'Comedians secretly crave for approval'

Young achiever

When we think of comedy shows on TV, Comedy nights with Kapil Sharma is one of the first that come to our mind. Situational jokes and Gutthi, a famous character in the show,  make people droll. What dominates the content of the show is mockery starting with jokes on their own characters like Palak, Dadi and Bua and then also celebrities who come on their show.

But for comedian Dhruv Deshpande, from the TV show Challenge Accepted, comedy in India is not restricted only making fun of people.

“Comedy is an outlet for people. If I joke about being dumped by a girl, it would illicit laughter from the audience not only as a release but also as redemption. This norm exists because people finally have the opportunity to laugh at the elephants in the room, skeletons in their closet and....other such idioms,” Deshpande tells Metrolife.

He says that during the Challenge Accepted, he realised that what makes people uncomfortable and angry and what makes them laugh, are usually the same thing.  The show featured Deshpande along with fellow contestants Deep Chhabria, Naveen Richard, Utsav Chakraborty and Cyril D’Abs, where they were challenged to face various awkward situations and obstacles thrown by their Cyrus Sahukar, the host of the show.

Deshpande, who masters in ‘one-liner’ jokes cracked his first joke in his science class when he learnt about reptiles. “I was nine years old,” he recalls. “I narrated proudly to whoever was willing to listen, “Why do reptiles get girls? Because they have scales, toh woh achha line maarte hai.”

With a hearty laugh, he then asks Metrolife, “You’re judging me, aren’t you?”

“Nonetheless,” he goes on, “my classmates loved it and I was chuffed. Suddenly I wasn’t the quiet chubby Dhruv anymore. I had something to offer. Many teachers enjoyed my jokes, I was asked to narrate my funnily written essays in class; my parents made me tell jokes at social occasions, which was bad because my dance moves made me look like Govinda having a concussion; girls paid attention, guys wanted to please me (with their jokes)...”

This, he explains, was the first time he had the thing that all comedians secretly crave for, “approval.”

The 21-year-old is also alleged to be the youngest comedian in India, Mumbai based Deshpande is currently a final year student of MBA at Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies (NMIMS),and says that being a comedian wasn’t the only thing in his bucket list.

“I was well set for a career in a corporate office, probably my father’s. I had almost accepted this fate until the comedy bug bit me,” he expresses.

Hailing from Thane (outskirts of Mumbai) “where life is not like the competitive, dog-eat-dog Mumbai”, Deshpande mentions how he got silence from the audience on his first stage appearance.

“I had always been told by friends that I’m really funny, and was pushed to do an open mic once. I was pretty confident because the jokes had worked well with friends. But all I was got silence. I remember walking back in the rain with tears in my eyes. It was the first time I felt like a complete failure, so I had to overturn it. The next open mic I did, I was the runner up. Since then it has been a beautiful ride, full of dissatisfaction, discontentment, hunger and the ultimate bliss of being on stage.” Ask him about how he is planning to take his career forward as a comedian, he replies, “The main goal is to be a better stand up comedian. The TV experience was probably a one-time thing.

It was like a one night stand that was so good I will never forget it! But all in all, I want to spread laughter. And get money. Mostly the laughter part. Okay fine, the money too...”