SERIOUSLY FUNNY
Filmfare|February 2021
Mallika Dua talks about her brush with comedy in this candid chat with Vedanshi Pathak
Mallika Dua
SERIOUSLY FUNNY

Daughter of veteran journalist Vinod Dua and Padmavati Dua, a doctor, Mallika comes from a family that is as distant from the world of entertainment as the sun is from the earth. She never actively thought of being a comedian. It happened by chance. She used to perform on stage while in college and most of it used to be comedy. She feels comedy is more effective when done on stage in front of a live audience, “It’s more difficult to do a serious play and convince the audience. It can go really wrong and look very tacky but a bunch of us, who were studying abroad would meet every summer and put up these really funny plays. We would take plays from all over the world and adapt them and I would act in them. That is when comedy really started.”

After passing out of the Modern School, Barakhamba, she went to Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster, Pennsylvania to do her graduation in theatre performance. She says she never actually thought of taking up comedy as a full-fledged profession because the idea of a comedian in Bollywood movies meant playing stock characters day in and day out. “It was only after Russell Peters or Sasha Baron Cohen came that we realised that you can be a protagonist in your own right and still be funny and be in charge of what you are doing and not just support the main cast.”

This story is from the February 2021 edition of Filmfare.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.

This story is from the February 2021 edition of Filmfare.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.

MORE STORIES FROM FILMFAREView All
FIRST AMONG EQUALS
Filmfare

FIRST AMONG EQUALS

DEVESH SHARMA OFFERS A SHORT PROFILE OF ALL THE WINNERS FROM THE RECENTLY HELD 69TH HYUNDAI FILMFARE AWARDS 2024 WITH GUJARAT TOURISM

time-read
3 mins  |
March 2024
AMIT DHARIWAL: RIDING HIGH ON A SLEW OF ENTREPRENEURIAL SUCCESSES
Filmfare

AMIT DHARIWAL: RIDING HIGH ON A SLEW OF ENTREPRENEURIAL SUCCESSES

Amit Dhariwal, a prominent figure in both Indian and Dubai's real estate sectors, stands as the Managing Director of Hridaan Realty.

time-read
1 min  |
March 2024
ANAND PANDIT: STRADDLING THE WORLDS OF CINEMA AND REAL ESTATE WITH SUCCESS
Filmfare

ANAND PANDIT: STRADDLING THE WORLDS OF CINEMA AND REAL ESTATE WITH SUCCESS

Anand Pandit is a multifaceted showman, a pan-Indian film producer, a real estate magnate, and an entrepreneur with what is often referred to as the \"Midas touch\". Born into a traditional Gujarati business family, Anand Pandit has scripted an extraordinary journey marked by grit, vision, resilience, and conviction.

time-read
2 mins  |
March 2024
ENRICHING LIVES
Filmfare

ENRICHING LIVES

AMWAY INDIA WAS A CO-SPONSOR OF THE RECENTLY HELD 69TH HYUNDAI FILMFARE AWARDS 2024 WITH GUJARAT TOURISM

time-read
1 min  |
March 2024
BRIDGING TRADITION WITH MODERN TRAVEL TRENDS
Filmfare

BRIDGING TRADITION WITH MODERN TRAVEL TRENDS

HOMESTAYS MAKE FOR AN IDYLLIC BREAK FOR TRAVELLERS IN UTTARAKHAND WHILE STRENGTHENING THE RURAL ECONOMY OF THE STATE

time-read
1 min  |
March 2024
REKINDLING SPIRITUAL SPLENDOUR IN UTTARAKHAND
Filmfare

REKINDLING SPIRITUAL SPLENDOUR IN UTTARAKHAND

AT THE HEART OF UTTARAKHAND CHIEF MINISTER PUSHKAR SINGH DHAMI'S MANASKHAND MANDIR MALA MISSION, IS THE DEDICATION TO RESTORE THE ESSENCE OF SEVERAL TEMPLES SPREAD ACROSS THE KUMAON AREA

time-read
2 mins  |
March 2024
WELCOME TO GUJARAT!
Filmfare

WELCOME TO GUJARAT!

THE 69TH HYUNDAI FILMFARE AWARDS 2024 WITH GUJARAT TOURISM WERE HELD IN GIFT CITY, GUJARAT THIS YEAR. DEVESH SHARMA GIVES A BIRD'S EYE VIEW ACCOUNT OF THE MEGA EVENT

time-read
8 mins  |
March 2024
VIBRANT GUJARAT!
Filmfare

VIBRANT GUJARAT!

CELEBRATING CINEMATIC TOURISM AT THE 69TH HYUNDAI FILMFARE AWARDS 2024 WITH GUJARAT TOURISM

time-read
1 min  |
March 2024
BOND WITH THE BEST
Filmfare

BOND WITH THE BEST

HYUNDAI MOTOR INDIA LIMITED HAS BEEN THE TITLE SPONSOR FOR THE 69TH HYUNDAI FILMFARE AWARDS 2024 WITH GUJARAT TOURISM

time-read
1 min  |
March 2024
ON A Song
Filmfare

ON A Song

Chaleya and Besharam Rang were the most celebrated and popular tracks of 2023. What do you have to say about the success of the songs?

time-read
6 mins  |
February 2024