Johnny Lever

Johnny Lever

John Prakasa Rao Janumala (born 14 August 1957, in Prakasam), better known as Johnny Lever, is an Indian film actor and one of the most popular comedians in Hindi cinema.
Johnny has received 13 Filmfare Awards nominations in Best Comedian Category, and has won the award twice. Johnny began his career in 1984, and has acted in more than 300 Bollywood films since.

-:Early life:-

Johnny Lever

Lever was born to Prakash Rao Janumala and Karunamma Janumala on 14 August 1957 Prakasam, Andhra Pradesh, India. Johnny Lever was brought up in Mumbai's King's Circle area (Dharavi). His mother tongue is Telugu.Lever Johnny studied in Andhra Telugu School till the seventh grade but couldn't study further because of financial problems in his family, after which he decided to leave school and started working different kinds of odd jobs, such as selling pens on the streets of Mumbai by imitating Bollywood stars and dancing to the songs of Bollywood stars. Lever also spent his early ages in Yakutpura a old city of Hyderabad from where he learnt the unique style of comedy acting.
Lever was also employed in Hindustan Lever's (now Hindustan Unilever) factory in Mumbai with his father. While working, Johnny entertained his co-workers in the factory by imitating Elvis Presley. At one of the functions at his factory he was asked to perform and show his talent. His popularity among coworkers and officers of the factory by his performance earned him the nickname "Johnny Lever".
Johnny started to perform in musical shows (orchestras) Tabassum Hit Parade and after earning fame, joined the group of Kalyanji-Anandji, a legendary music direction duo. Johnny did a lot of shows and world tours with them, one of his first big tours being with Amitabh Bachchan in 1982.
During this period Lever learned a lot from his mentor Kalyanji, who was described by Lever as a great philosopher and a very humorous person. At one of his shows, actor Sunil Dutt noticed his talent and potential and offered him his first movie Dard Ka Rishta.
In the 1980s, he released his mimicry/comedy album, Hansee Ke Hungame, which became a hit in India and the world over, increasing his fame to another level. During this time period, he also did few commercials for Kachua chhap incense, directed by Shekhar Kapoor.
In 1986, he performed in a charity show called "Hope 86", in front of the whole Hindi film industry as a filler and was loved by audience. His talent was recognised, which resulted in producer Gul Anand offering him a film called Jalwa with Naseeruddin Shah. Johnny is considered an influential Indian comedian who has been cited as inspiration by many other comics.

<>Career<>

-:Audio career:-

Johnny Lever

Johnny started his mass career by releasing an album where he mimicked various Bollywood stars and created a few famous characters in the process; Chela Ramani being one. Some famous sketches in the album included "Sky Lab", "Madrasi Anna Cricket", "Pathan in the bus", "Hijra Kabaddi" and "Chela Ramani".

-:Film career:-

Johnny Lever

Lever got his first break in Tum Par Hum Qurban in which the famous TV and Stage compere and yesteryears actress Baby Tabassum launched her son Hoshang Govil as the leading man, and then with the film Dard Ka Rishta, thanks to Tabassum ji and the late Sunil Dutt. Since then, Johnny Lever has acted in more than 350 films including films like Tezaab, Kasam, Khatarnak and Kishen Kanhaiya . After Dard Ka Rishta, he was seen in Jalwa with Naseerudin Shah, but his first major success came with Baazigar, and after that Johnny Lever was seen in almost every movie as a supporting actor/comedian. Despite being busy with his many movie roles, Johnny Lever continued to do live shows. One of his most memorable live performances was an impersonation of Michael Jackson at the 1999 Filmfare Awards. His most acclaimed performance was the character of "Babulal" in the film, Baazigar, directed by Abbas-Mustan. Johnny Lever is also remembered for some of his other famous characters, like "Chotta Chattri", "Aslam Bhai", etc. His performance in the film, Judaai and his famous dialogues in the movie, Abba Dabba Jabba are also unforgettable.
His first Tamil feature film was Anbirkku Alavillai produced by SIMPL (Shepherd India Media Pvt. Ltd.), released in 2011. Johnny Lever also had a special appearance in one Telugu feature film, Criminal directed by Bollywood director Mahesh Bhatt.

-:Television career:-

Johnny Lever

Lever also appeared on Zee TV, in his own show, Johny Aala Re. In 2007, he appeared as a judge on the stand-up reality show Comedy Circus.
Johnny Lever is also the president of CINTAA (Cine And T.V. Artist Association) which has its own television show called Superstars ka Jalwa on Star Plus. Lever is also the president of MAAM (Mimicry Artist Association Mumbai), and has done thousands of live shows all over the world. Johnny younger brother, Jimmy Moses, is also a comedian and mimicry artist.

-:Personal life:-

Johnny Lever

Johnny Lever is married to Sujatha and has two children, a daughter Jamie and a son Jesse.Johnny Lever brother Jimmy Moses is also a famous stand-up comic who has worked on The Great Indian Laughter Challenge and Comedy Circus.

-:Controversies:-

Johnny Lever

In 1998, Johnny was convicted and sentenced to seven days imprisonment for disrespecting the Indian National Anthem, constitution and the flag at a private function hosted by Anees Ibrahim Kaskar, brother of global terrorist Dawood Ibrahim. However all charges against him were dropped and Johnny Lever was sent home within one day.^{[citation needed]}
Born into a Roman Catholic family, he in 2010 courted criticism from Hindu groups like the Hindu Common Front for "mainly performing Christian prayers on stage" in a concert in organised by Protestant and Pentecostal Christian denominations in a predominantly Hindu locality of Triolet in Mauritius.