Mallika Dua and Kusha Kapila are the most popular comediennes we have today. They started off as individual content creators but have now featured in films as well. PeepingMoon.com had the opportunity to get them for an exclusive interview where they spoke about getting the humour right, talking about taboos and social prejudices through their characters and trying to break the stereotypes that Bollywood cast them in. Mallika and Kusha also spoke about online trolls and said that men invariably have a problem with women voicing their opinions and the extra trolling women comics are subjected to.
When asked how do they get their humour right, Mallika said, “Being funny and understanding the pulse is something that comes naturally to us, it is a basic skill but what I struggle with is how to keep the demaenour of being ‘happy’ all the time just because we are comediennes.” Kusha added on to that and said, “Most of my characters are built in a way that they can speak out and talk about stuff that I, Kusha, can’t. There wasn’t a lot of thought put in how people will perceive it but a lot of thought was put into the writing and the content. The fact that people liked it is extremely gratifying and I use my characters to speak about things that I will not be able to say so it kind of softens the blow and that foil is nice.”
Mallika further spoke about how men get rattled when a woman asserts herself and said, “Somehow women having a voice is something that men can’t digest and now when they have multiple voices it’s going to kill them, no?” On the other hand, Kusha had an interesting take on trolling and said, “Trolling is also a very important and interesting subject to talk about because it reflects the people’s psyche and how they behave and especially how is their behavior with women. But what I want to say is that if you’re not finding my content funny then it’s not for you. That is the beauty of organic content, if people like it, it picks up and there are umpteen numbers of consumers out there who will like and get entertained by it. “
Mallika further spoke about the stereotypes that Bollywood brackets them into and the need for directors and casting directors to write roles that have qualities and not physical attributes. She said, “People are still stuck on stereotypes like ‘woh Dilli se hai and woh moti hai’. Please go beyond that as there is no dearth of good actors today. They don’t write a character, they write a body type and call you for casting.”
(Transcribed By: Vandana Srivastawa)
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