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Johny Johny joker

Johny Lever. Click for bigger pic!

Syed Firdaus Ashraf

Love him, hate him, but you just can't ignore Johny Lever. Just try it when he's on screen and you realise the truth of the cliché.

But 16 years ago, it would have been a very optimistic producer who would have expected Johny Lever to be the saving grace in a film, as he was in N Chandra's Wajood. But again, 16 years ago, Johny was just another mimicry artist, amplifying famous people's odder mannerisms to raise a laugh. It called for observation, intelligence and the right facial muscles, but it didn't quite demand getting into the skin of a character. Even now, most of his roles don't demand that of Johny.

Johny began life in a slum in Wadala, north central Bombay.

"I was interested in films since my childhood. I studied only till class VII at the Andhra Society High School, Wadala and dropped out when I realised that education was not my cup of tea. Even as a child I used to mimic veteran film actors of the time.

"My father, a worker at Hindustan Lever, just didn't understand what I was doing with my life and so got me a job in the company. I started off at 18 as a casual labourer in Lever's Sewree factory," says Johny.

The young Johnny Rao -- that is his real name -- was a big draw among his co-workers with his mimicry. One day, after a union meeting, they demanded he perform for them.

"I imitated some officers and everybody were thrilled. So, union leader Sudesh Bhosle dubbed me Johny Lever."

And, pray, what did he himself do at Lever's?

"Every kind of manual labour. Even graduates used to sweep floors in our office then. So what will an anpad (illiterate) like me do at Lever's. 'Yeh uttha, woh uttha, gooni uttha... Wohi karte the, aur kyan (Pick this, pick that, pick up that sack... That's what I used to do).'

After hours he used to do stage shows too. He impressed quite a few important people and, in 1982, music director Kalyanji-Anandji suggested he provide the material for a new cassette of comedy they were putting together.

"I readily agreed; it was a big break for me then. This cassette was a big hit and well received all over India. It gave me recognition in the film world, but I still did not get any roles in films."

The first role Johnny did was an inconsequential one in Yeh Rishta Na Toote. He co-starred with comedian Jagdeep in the film that didn't work at the box office.

He got his next role in Sunil Dutt's Dard Ka Rishta. It wasn't an important role and went almost unnoticed.

With Anil Kapoor in Deewana Mastana. Click for bigger pic!

Recalls Johny, "I was disappointed when I got no recognition in those two films. But finally I got a big role in Esmayeel Shroff's Love 86, which was a big hit. And soon to follow was Naseeruddin Shah's Jalwa. These two films got me going in the industry. For the first time, I was recognised as a comedian rather than as a mimicry artist." But Johny is still nostalgic about his Lever's days.

"Today I always travel in air-conditioned cars, I don't walk much and don't do any manual work. In those days I used to sleep well because I used to be tired. But today I suffer from over-exertion. Sometimes, I wish that I could go back to my old good days."

So does the man who makes it his job to make people laugh ever get angry, maybe even cry?

"Kyon nahin? Gussa bhi aata hai, rona bhi aata hain, Kya main insaan nahin hoon, Meri bhi takleefen ho sakti hain, mujhe bhi tensions aa sakte hain. (Why not? I get angry, I cry too. Why, am I not a human being? I too have my problems, I too can have my own tensions). However, I don't get angry with the general public, only with my family."

"If I get angry with an outsider, he won't take me seriously," Johny laughs.

"Mera ek image bana huan hai; mein maiyat mein bhi jaata hoon to log hasten hai. Main abhi Nanavati Hospital gaya tha. Kuch patients jo serious the mujhe dekh kar has rahen the. To main kya gussa karon, meri value kya hain? (When I go for a funeral, people laugh at me. I just don't know what to do. The other day, I went to the Nanavati hospital and even the patients saw me and began laughing. So how can I get angry? What value do I have?)."

But however funny he finds himself, he believes that comedians like Kishore Kumar and Mehmood are in another league altogether. If he can make people laugh, it is because he has seen a variety of people in the slum he used to lived in.

"For example, the character of Gafoorbhai in Dewana Mastana is that of a tapori (a roadside Romeo).

"Tapooriyon ko mein bachpan se dekh raha hoon. To main unke jaisa kam kar sakta hoon, unko nazdik se dekha hai. Jo gunde mawali hamare mohalle mein baste hain unki acting karna koi mushkil nahin hai (I have known such people from childhood. So I can act like them. I have seen them from up close. So it wasn't difficult mimicking the goons of my locality)."

Johny admits that some of the elite can't appreciate his kind of humour, dubbing it loud and vulgar. But it's the role that makes him behave that way; given a more serious one, he says he can prove his acting potential.

He cites the role of Colonel Almeida in Kuch Kuch Hota Hain and the one he did in Kareeb.

In Raja Hindustani. Click for bigger pic!

"In both films I played different roles. Even the sophisticated classes liked it. So, it isn't that my comedy is vulgar and like only by the poor. If I get a good script and a good director I can prove that I can act for everyone."

Johny believes the problem lies with the writers, rather that there are few good comedy writers around. The last writer of good comedy disappeared in the eighties and early nineties. It is only now, he says, that producers have started realising the potential of comedy in cinema again.

"For nearly 15 years there were no good comedies in Hindi cinema. All the good comedy writers disappeared. The comedy writers were what made the comedians of yesteryear look so good, be it a Mehmood, a Johnny Walker or some of the other big names. They all had good writers. If I get those kind of writers, I too can work miracles."

While Johny would like to do slick comedy, though he has moved up in society, he is the same person he was in the Wadala slum.

"Mein nicche walon ke saath hi rahtan hoon har dam. Comedy jo hoti hain who niche ke level mein hi hoti hai, oonchen gharon mein nahin. Yeh badi building mein koi comedy nazar nahin aayegi. Har aadmi apne aap ko bachatan hai aur chupata hain (I stick with the lower classes. Comedy happens only at that level, never in the upper class homes. You don't see comedy in these big buildings. Every person protects himself, hides himself)."

"Nichen zameen par dekho. Woh aadmi kabhi parva nahin karta hain. Bada aadmi kya bolega, 'Kyon uske moon lagoon. Mera kachra ho jayega.' Isliye, aam admi ke saath jude hone se hi hum ko masala milta hain. Oxford Towers (where he lives now) mein kuch joke nahin banta hain. Agar mein Wadala mein jaoon to do char joke ban jayenge. (Look at the street. Those people don't care. The upper classes tell themselves, 'Why should I take up issues with him, I will be rubbished.' That's why I stick with the common man; it's only there that I get the masala to work with. I can't make jokes in Oxford Tower. For that I have to go to the Wadala slum). If I don't go there, my friends come and see me here."

But the new lifestyle has affected him, particularly his family life since no one takes a decision without Johny's consent since he is the eldest in the family.

Once, when his father had a paralytic attack Johny was busy shooting and there was no way the family could get to him, it being before mobiles came in. The family members waited for his return. When he did, it was already too late -- his father's leg had to be amputated.

"Had I been at home that day, this disaster could have been avoided," he says. Now his mobile helps him manage the family from a distance.

Like all actors he gets cagey when asked about his wages.

"It all depends on the kind of work which I am doing in the film," he says, admitting that he is one of the busiest comedians today in the industry.

With Govinda in Deewana Mastana. Click for bigger pic!

This interview was conducted before Johnny Lever was convicted for insulting the national anthem at a party held at Dubai in 1989. And when he was asked about it, he showed clear signs of distress.

"These are only allegations and is not true. I have already given press conference and announced my position." He says he was actually lampooning Indians who insult the national anthem.

"My critics felt I was fooling around with the national anthem and I was very hurt by this. They don't know how patriotic I am," he argues.

"I remember when they used to play Jana Gana Mana in the theatres, people used to leave the theatre.Jhadoo marnewale jhadoo mar rahen hain, aur 'Jaye he, jay he' kar rahe hai (The sweepers would be sweeping and sing, 'Jaye he, jaye he).' I pointed out this. But it was a bad time for me and I was blamed," he says.

"I still strongly feel that they must play the national anthem in theatres. When I go abroad for shooting, even in African countries, they play their national anthem. So, why don't we play it? Every Indian loves his country, doesn't he?" he asks.

He cites the number of times he has visited places where there have been floods and cyclones in India. He has visited remote military camps and his cyclone-hit home state of Andhra Pradesh in 1996. He was given certificates for his work, and it was only those certificates that helped him get bail, he says.

"I do a lot of social service and I don't boast about it. I believe that if you give with one hand, the other hand shouldn't know of it. I don't believe in cheap publicity."

Johny is slowly working himself up by this time.

"When they wrote in the papers that I was a traitor, I felt either like killing myself or shooting the person who wrote it," he says. When it was pointed out that he was reported to have attended a show organised by goons located in Dubai, he quickly refuted it.

"This is an accusation made around the same time. You too are digging up old bodies," he laughs. "Everyone had gone there... When were you born? What's your age?... You were very young then. This is all futile talk. Ask me something else."

Asked when why he is so critical of politicians in his mimicry, he says there is nothing wrong in imitating them.

"In fact abroad politicians respect mimic artists. So, what's wrong if I do it in India? After all, I am just trying to pass on the message of the common man to top political leaders and ministers."

Johny has few ambitions, but he definitely wants to do a serious role. "After all, I too am a human being. I have my emotions and am serious sometimes too."