Atul Khatri has been many things, and being a hilarious comedian who is cool enough to give anyone #DadGoals is one of them. So, we got a chance to speak to Mr. Khatri in this exclusive edition of Friendly Fridays and got some really cool insight about his life.
So without further ado, we give you the un-cut and exclusive interview. Read on!
ED: “So, Atul sir. If you were to have your own signature tag line on a billboard, what would it be and why?”
Atul Khatri: “I’d say “Running the marathon of life since 1968.” Since I was born in 1968, so that’s the reference. I believe life’s a marathon and not a 100m race, so you have to be slow and steady. It’s all about endurance. This used to be a tag even before I started off with stand up comedy. I even used to write it under my mails. Plus, I’m a half marathon runner too so the tag kinda stuck with me!”
ED: “Excellent! On that note of being a marathon runner and being fit, what if I ask you to make a choice? 6 pack abs or a lifetime free supply of chholey bhaturey and why?”
Atul Khatri: “Obviously 6 pack abs, haha. I believe the abs are the core of the body and if your core is strong, you generally live a healthier life. So without a doubt, 6 pack abs would be my choice.”
ED: “If given a chance, which one celebrity (living/dead) would you like to chill with and why?”
Atul Khatri: “There are quite a few, haha! But if I had to be selective and choose 2 people, one would be Shahrukh Khan because I believe he’s pretty cool.
He’s inherently funny and damn intelligent so it’d be great to have some intelligent conversations with him and my second choice would be George Carlin. George was a stand-up comic and a philosopher as well and by the time I got into stand up comedy, he had already passed away. A lot of people looked up to him.”
ED: “Great choices, I must say. Sir, tell us one unique thing about Sindhi people that we don’t know.”
Atul Khatri: “So first of all, we’re very adaptable to change. The Sindhi community lost its land way back and wherever we settle, we settle in pretty quickly. We learn the language, we learn the customs and to do business with people, you have to gel in really well. That’s why you see Sindhi people all over the world and they make friends with the locals very quickly. They don’t engage in groupism and that’s a great trait.”
ED: “Being a master of the art yourself, what sort of comedians do you not like to watch in the Indian stand-up comedy scene? Feel free to take names.”
Atul Khatri: “Honestly, anyone who can go on the stage and make people laugh is doing a commendable job so there’s no comedian in particular who I don’t like to watch. Although, I don’t like fart jokes and I find them quite gross. Also, I don’t like comedians who steal jokes.”
Related: TVF’s Funny Man Jasmeet Singh Bhatia Is Our Guest On This Week’s Friendly Fridays
ED: “What are your thoughts on the current scenario of freedom of speech in the country, as a stand-up artist?”
Atul Khatri: “I do believe that we have some sense of freedom of speech in the country but thanks to social media, people have become over sensitive and there’s always a clash of opinions. It’s almost as if people wake up in the morning, wanting to get offended. You can tell them that it’s a bright sunny day and even that might offend them. They look at all posts with or pictures with an intent to scrutinize them and no matter what you post, there’ll always be 5 or 6 guys who’ll point out something wrong with it. And I think platforms like Twitter have become really toxic. There’s a lot of negativity but I generally don’t take it seriously, since I can simply switch all of them off and live a happy life.”
ED: “That’s a great philosophy, sir. So, speaking of philosophy: If life gives you lemons, what do you do?”
Atul Khatri: “I’ll squeeze them and have lemon juice, yaar! Haha.”
ED: “Brilliant, haha! Sir, it was recently reported that you parted ways with East India Comedy. Would you like to throw some light on why that happened?”
Atul Khatri: “Yes, sure. We announced it officially. I decided to leave in July 2017 since EIC was growing as a company and engaging in branded content as well and as for me, I had run my own company for 25 years or so as a CEO and I had left that for pursuing stand up comedy.
And with EIC growing fast as a company, I got a similar feeling that it was becoming a lot more corporate and I had left that same environment in order to pursue stand up comedy. The company’s vision didn’t coincide with mine since they were shifting to a more sustainable version of themselves as an organization and I didn’t want that. I’m the guy who wants to wake up on a Monday morning and have coffee with my wife, write some material and then perform it on stage. That’s why I decided to leave EIC.
But yes, we’re still on great terms, we’re the best of friends and we had announced the separation officially so there’s no bad blood. It’s all great.”
ED: “That’s great to know, sir. Moving on to the next question: Tell us the 3 words that best describe Atul Khatri.”
Atul Khatri: “One would definitely be “Horny”, since that stuck to me thanks to my Twitter username but the word is a dangerous one in our line, haha. Second would be “Sindhi” and I think the 3rd would be “Old”. So, “Old Horny Sindhi” sounds about right, haha!
ED: “What a combo! So what’s more challenging to you, sir? Cracking 60 jokes in 60 minutes or going throughout the whole day without cracking a single joke?”
Atul Khatri: “I think going through the day without a single joke. It’s just that when you’re a comedian, you continuously think like that so it comes naturally.”
ED: “Sir, since you’re an icon for millennials and adults alike for giving up your corporate life and pursuing stand up comedy, what’s the one message you’d like to give to your fans and our readers based on your experience?”
Atul Khatri: “One thing I’d say is that you live only one life, so make the most of it. Do something which you actually enjoy and not just for the heck of it. If you enjoy what you do, you’ll surely excel in it and any profession takes a lot of hard work, so always be prepared to go in for the long haul and work hard in life to achieve success.”
Annnnnd, that’s a wrap! That was our exclusive interview with funny man Atul Khatri and I’m sure you had just as much fun reading it as we had in conducting it.
Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments!
Images: Google Images
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By far the best comedian that we have, a thorough professional with the perfect blend of sarcasm, wit in his sense of humour. he has a terrific presence of mind, though i personally feel should avoid rampant use of “desi” cuss words, sounds bit demeaning at times for a comic of his stature.
By far the best comedian that we have, a thorough professional with the perfect blend of sarcasm & wit in his sense of humour. He has a terrific presence of mind, though i personally feel he should avoid rampant use of “desi” cuss words, sounds bit demeaning at times for a comic of his stature.