Legendary comedian Johnny Lever and his daughter Jamie Lever have a lot in common. Be it their comic timing, their superb presence of mind or their witty jokes. Recently in an interview with Mid-day, Jamie opened up about her love for the art, her struggle in Bollywood and gave her insights on the insider vs outsider debate in B-town.
“It’s been good overall, we’re safe, we’re indoors,” she said when asked how she’s been holding up in lockdown. “Yes, the shootings have got cancelled, the shows have got cancelled, and we don’t have work but we all have had a nice time with family. We have also got a lot of time to think about ourselves. So, we really had good quality time to ourselves,” she adds.
Although Jamie seems to have got it from her father, the daughter of one of the most successful comic artists in B-town said that she never went for his shootings.
“I haven’t seen the shootings of 90 per cent of his films, never went for his stage shows, my brother really liked going for his stage shows but I never went.”
“But I was inspired by his conduct, the discipline, the kind of person he was at home, such a perfectionist, so hard working and so dedicated to his craft. So, that was the kind of influence he had on me,” she further said.
Even though she has made her name in the comedy space, Jamie says that her mother wanted her to be a doctor. “My mother came from a very humble family in Andhra, she was like ‘My daughter will be a doctor, my son will be an engineer,’ and this was the atmosphere she created at home. But in my sub-consciousness, I was always inspired by Mr Bean and Michael Jackson being a stage performer, I was in awe.”
The comedian further added that for the longest time she didn’t know what her dad was doing. “It was only later when we saw his movies in the theatres and I realised this was his job.”
“It was only later I realised how big an artist he is. When I went to college that’s when I realised he’s the king of comedy.”
She also said, “I was overweight at that time. I was 80 kilos or more, I don’t know because I never checked the weighing machine.”
“I was extremely overweight, obese for my height and I was eating unhealthy food.”
“And because I was in London by myself, I was stuffing my face with cake in the morning and muffins in the evening. My mother wasn’t there to check on me. When I came back to India and decided to have a career in comedy, my mother asked me if I wanted to be healthy or be in the category of ‘overweight.’ She also said there would be jokes about me. You might even have to make jokes about yourself.”
“Anyone from the audience making a joke on my weight would have shattered me. So I decided to be healthy, I started eating right. I became more confident.”
Opening up about the nepotism debate around Bollywood, she says, “I can talk about my journey, being a film child, a star-kid, although I don’t like saying that, I think when people talk about Nepotism, it doesn’t apply to all the star kids.”
“Not all-star kids are given the privilege. I’ve had a very different journey. There’s favouritism, there’s no nepotism, there’s favouritism to a certain lot.”
“There’s favouritism to a friend’s child, there’s favouritism to a certain group of people you know,” she adds. She also divulged that her father was never a part of any group in the industry. “My dad has done his job as his job, he didn’t make it his life. He went to work, shot for his films and came back home, that was his real life. He’s lived his real life which was his family, his friends, his spirituality. We were never a part of any filmy parties, we never went, we were never a part of any group. My dad was never filmy, my mother, as I said, came from a very humble background.”
She also said that Johnny never used his stardom to launch her. “When I decided to come into this field, my dad never made any phone calls for me, he never said ‘My daughter is coming, please launch her.’
“I had to pick up the phone, I had to make calls, I had to go to comedy clubs and ask for auditions.”
“I have called casting directors and said ‘Hello, my name is Jamie and I’m Johnny Lever’s daughter, can I come and audition for you.’ I have mentioned his name, can’t run away from it. When I called him from London to tell him about my plans, he asked me ‘Have you thought anything, how are you going to do it?’ He wanted me to figure this out myself because he also figured it out himself. So I got work because of my work. We were never a part of any group. I’m very proud of my journey,” she concludes.
Well, I am hooked to Jamie’s comic sketches and keep visiting her social media for them. Keep entertaining us, Jamie.