With a following of 1.3 million on her social media account, Jamie Lever is one of the most popular stand-up comedians in the country. Renowned actor and comedy king Johnny Lever’s daughter has been actively pursuing the field of comedy ever since she started a decade ago with reality shows such as Comedy Circus Ke Mahabali. Apart from stage shows, she has also acted in a few Hindi films, including Housefull 4 and Bhoot Police and now, she is making her Telugu debut with the movie Aa Okatti Adakku, slated to release tentatively in April. Excerpts from a conversation with Lever:
You’re making your Telugu film debut with Aa Okatti Adakku. How did that come about and why did you think it’s an apt time to enter the Telugu film industry?
Telugu is my mother tongue and it has been one of my life’s desires to do at least one Telugu film in my life, just to give back to my people. Also, my grandmother speaks only Telugu and she is the only grandparent I have alive. She knows I have been working in the industry but I wanted her to see my work, understand and enjoy it. She has seen me on television many times but never understood what I am trying to say. I wanted to make one film for my grandmother. I don’t know what the future holds for me but I know that my wish is being fulfilled. Then it depends on how the audience receives it. I have really enjoyed speaking in my mother tongue and doing this movie.
Can you tell us a bit about the film and your role in it?
This role was offered to me after the lead actor Allari Naresh Garu saw me in my web-series Pop Kaun. He has done more than 60 comedy films in Telugu and is known for his comic timing. He told the director that he must cast me for his sister-in-law’s role in the film. It is a lovely family drama. Naresh Garu and I share a Tom and Jerry kind of relationship in the film where we are trying to constantly one up each other, but in the end, she is the one who helps him out. My character is really naughty, witty and smart - a lot like me but into 100! When the director was giving me a brief for the role, he told me to practice some face yoga or face exercises because he wanted me to be really animated with my expressions.
Your father is a well-renowned actor as well as comedian. Did he dole out any advice to you?
When my dad saw me in my first film Kis Kisko Pyaar Karoon (2015, in which she played a supporting role), he trusted me with the process and let me prepare for it the way I wanted to. By then I had some stage experience and had also done a few reality shows on television. All he said was that I have to surrender myself to the directors. When he saw me on screen, the first thing he told me was that I am a natural and he does not have to teach me anything. However, when it comes to stage and stand up, he is the complete opposite! He gave me so many instructions and warnings before I went up on stage; I didn’t know if I was going on stage or going to war! (laughs) I have been part of his Johhny Lever live tours and there have been episodes where I have cried inside the bathroom, come out with red eyes and he’s told me to tell a joke. He would constantly grill me. He would say that this is my audience who has paid to come and watch a Johnny Lever show and I cannot cheat them, that if I am allowing my daughter to go on stage then I better bring my A-game or else leave the job. I think it is that kind of tough training which has brought me here. Today, I don’t think I give anybody a reason to complain or wonder what I am doing. I give my 100 per cent to everything I do and I don’t have a lot of haters. All the grilling and judgement I have received at home has been a way of protecting me from the criticism of the reviewers and critics. Today, if somebody has told me that this is the kind of nepotism we want, then it is a result of all the hard training I have received. My dad has done a great job of protecting and pushing me.
Have your experiences in films such as Housefull and Bhoot Police, and the web series Pop Kaun helped you become more comfortable with acting?
In the comedy genre, yes. Not so much with other genres. I did a film called Yaatris (2023) where I played a simple girl from Banaras, who is very emotional and vulnerable. There was no comedy whatsoever. Those kinds of characters make me nervous because comedy has become like my shield. It is my comfort zone, but that does not stop me from experimenting. Even this Telugu film was a challenge because I don’t have command over the language. I had to not only ace the language but also bring in my expertise of being a comedian. I always put myself in difficult situations, and every job I do, I start from scratch which is what I have learnt from my father.
You have a one-woman show coming up in February in Mumbai and Thane. Tell us more about that.
I have been a part of my father’s shows where I have done my individual sets and I do corporate shows as well, but a full-fledged one-person show is a difficult thing for any comedian to do. Creating content for more than an hour is challenging and a sort of a milestone in one’s career. This one-woman show is something my dad had predicted four years ago when he said that someday, some producer will offer you a Jamie Lever show and you have to start prepping for it from now itself. The prep never stops for a comedian.
Do you see yourself as a comedian and an actor?
Yes, I definitely see myself as both. My father has told me that there will come a point when I will get more projects in one field and vice versa and I will have to give a backseat to the other for a while. Even The Bible says that you can’t serve two masters. That less and more will keep happening and I just have to be okay with it. I think this year is going to be more of stand-up shows but I am also open to doing films.
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