The mantra was having ‘two’ much fun with Stage Forty Twoo at Kala Mandir. February 12 was reserved for the dadas at Dadagiri, with hottie Kanan Gill, home boy Vaibhav Sethia, Delhi’s Abijit Ganguly and crowd fave Biswa Kalyan Rath. The Haha-Rah Bridge on February 13 served guffaws and giggles with Kenny Sebastian, Kunal Rao, Anirban Dasgupta, Atul Khatri and the Kalkutta Komedians. Let’s chat with the comic frat!
Atul Khatri
One hashtag you don’t get the drift of?
#Friends4lyf... I just don’t get it, don’t try to save so much space in hashtags please!
Cooking skills?
I can cook amazing anda bhurji. People come from all over the world to taste it. I take some anda, some kaanda, tomatoes, green chillies, put some garam masala and mix it all up. Next time you come to Mumbai you must come to taste my anda bhurji.
Your most loyal customer?
My wife. In the kitchen she’s my guest because she never enters it.
You love Kusum rolls!
People suggested Kusum rolls on Twitter and they’re the most amazing rolls I’ve had. I had the most expensive one — double egg double mutton. Kusum anyday!
How does a Sindhi celebrate Valentine’s Day?
A Sindhi doesn’t celebrate Valentine’s Day. That’s why I have run away, I’m doing a show today in Calcutta and tomorrow in Bangalore, so that I can be away from my wife and I don’t have to celebrate it with her.
Complete this line: Bajirao ney Mastani sey...
Gaddari ki hai?... ki pyaar kiya hai? I don’t know, I haven’t seen this movie.
Kunal Rao
You’ve just jumped onto the Snapchat bandwagon….
I joined Snapchat a week ago and my first story was me taking a snap asking Sahil (Bulla, fellow stand-up comic artist) what Snapchat is.
Snapchat has all these filters you choose from…
I am still struggling with the filters, trying to figure out the app. I am like one of those old people who spend a year trying to figure out an app. And by then... there are five other new apps!
You run. What is it that you run away from?
I run away from myself. That’s essentially what everybody does.
Your Twitter account has screenshots of your running route!
I do a little bit of research on the map and I look for a route I want to take and I imagine that this is what it might look like once I’ve run it. But obviously when I see it later, I see this is nothing like the image I’d meant it to be. This is also one way to get myself to exercise. I’m like, let’s make a new design today, let’s do some exercise!
How’d you woo a Bong bombshell?
I’d first kill myself and be reborn as an intellectual Nobel laureate and then anything I say would woo the girl!
If you were an animal you’d be…
A Golden Retriever. Because I am very likeable and very nice.
Complete this line: “Rang dey to mohe gerua...”
I’d say, “What does that even mean? Please translate this for me first!”
Kenny Sebastian
A stand-up act in front of the hottest girl you have a crush on or an uptight audience, and why?
Is the hot girl uptight? Then it’s redundant. But if she’s not, then I’d choose the hot crush. I’ve performed for an uptight audience, you can’t get through to them but hot girl, I can make her laugh and maybe she can grow to like me.
Name of the first album you drop…
I already dropped an album BTW, it was called Balance, the story of two guitars. It was a blues acoustic album which no one heard. The second album would be called ‘You Only Like This Because You’re Supposed To
Like It’.
Make up a question for yourself… and answer it!
Kenny, why are you fascinated with dogs? Good question Kenny, the reason I’m fascinated with dogs is because dogs love everything!
Most devious thing you have done in church?
Fallen asleep and snored. I didn’t disturb anyone ’cause they were sleeping and snoring too!
Complete this line: ‘Hello from the other side…’
HELLO?!!
Your dream Snapchat filter would be the…
Batman filter. Like a mask that would cover your eyes with bat ears. I don’t know why they don’t have one yet. I would leave everything and just Snapchat all day.
Worst nightmare?
Being stuck in a party with loud music, forever.
Anirban Dasgupta
Bond or Byomkesh?
I’d be Bond. My tag line would be “Old Monk and Coke, shaken not stirred”.
How do you handle a heckler in the audience?
That’s my favourite part. You have the crowd’s support and it also creates some beautiful spontaneous moments. I love it when I get a heckler so that I can take him down.
And having two surnames as one?
Outside Calcutta, some people just stop at Anirban Das. They think that “you deserve itna hi lamba naam”.
Complete this line from Drake’s Hotline Bling— “You used to call me on my cell phone…”
And then you would say, “Call me back, I don’t have balance!”
Favourite Bengali word?
Bokach***. It is such a smart cuss word as it insults your intelligence. It doesn’t go to your mother or father.
One thing you miss about Calcutta?
Driving! I know it sounds weird but that’s what I miss. I used to think about stuff when I would drive and in Mumbai, it’s difficult to do that.
One thing you like about Mumbai?
The energy is insane. Once you’re in Mumbai, you automatically work harder because there is so much competition and opportunities as well. It’s not there in Calcutta.
Vaibhav Sethia
What do you think when you hear these Marwari words…
Bhujia: Love, life, oxygen
Dhando: Boring
Chhori: Nose ring
Byah: Bas karne hi wala hoon
The last picture you took on your phone?
Of a momo pizza at one of our open mic venues, Purple Turtle. The owner is like a friend and a fellow comic wanted a pizza with a layer of momos, mozzarella and sauces!
Your perfect pizza would have…
Double cheese Margherita with extra cheese and cheese burst.
How do you start a conversation with a girl?
I’d just say ‘Hi’. Or what I noticed about her. Then buy her a glass of fresh juice.
When in Calcutta, you were a part of a group called Comedified. Where are shows held?
Comedified has regular shows at places like Terminal II and Beer Republic in Salt Lake, Purple Turtle near South City Mall, The Shack Lounge in Ballygunge, The Tea Trove, Cafe Mi Casa in Jodhpur Park.
Names to look out for there…
Sourav Ghosh, Abhishek Bose, Yashoroop Dey, Saurav Goyal, Chandroday Pal, Anyaman Mazumdar and Ayan Chatterjee.
Abijit Ganguly
You introduce yourself as a funny Delhiite Bong. What’s the ‘Bongest’ thing about you?
Well, considering I recently married my Gujju girlfriend of eight years, I honestly hope I get to retain whatever Bong elements I have left in me. Of all the Bong idiosyncrasies, I guess love for chaa is something I relate to most. If you snatch my cup of chaa, watch me turn from the funny guy to all Bose on you. “Tum mujhe chai do, main tumhein jokes dunga”.
A song to describe what the rest of India really feels about Delhi...
Mud mud ke na dekh, mud mud ke...
What would be the hardest thing for you to give up?
Stand-up comedy and the adrenaline rush it gives. Once you have it, you just can’t let go. It’s the most addictive drug ever.
What’s the last thing you saw on TV?
The Airtel girl yelling and scolding me. This right after the Idea ads made me feel shitty about myself for having graduated from Delhi School of Economics and not IIN. Not able to gather the courage to switch on the idiot box again.
What will you do with the leap day in February?
Well, considering I’ll be on my honeymoon around then, I guess I shouldn’t say much about my plans.
