it was veteran actor Uttam Mohanty who guided me and told me that with the huge competition in acting, I could fare better in the field of music,” Pappu says.

He created close to 60 audio albums. But neither did they pay well nor could he get established. “I was content with what I was doing during those eight years. In fact, the real struggle started after that when I got married in 2002 against my parents’ wishes. My family, which was supporting me financially during my struggle in Bhubaneswar, shunned me,” reminisces Pappu.

He started doing small roles in movies and television series. “It was getting tougher when we had a son in 2007. But my wife stood by me,” he says.

This was the period when private FM radio entered Orissa. After trying for a couple of stations, he finally convinced the head of a private FM channel to play small capsules that he had scripted and voiced as Pappu Pum Pum. This was an instant hit and he was able to create an identity in the field of comedy.

After issues over pay, Pappu accepted the offer from a private TV channel in 2009 wherein his shows, Xcuse Me, Faltu Katha and Pappu Beauty Parlour caught the fancy of viewers of all sections. In fact, playing 118 different characters in the TV series Xcuse Me earned him a place in the Limca Book of Records. Meanwhile, he had also made his mark in films last year with interesting roles in Toh Akhire Moon, Sanju Sanjana, Deewana and so on, all of which had his own scripts.