Why Do Female Comedians Like Mallika Dua & Srishti Srivastava Find Their Talents Unappreciated?

While watching The Marvelous Mrs Maisel (2017-present), I realised how difficult it was for standup comedians, especially women, to sustain themselves during the 1950s.

In the present day too, however, men  have it a lot easier. We see Akash Gupta, Kenny Sebastian, Abhishek Upmanyu, and a never-ending list of men performing stand-ups in both Indian and international spaces. But, when it comes to women comedians, the common notion remains that they are inherently unfunny.

Even in today’s time, we find certain male-centric meme pages mocking women for only being able to crack jokes about their vaginas – mainly about sex, menstruation and pregnancy. But, the question is whether women are genuinely less funnier or hardworking than men.

The poor roles Indian women comedians receive…

Stand-up comedy is most certainly not the only place where women comedians are given less attention than they deserve. Somehow, Bollywood treats them as less than even the weakest of damsels in distress.

I remember watching Mallika Dua and Srishti Srivastava’s viral video about attractive girls receiving all the male attention back in 2016 and laughing hysterically. Even then, I’d wondered how successful these two deserved to be. But, sadly, a few years later, both of them gave in to the superficial character tropes they had criticised in that video. They eventually ended up playing the parts of the attractive female protagonist’s friend in unsuccessful films like Indoo Ki Jawani (2020) and Ok Jaanu (2017) respectively. What a waste of their talents!

Something similar can be said about Prajakta Kohli, as well, who despite having millions of followers on YouTube and Instagram, needs to play the role of the male protagonist’s sister in  the film Jugjugg Jeeyo (2022). Not only is she fresh and spontaneous, but is also someone millennials would like to watch. But still, it is comedian Manish Paul who has a better role and more on-screen time in the film as compared to her. 

Dua, Srivastava, and Kohli’s career journeys helped me understand that women comedians aren’t just competing with men in order to succeed in their lives but even with other women who might be considered better looking by the masses. So many of these comedians are talented and hardworking performers who would most certainly do a better job at playing the role of a bubbly girl next door in Bollywood films.

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However, actors like Kiara Advani, Sonam Kapoor, Shraddha Kapoor, and Kriti Sanon end up getting cast for these roles despite their awkward dialogue deliveries and average acting skills (simply because of how they look?) Are all girls next door meant to be more than five feet seven inches tall, have a waist size of 28 inches, be fair-skinned and have Eurocentric, sharp facial features?

Are these the only traits we, as a community, are looking for in women? 

Top image is a screengrab from the Girliyapa video referenced

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