Sumukhi Suresh recently added an achievement to her repertoire last month as she was the sole Indian female comic in the global music festival, Netflix Is A Joke, lineup in Los Angeles. Talking to us, the actor-comedian talks about representing Indian comedy scene on world stage, saying, “People don’t get it, but it is such a big validation for a comedian. It’s very good for me as an artiste to move ahead. Platforms like these challenge your voice to see if you can entertain an audience which is not from your own diaspora. But making people from the Indian diaspora is the best. Ghar ki murgi dal barabar wala scene nahin hona chahiye.”
While comedy in today’s time has become quite risky, Sumukhi Suresh stays away from making political jokes. Ask her if it’s deliberate and she says, “It may be subconsciously deliberate that the content I make turns out to be anecdotal, but comedy from a female comic is already politicised people. There is politics to it, and the fact that we are performing on stage is in itself a big breaking of a barrier. I am already offending men by being a female standup comic on stage. I am just not doing political jokes. Even doing sex jokes is risky for women. We have just given more value to risky comedy done by men. Ours is equally risky, but it’s good people are not noticing that. Mat hi dekho.”
The comic adds, “I want a long career and I am looking to be an artiste who is widely followed. Mujhe apna career marne tak chahiye. I see myself living till 65, so between the age of 63 and 65, I will do all my risky comedy.”
It’s not just comedy but acting also that has gotten Sumukhi’s fancy and she is enjoying the opportunities. “I was running after acting roles, but the day I stopped doing that, people started seeing me into roles. The moment I realised the importance of the fact that I can write and be a showrunner, I started coming into my own being. I am usually given auditions for out-and-out comedy roles, but now I am also getting opportunities for other roles. Writing projects like CTRL and Lust Stories opened doors for me,” she says.
Last year, Sumukhi was seen in The Royals playing actor Bhumi Satish Pednekkar’s assistant in the show. Since Bhumi has exited the second season, is Sumukhi still a part of it? “Let me put it like this that whatever is being planned, it’s going to be fun. It’s in a very exciting phase and people will like my contribution to it. I am still associated with the season, I just can’t reveal in what capacity,” she responds.