Johnny Lever
Gender: MaleDate of birth: 14 Aug 1957
Age: 0
Johnny Lever (John Prakash Rao Janumala) Johny Lever Stand-up comedy career He started to perform stand-up comedy in musical shows (orchestras), Tabassum Hit Parade and after earning fame, joined the group of Kalyanji-Anandji, a music direction duo. Lever is one of the first stand-up comedian in India and widely regarded as pioneer of stand-up comedy profession in India. Even before joining Hindustan Unilever (HUL), he was giving stage performances. Because of his growing absenteeism and since he was earning well from stage shows, he quit HUL in the year 1981. He did a lot of shows and world tours with them, one of his first big tours being with Amitabh Bachchan in 1982. At one of his shows, actor Sunil Dutt noticed his talent and potential and offered him his first movie Dard Ka Rishta. He recorded a comedy cassette called Hasi Ke Hangame which gave him recognition at homes via the audio mode. During this period, he also did a few commercials for Kachua chhap incense, directed by Shekhar Kapur. In 1986, he performed in a charity show Hope 86 in front of members of the Hindi film industry as a filler. His talent was recognized, which resulted in producer Gul Anand offering him the film Jalwa, alongside Naseeruddin Shah.