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PERSONAL AGENDA
twitter.com/HTBrunch
Actress / Comedy show judge
Archana Puran Singh BIRTHDAY
September 26
SUN SIGN HOMETOWN Libra
SCHOOL/COLLEGE
Dehradun
Convent of Jesus and Mary, Dehradun; Lady Shri Ram College, New Delhi
LOW POINT OF MY LIFE
FIRST BREAK
Mr Ya Mrs (1980s sitcom by Jalal Agha)
HIGH POINT CURRENTLY
I guess when I had to leave home OF MY LIFE I AM... The birth of Doing well! and come to Bombay. I was homesick and had to deal with it my kids
The first line of your autobiography would read... “The following has no resemblance to any person living or dead.” The pick-up line that makes you laugh. “Hey gorgeous!” Because I’m anything but gorgeous. I love corny lines, but I’m not picked up too often. What cracks you up? More than humour, it’s wit, and an attitude. If a person delivering a funny line has the right ing humour never fails. attitude, that does it for me. Rate your sense of You’re the editor of a comic book. humour on a scale of 1-10? Who would you put on the cover? It’s off the charts! My husband, because he’s one If you could be a superhero, who real-life cartoon. would you be? Which body part would you insure? Wonder Woman. She’s a My brain. It’s my single most knockout and I’d love to wear valuable asset. her costume. Also, I’ve been The best part about being a judge. Wonder Woman at home for so You get to laugh all the way to long, I might as well get the the bank. costume too! And the worst. Best dialogue from Sholay? You’ve got to discover 1,001 “Kitney aadmi they?” It has so different ways to say many connotations. how bad an act was Which character from FUNNIEST PERSON Sholay would you like to without offending or IN BOLLYWOOD hurting the person’s play? feelings. I’d love to play (DEAD OR ALIVE)? What should every Dhanno or Thakur’s woman know about a severed arms man? (where did That he’s comthey go?). Or pletely dispensable perhaps Jaya and utterly unnecBachchan’s lantern. essary. Mere pass bangla hai, A joke that never fails. gaadi hai, bank balance The joke that’s on hai. Tumhare pass kya you. Self-deprecathai?
Sanjeev Kumar, easily
JUNE 9, 2013
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FUNNY MOVIES EVERYONE SHOULD WATCH
Not Now, Darling Ferris Bueller’s Day Off The Bird Cage Chupke Chupke (1975) Muskurahat
That doesn’t hold true for me. But my mother lives with me! So I’ll go with the classic answer, “Mere pass maa hai!” A rumour you’d like to start. I spent a lot of time in my heyday quashing rumours. At this stage, there’s no rumour I’d actually like to start. Three funny women on television. Purbi, Bharti and me, because I’ve lasted this long on TV by just laughing. Raising two teenage boys is like... Your worst nightmare coming true, yet it’s the biggest joy. I guess that’s the contradiction of motherhood. Assuming there’s a funny bone, where would it be located?
In unmentionable places. But for want of propriety, it should be located between the ears and behind the eyes. The weirdest thing you’ve been told about your laughter? Actually I’ve become so used to it over the last six years, I’ve heard it all. Every comment, criticism is valid. One song that defines you? Dekho dekho ye hai jalwa. A piece of advice you’d give a budding stand-up comic? Comedy has to be effortless. The moment you try too hard to be funny, you’ll fall flat. But it takes effort to seem effortless. — Interviewed by Shreya Sethuraman