Sumukhi Suresh

Sumukhi Suresh (born 18 October 1987) is an actor, stand-up comedian, writer and director from India.[1] She is popularly known for her humorous sketches which she writes and stars in for live performances as well as online platforms. In an online article, Hindustan Times referred to Sumukhi Suresh as "India's Tina Fey."[2]

Sumukhi Suresh
Suresh performing
Born (1987-10-18) 18 October 1987
NationalityIndian
Years active2014–present
GenresSatirical, Deadpan

Early life

Sumukhi Suresh was raised in Nagpur. She finished her graduation from M.O.P Vaishnav College for Women, Chennai. Suresh moved to Bengaluru in 2009 and started working at Hippocampus, a Children's Library. She then went on to work as a chef and was also employed at a food laboratory for a brief period of time.[3]

In 2013, Sumukhi joined The Improv,[4] which was an improvisational comedy show in Bengaluru, while working at the laboratory. Along with the rest of the Improv team, Sumukhi performed in 100 shows in Bengaluru, Dubai, Mumbai, Hyderabad and Sweden.[5] In 2015, she quit her full-time job to start a career in comedy.[6][7]

Career

Sumukhi's first video was Anu Aunty- Engineering Anthem with Varun Agrawal. She then did the Maid Sketch with Sanjay Manaktala as the boisterous Parvati Bai. Sumukhi rose to fame after portraying the character of 'Sumukhi Chawla', an NGO employee, in India's first mockumentary-style YouTube series—Better Life Foundation.[8][9] Sumukhi has performed comedy shows with Naveen Richard, the writer of the show Better Life Foundation.[10] She also gained popularity for her property "Disgust Me" a by invite, women-only stand-up comedy show.[11]

After getting much appreciation for her role in Better Life Foundation, Sumukhi launched a video series called Behti Naak on her own YouTube channel. In the video series, she plays Behti Naak - a 10-year-old girl with a deadpan style of humour.The videos became viral.[12]

Sumukhi was approached by Amazon Prime, India to make a web series. ''Pushpavalli'', created by Sumukhi Suresh, was released on December 15 on Amazon Prime Video in India and received positive reviews.[13][8] The show is directed by Debbie Rao and stars Naveen Richard, Manish Anand, Preetika Chawla and Shraddha.

Sumukhi was approached by Amazon Prime, India for a second time to make a one hour web show titled Don't tell Amma which since its release has received positive reviews. This was a recording show in Begumpet, Hyderabad. The show wittily describes the relationship between millennials and their Indian Mothers. Though the title says Don't tell Amma (Mother), interestingly enough, many people watched the show with their mothers.

Sumukhi, along with fellow comedian and absurdist Naveen Richard, co-created the Prime Video show Go Straight Take Left. The show is a compilation of six sketches.[14]

In 2018, Sumukhi Suresh hosted the first season of Prime Video's web series Comicstaan alongside comedian Abish Mathew.[15][16] She was a part of the judges' panel for the second season of the same show with Urooj Ashfaq replacing her as host.[17][15]

Sumukhi has acted in Humble Politician Nograj, a 2018 Kannada film. She plays the role of Lavanya, wife of Nograj (Danish Sait).[18] This film is a political satire.

Stand on feminism

In India, where stand-up comedy shows are generally dominated by men,[19] Sumukhi is known as one of the very few successful female stand-up comedians.[20][21]

However, Sumukhi has spoken against the tag. In an interview with Verve magazine, she was quoted as saying,

Comedy, like any other industry, comes with a set of challenges that you have to face, regardless of your gender. Creating regular content, writing as much as possible and drawing a crowd for your shows are some of the many points on your checklist. Then why was it that when I achieved even one of them, I was lauded for being able to do so "as a woman" and also congratulated for being the first woman to have done that? While initially, you enjoy the attention, soon enough you should want to be the best at what you do and not be limited by your gender. Thus I gave myself the goal of becoming the best comic rather than best ovary-producing laughter generator. The only way for me to break gender bias and related discrimination is by being so good at my work that I am unavoidable.[22]

Filmography
Year Show Platform Notes
2016 Star Boyz[23] Youtube 1 Season
2016 – Behti Naak[24] Youtube Shorts; Also Creator & Writer
2017 Going Viral Pvt. Ltd. Amazon PrimeVideo 1 Season
2018 Beauty and the Feast[25] Disney+ Hotstar 1 Season
2018 Tinderella[26] Youtube 1 Season
2018 – Comicstaan[27] Amazon PrimeVideo Season 1 - Host

Season 2 - Judge

2018 Go Straight Take Left Amazon PrimeVideo Sketch Show
2018 Humble Politiciann Nograj Amazon PrimeVideo Kannada film
2018 – Better Life Foundation[28] Disney+ Hotstar 2 Seasons
2019 Banake Dikha[29] Zomato 1 Season
2018 – Pushpavalli[30] Amazon PrimeVideo 2 Seasons; Also Creator & Writer

References
  1. "There are more of us now: Sumukhi Suresh on female comedians". New Indian Express. 27 December 2017.
  2. "Meet India's Tina Fey: Comedian Sumukhi Suresh". Hindustan Times. 22 October 2016.
  3. "Know Your Comic: Sumukhi Suresh". Humour Sapiens. 2020-02-17. Retrieved 2020-03-04.
  4. Sachitanand, Rahul (6 August 2017). "Giggle with these gals". The Economic Times.
  5. "Bengaluru improv in Sweden". The Hindu. 2016-03-16. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 2016-05-19.
  6. Sachitanand, Rahul (6 August 2017). "Meet the rising stars of the Indian comedy scene". The Economic Times.
  7. "Humble Politician Nograj will make you think whether you have voted the right people into power". The Times of India. 11 August 2017.
  8. "Sumukhi Suresh on her web series Pushpavalli, and playing characters that are flawed yet real". Firstpost. 16 December 2017.
  9. "6 female comedy stars you need to know, by Sumukhi Suresh". Elle. 31 March 2017.
  10. "LOL with the sketch duo". New Indian Express. 3 October 2016.
  11. "Queens of Comedy review: TLC's new show is a milestone in comedy of, by and for women". Scroll.in. 30 September 2017.
  12. "This Comedian's Sketch of an Average 10-Year-Old Indian Is Hilarious And Hard Hitting". Huffington Post. 16 September 2016.
  13. Sood, Akhil (23 December 2017). "Sumukhi Suresh's Pushpavalli is an admirable attempt at inverting a tired tale". The Hindu.
  14. "Naveen Richard and Sumukhi Suresh on Go Straight, Take Left — their new Amazon Prime Video special- Entertainment News, Firstpost". Firstpost. 2018-09-22. Retrieved 2020-03-04.
  15. "Sumukhi Suresh - Artist Profile". eventseeker.com. Retrieved 2020-03-04.
  16. Scroll Staff. "'Comicstaan 2' trailer out, Amazon's stand-up comedy talent hunt to be released on July 12". Scroll.in. Retrieved 2020-03-04.
  17. "Comicstaan season 2 trailer: Abish Mathew, Urooj Ashfaq host upcoming instalment of stand-up comedy contest series- Entertainment News, Firstpost". Firstpost. 2019-06-26. Retrieved 2020-03-04.
  18. "How a prank landed Sumukhi Suresh a role in Humble Politician Nograj". The Times of India. 14 December 2017.
  19. "India's Trailblazers: The female stand-up comic". BBC News. 30 May 2013.
  20. Varma, Nikhil (20 December 2017). "Sumukhi Suresh on battling stereotypes the 'Pusphaavalli' way". The Hindu.
  21. "4 unapologetically wonderful women the Indian internet has given you". India Today. 8 March 2017.
  22. "Battling Gender Stereotypes Is No Laughing Matter For Sumukhi Suresh". Verve. 21 April 2017.
  23. "Watch Star Boyz (2016) online | Episodes | Cast | Review". Webisoda - The Indian Web Series Hub. Retrieved 2020-11-12.
  24. "Watch Behti Naak (2016) online | Episodes | Cast | Review". Webisoda - The Indian Web Series Hub. Retrieved 2020-11-12.
  25. "Watch Beauty and the Feast (2018) online | Episodes | Cast | Review". Webisoda - The Indian Web Series Hub. Retrieved 2020-11-12.
  26. "Watch Tinderella (2018) online | Episodes | Cast | Review". Webisoda - The Indian Web Series Hub. Retrieved 2020-11-12.
  27. "Watch Comicstaan - Season 2 Out Now (2018) online | Episodes | Cast | Review". Webisoda - The Indian Web Series Hub. Retrieved 2020-11-12.
  28. "Watch Better Life Foundation - Season 2 out now (2018) online | Episodes | Cast | Review". Webisoda - The Indian Web Series Hub. Retrieved 2020-11-12.
  29. "Watch Banake Dikha (2019) online | Episodes | Cast | Review". Webisoda - The Indian Web Series Hub. Retrieved 2020-11-12.
  30. "Watch Pushpavalli - Season 2 Out Now (2020) online | Episodes | Cast | Review". Webisoda - The Indian Web Series Hub. Retrieved 2020-11-12.
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