Sumukhi Suresh
| Sumukhi Suresh | |
|---|---|
_(1).jpg) | |
| Nationality | Indian |
| Years active | 2014–present |
| Genres | Satirical, Deadpan |
Sumukhi Suresh 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] She has been a part of stand-up comedy shows like Comicstaan, Go Straight Take Left, Comedy premier League and her solo special, Don't Tell Amma. But she is best known for her funny yet twisted web series, 'Pushpavalli'.[3] The stand-up comedian and actor turned entrepreneur by launching a content platform called 'Motormouth' which is especially for writers who are passionate about pitching stories for movies, web shows and more.[4] She launched this company since she there is no time to complain and expect other people to create better characters or develop out of the box ideas.[3] In a chat with 'Telangana Today', she concluded that one should attend many zoom shows and live shows to know if they are actually funny.[4]
Early life[edit]
Sumukhi Suresh was raised in Nagpur, although her mother is from Tamil Nadu. 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.[5]
In 2013, Sumukhi joined The Improv,[6] 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.[7] In 2015, she quit her full-time job to start a career in comedy.[8][9]
Career[edit]
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.[10][11] Sumukhi has performed comedy shows with Naveen Richard, the writer of the show Better Life Foundation.[12] She also gained popularity for her property "Disgust Me" a by invite, women-only stand-up comedy show.[13]
While talking about improvisation skills in content creation, she said, "While acting comes to me in an easy manner, stand-up takes a lot more effort. I started my career with Improv and even now I carry improvisational skills into everything I do. As a matter of fact, when I work with Richard, we don’t write the dialogue first, rather we improv first."[14]
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.[15]
Sumukhi was approached by Amazon Prime, India to make a web series. Pushpavalli, a semi-autobiagraphical series created by Sumukhi Suresh, was released on 15 December on Amazon Prime Video in India and received positive reviews.[16][10] The show is directed by Debbie Rao and stars Naveen Richard, Manish Anand, Preetika Chawla and Shraddha. She said, " I'm glad Amazon did not impose on me that the show had to be in Hindi. Even if the streaming services have subtitles, a Hindi show does immensely well. But I didn't want that. I wanted an accurate representation of Bengaluru, where everyone knows at least three languages. I'm glad I could present South Indian people with all their quirks and ticks. I was also accused of representing every member of the community as flawed. But my defence was, 'Look at Nikhil [the man Pushpavalli falls in love with and moves city for]!' He's a Kannadiga, and he looks like a bloody flower."[17] Naveen Richard pointed to 'Firstpost' that he connected with Sumukhi the most because of their 'South Indian backgrounds'.[17]
Sumukhi performed her first stand up special "Don't Tell Amma" for Amazon Prime Video India which since its release has received positive reviews. This show was recorded in Bangalore. 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.[18]
In 2018, Sumukhi Suresh hosted the first season of Prime Video's web series Comicstaan alongside comedian Abish Mathew.[19][20] She was a part of the judges' panel for the second season of the same show with Urooj Ashfaq replacing her as host.[21][19]
Sumukhi has acted in Humble Politician Nograj, a 2018 Kannada film. She plays the role of Lavanya, wife of Nograj (Danish Sait).[22] This film is a political satire.
In a conversation with newsX she said that comedy industry is still peaking and hence it is still a community rather than an industry. She also feels that for comedy, social media and live shows are equally important and cannot replace each other.[23]
Motormouth[edit]
Sumukhi Suresh launched her company Motormouth Writers Pvt Ltd in 2022. She wants to write and create shows and movies centered on female characters. The aim is for Motormouth to go from being a writing studio to producing shows and movies.
While talking about her vision for 'Motormouth' she says , "If we wish to change the narrative then we need to be in positions of power. I want to change culture by creating more female protagonists. I want to tell stories with real, flawed characters who are not just hot and sexy, sati Savitri, vamp, or any one of these things. Real women, and people in general are a hundred things at the same time at any given point and I want our content to reflect that."[3]
Filmfare winner Sumukhi Suresh said,"I want the people who see me, especially the girls, to think, ‘I need to have confidence like her’, because I wanted to see someone like that when I was young."[24]
Filmography[edit]
| Year | Show | Platform | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Star Boyz[25] | Youtube | 1 Season |
| 2016 – | Behti Naak[26] | Youtube | Shorts; Also Creator & Writer |
| 2017 | Going Viral Pvt. Ltd. | Amazon PrimeVideo | 1 Season |
| 2018 | Beauty and the Feast[27] | Disney+ Hotstar | 1 Season |
| 2018 | Tinderella[28] | Youtube | 1 Season |
| 2018 – | Comicstaan[29] | Amazon PrimeVideo | Season 1 - Host
Season 2 - Judge Season 3 - Judge |
| 2018 | Go Straight Take Left | Amazon PrimeVideo | Sketch Show |
| 2018 | Humble Politiciann Nograj | Amazon PrimeVideo | Kannada film |
| 2018 – | Better Life Foundation[30] | Disney+ Hotstar | 2 Seasons |
| 2019 | Banake Dikha[31] | Zomato | 1 Season |
| 2020 – | Pushpavalli[32] | Amazon PrimeVideo | 2 Seasons; Also Creator & Writer |
| 2021 | Comedy Premier League | Netflix | 1 season ; Writer & Performer |
| 2022 | Hum Do Teen Chaar | Amazon MiniTv | 1 season ; Actor |
| 2022 | Dongri Danger | Amazon PrimeVideo | Director |
| 2022 | One Mic Stand: Karan Johar Ft Sumukhi Suresh | Amazon PrimeVideo | Performer |
| 2023 | Moving in with Malaika | Disney+ Hotstar | 1 episode; Performer |
Awards and nominations[edit]
| Year | Award | Category | Work | Result | Ref(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | BAFTA Breakthrough | Performer | Pushpavalli | Participant | |
| 2021 | Critics Guild Award | Best Actor Female | Pushpavalli | Nominated | |
| 2021 | Critics Guild Award | Best Writing Team | Pushpavalli | Nominated | |
| 2021 | Talenttrack Awards | Best Actor Female Comedy | Pushpavalli | Won | |
| 2021 | Filmfare OTT Awards | Best Actress in a Comedy Series (Critics) | Pushpavalli | Won | |
| 2021 | Istanbul Film Awards (Oct) | Best Actress | Pushpavalli | Won | |
| 2021 | IWMBuzz Digital Awards Season 3 | Most Popular Actress In A Comic Role In A Web Series | Pushpavalli (TV series) | Won | |
| 2019 | iWmBuzz awards | Most Popular Stand up comedian (Female) | Won | ||
| 2018 | iReel Awards | Best Actor Female (comedy) | Pushpavalli | Won | |
| 2018 | Talenttrack Awards | Best Actor Female Comedy | Pushpavalli | Won |
References[edit]
- ^ "There are more of us now: Sumukhi Suresh on female comedians". New Indian Express. 27 December 2017.
- ^ "Meet India's Tina Fey: Comedian Sumukhi Suresh". Hindustan Times. 22 October 2016.
- ^ a b c "Now Stree-ming: Sumukhi Suresh – Funny, fearless and fabulous". The Indian Express. 9 December 2021. Retrieved 26 March 2022.
- ^ a b Telanganatoday (4 February 2022). "Sumukhi Suresh wants to glamorise writing". Telangana Today. Retrieved 26 March 2022.
- ^ "Know Your Comic: Sumukhi Suresh". Humour Sapiens. 17 February 2020. Retrieved 4 March 2020.
- ^ Sachitanand, Rahul (6 August 2017). "Giggle with these gals". The Economic Times.
- ^ "Bengaluru improv in Sweden". The Hindu. 16 March 2016. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 19 May 2016.
- ^ Sachitanand, Rahul (6 August 2017). "Meet the rising stars of the Indian comedy scene". The Economic Times.
- ^ "Humble Politician Nograj will make you think whether you have voted the right people into power". The Times of India. 11 August 2017.
- ^ a b "Sumukhi Suresh on her web series Pushpavalli, and playing characters that are flawed yet real". Firstpost. 16 December 2017.
- ^ "6 female comedy stars you need to know, by Sumukhi Suresh". Elle. 31 March 2017.
- ^ "LOL with the sketch duo". New Indian Express. 3 October 2016. Archived from the original on 28 December 2017.
- ^ "Queens of Comedy review: TLC's new show is a milestone in comedy of, by and for women". Scroll.in. 30 September 2017.
- ^ "Real life isn't black or white, says comedian Sumukhi Suresh". The New Indian Express. Retrieved 26 March 2022.
- ^ "This Comedian's Sketch of an Average 10-Year-Old Indian Is Hilarious And Hard Hitting". Huffington Post. 16 September 2016.
- ^ Sood, Akhil (23 December 2017). "Sumukhi Suresh's Pushpavalli is an admirable attempt at inverting a tired tale". The Hindu.
- ^ a b "Why Sumukhi Suresh can't help but leave a bit (or a lot) of herself in her fiction show and stand-up special". Firstpost. 11 February 2020. Retrieved 26 March 2022.
- ^ "Naveen Richard and Sumukhi Suresh on Go Straight, Take Left — their new Amazon Prime Video special". Firstpost. 22 September 2018. Retrieved 4 March 2020.
- ^ a b "Sumukhi Suresh - Artist Profile". eventseeker.com. Retrieved 4 March 2020.
- ^ Scroll Staff. "'Comicstaan 2' trailer out, Amazon's stand-up comedy talent hunt to be released on July 12". Scroll.in. Retrieved 4 March 2020.
- ^ "Comicstaan season 2 trailer: Abish Mathew, Urooj Ashfaq host upcoming instalment of stand-up comedy contest series". Firstpost. 26 June 2019. Retrieved 4 March 2020.
- ^ "How a prank landed Sumukhi Suresh a role in Humble Politician Nograj". The Times of India. 14 December 2017.
- ^ Correspondent, Our (13 February 2022). "Comedy is still a community rather than an industry: Sumukhi Suresh". The Daily Guardian. Retrieved 26 March 2022.
- ^ "Sumukhi Suresh isn't waiting for anyone to hand her a golden opportunity". Tweak India. 14 September 2021. Retrieved 26 March 2022.
- ^ "Watch Star Boyz (2016) online | Episodes | Cast | Review". Webisoda - The Indian Web Series Hub. Retrieved 12 November 2020.
- ^ "Watch Behti Naak (2016) online | Episodes | Cast | Review". Webisoda - The Indian Web Series Hub. Retrieved 12 November 2020.
- ^ "Watch Beauty and the Feast (2018) online | Episodes | Cast | Review". Webisoda - The Indian Web Series Hub. Retrieved 12 November 2020.
- ^ "Watch Tinderella (2018) online | Episodes | Cast | Review". Webisoda - The Indian Web Series Hub. Retrieved 12 November 2020.
- ^ "Watch Comicstaan - Season 2 Out Now (2018) online | Episodes | Cast | Review". Webisoda - The Indian Web Series Hub. Retrieved 12 November 2020.
- ^ "Watch Better Life Foundation - Season 2 out now (2018) online | Episodes | Cast | Review". Webisoda - The Indian Web Series Hub. Retrieved 12 November 2020.
- ^ "Watch Banake Dikha (2019) online | Episodes | Cast | Review". Webisoda - The Indian Web Series Hub. Retrieved 12 November 2020.
- ^ "Watch Pushpavalli - Season 2 Out Now (2020) online | Episodes | Cast | Review". Webisoda - The Indian Web Series Hub. Retrieved 12 November 2020.