‘Joke telling is truth telling with a bit of exaggeration’

Over a leisurely meal, Anuradha Menon talks about her generous appetite and her hatred for froth

September 20, 2017 11:30 am | Updated 12:13 pm IST

Shining smile Anuradha Menon at Mist restaurant in The Park hotel in New Delhi

Shining smile Anuradha Menon at Mist restaurant in The Park hotel in New Delhi

“It is not a ladylike thing to say!” exclaims Anuradha Menon as one asks her if she is a foodie. When an inane conversation starter gets a witty response, you know the actor has brought her famed sense of humour to the table despite a hectic day. “I don’t eat huge portions but I need to eat frequently,” says the noted actor and stand up artiste as we settle for an early dinner at Mist restaurant in The Park hotel. “There is always this running joke in the family, Oh! Anu hasn’t eaten yet! Once I went with a male friend to a restaurant. I ordered something and he ordered something but he was not eating. Later I discovered that he ordered so that just in case I need more. He said every time he sees me eating he feels happy. It feels like as if he is feeding a starving third world village,” says Anuradha without making it sound like self-deprecatory.

She says female actors have created an impression that they just eat carrots and they are full. Anuradha has a toned body but she doesn’t give it to her metabolism or genetics. “Most female actors say, ‘Oh! it is good genes.’ And I say, no, I have seen your mother.” She says boys also like to feed burgers to skinny girls. “If the girl is on the heavier side, they probably won’t. My husband Aniruddh’s friends often say that his wife just eats and makes no bones about it.” The one liners keep coming effortlessly.

When she doesn’t eat or get her cup of tea, Anuradha reveals, she gets grumpy. “And nobody wants to come in the way of a crabby Anu. “Tea is central to my life. I can drink any number and many varieties of tea but my staple is masala chai.” A complete tea person, Anuradha says she gives in to coffee only when it arrives in the filtered version. “I don’t like these cappuccino. Half of it is froth only.”

Without wasting any time, the chef sends a nice blend of prawn and chicken dimsums and a platter of vegetarian kababs. A South Indian who prefers her rice over naan, Anuradha discovered what all can be eaten during lunch and dinner when she married a Gujarati and shifted to Mumbai. “Gujaratis have the worst food habits in the world,” she declares. “In the South, we have bhel puri as a snack. For them, chaat is a meal. One day I discovered at dinner, they were having chaat . And I was like where is the food and the response was, yehi hai . I mean dahi batata puri...I got myself an egg and came back,” recalls Anuradha with a straight face.

In Delhi recently to perform at The Park’s New Festival, Anuradha remembers as a kid she was quite shy and went on stage for the first time when she was 14. “Since then I discovered my love for stage. I like to observe people. I don’t make jokes on political issues. I draw from my personal life and relationships. At the end of the day, people laugh because there is an element of truth in what you say on stage. Joke telling is truth telling with a bit of exaggeration,” she muses.

Dealing with stereotypes

Of late there has been a significant rise in the number of female stand up artistes on stage. Anuradha feels the stereotypes, however, still exist. “It is generally said that all female stand ups talk about the same thing. We never say this about the male comedians. And the notion is that if you go to a female stand up show, you will find her talking about female things which they don’t want to listen to as a guy. You never say this about a male stand up. To me it is not about the gender, it is about the take. A woman’s take is obviously going to be different.”

Then, she adds, the reactions after the show are also amusing at times. “Instead of commenting on the performance, I often get asked about the hair product that I use. Or that I have a great waistline despite being a mother of a five year old. Do guys ask Daniel Fernandes how he gets those spikes on hair? Why do I get to hear lines like, you were quite funny ma’am for a woman,” says Anuradha with a sense of exaspersation.

Coming back to her Gujarati in-laws, Anuradha admits that the family provides her plenty of fodder for her shows. “I consider myself a loud person but in that house I am like a church monk. My mother-in-law is a school teacher. When she address me it seems like she is addressing a classroom of 60. I have to tell her, mama, I am right here,” Anuradha adds a little bit of drama to explain her point. “Then I look at my child and say this is called noise pollution.” Having said that, Anuradha says her mother-in-law shares a happy relationship with her. “She feels she has inspired me. She wants me to imitate her in front of the her friends and family. I often get flak on social media for making fun of her but most women don’t get that I have been able to do it because I share a healthy relationship with her.”

Anuradha observes that we are living in times where anyone gets offended by anything. “It doesn’t take much. Especially with social media, the kind of stuff that people say, I often feel whether they are saying it because they feel that way or they say it because they are under the guise of anonymity. You have to develop a thick skin because of it. If I have to do Lola Kutty now, it would have to be done through the Internet route.” The kind of risks that television used to take, she says, are being taken on web now.

With stand up artistes ruffling the feathers of political class, Anuradha says comedians are emerging as the fifth estate. “They make the harsh truth palatable. They are often called for prime time debates on national television because they have a point of view. The old guard is taking time in coming to terms with their popularity as they have bypassed traditional media.”

It took her a long time to break the Lola Kutty image. She continues to be identified by the character of the traditional Malayali girl that she created for Chanel V. Anuradha says there have been instances where filmmakers have called her to see what she is really like. There have been female fans who felt that she has disgraced them by overnight turning into this ‘girlie’ girl. “That’s scary. I had to constantly tell them that I am like this only. No one gives me any items numbers. I also want to be that curly haired girl holding a shampoo. But then you don’t despise something that you created.”

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