Known for his gripping performance, alongside Ranveer Singh, in Simmba, Comedian Siddharth Jadhav has created smiles for over 20 years on Marathi stage, in films, and on television. He talks about the evolution of digital comedy in an exclusive tete-a-tete with DNA.
The glass is half full for me. New talents are coming up every day. Many artists do not get big breaks in television and films. Now, there is a new platform for such people to perform. They are experimenting, as well as have access to a global audience due to such platforms.
You don't need to train them. Their talent is natural. I have acted in so many formats but the basics were derived from the Marathi culture of humour. Even for Comedy Circus, the reference points were similar. Bharti and I or Krishna and Suresh are like Laurel and Hardy. We make people laugh. The new guys are able to connect instantaneously.
Simbba showed as to how a social message can be communicated using entertainment. Rohit Shetty follows a lot of Marathi cinema, theatre, and literature. Other than four actors, the milieu and other actors were from the Marathi world. Jaykant Shikhare was a humorous Marathi villain.
The future looks very bright for this format; lots of scope for new talents. Cinema is not the only platform anymore. One's fan-following can be explored on the web.
BhaDiPa
4,19,478 subscribers and 2-6 million followers per episode
Kori Pati Productions Gavakadchya Goshti (Tales from the rural hinterland)
5,39,131 subscribers and 0.5 to 2 million viewers
Chavat Channel’s Struggler Saala
2,86,621 subscribers and 1-2 million viewers every episode
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