When he volunteered to be selected as an audience spot at an open mic show of a local comedy club, public laughed at his gigs. And it continued thereafter. Meet Gavin Methalaka, the improvisational comedian who made his Hindi film debut with the recently released Katti Batti. In a chat with Metrolife, Methalaka opens up about his popular side and Bollywood debut.
Popularly known as CHubBy for his round built, he says, “I have always been fascinated by comedy from a very young age. The ‘rumoured’ ability to make someone laugh till it hurts. I learnt it a bit from my hot-headed, light-hearted father. He made people laugh. He made my mother laugh. That mattered and that’s what I wanted to do – make my mother laugh. That gave birth to an aspiring entertainer.”
Methalaka as a part of Mumbai-based improvisational comedy club, Improv Comedy. He was introduced to this form on-the-spot theatre, two years back which became his calling. “It nurtured my acting skill sets.” he says. The 29-year-old admits, “I loved the art of sarcasm, puns and smart comedy. So, I tried some in the name of “taking one’s case” on all of my friends. Some won. Some failed.”
While he mentions that the audience yearns for sarcasm, observational, and smart thought provoking jests, he says, it’s about timing it right. “Sometimes you are in the right moment, in the right time and in front of the right audience. Then your ‘crappiest’ pun is the day’s top punch line. I look up to many but improvisation comedy is a now my vice and my teacher,” he notes.
Methalaka was seen portraying a close friend of Imran Khan in romantic comedy Katti Batti. While he is all praises for his co-actors, Khan and Kangana Ranaut, he admits that “both don’t have any celebratory air about them”.
Dabbling live performances and films, he says both are challenging fields. “In both, one has to adopt the character of another and live it. We just have to realise that the challenge is to make the scene or the attempt better. Just play it true,” he confesses.
With a variety of experiences in visual arts and voice over and having worked with big names in the industry including ad film director Prahlad Kakkar and filmmaker Nikhil Advani, he states, “Now, I am standing tall, fat and proud to say that I am here without
a godfather and it’s all hard work.”