Bollywood's iconic comedian Johnny Lever has starred in over three hundred hindi films and boasts of a huge fan following worldwide.
Johnny Lever visited SBS Hindi studios in Sydney with his daughter, Jamie Lever and revealed how John Rao became Johnny Lever.
For those who dont know, Johnny Lever's real name is John Rao.
While working at Hindustan Lever, he participated in a function where his stand-up comedy and mimicry became such a hit that the union leader there christened him 'Johnny Lever'.
Twenty nine-year-old Jamie Lever is veteran Bollywood comedian Johnny Lever’s daughter.
Never in their wildest dreams did Jamie, nor her father, think she would become a comedian. “In real life, my dad is nothing like his goofy on-screen characters. He is a strict, conservative South Indian dad. Growing up, our mother kept us away from the film world he worked in. He wanted me to not only complete my graduation but do a post graduation, get a good job, and settle down,” she says. She convinced Lever to send her to London to do a post graduation in marketing communications but really, “I just wanted to get away from everything.”
The realisation that she belonged in front of the camera dawned on her while studying and working in London. After college, she would hit the comedy clubs. “I realised I could do what those guys were doing,” she recalls. Soon, she found herself working as a sales person for a London-based market research company.
When my dad visited London for a show, I told him, petrified, that I wanted to do stand-up. He decided to give me a chance to perform with him at his show, but warned me that his was a paying audience and he never gave them a bad performance. I had to audition. It was my litmus test. After I performed on stage with him, someone from the audience shouted,‘Johnny bhai, yeh toh aap se bhi zyaada jayegi. Bach ke rehna.’ He told me to return to Mumbai and pursue comedy,” recalls Jamie.
Her dad became her mentor and together so far, they have done over 150 live shows.
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