Those who are familiar with stand-up comedy in India and across the world know that laughter is the best medicine, and when it comes to regional stand-up comedy, it’s a wonderful space to be in as some of the best humor, quite often that we can relate to, is in our mother tongue or local language.
With over 106K Instagram followers, a dozen or so paid promotions, and over 100+ live shows across Karnataka, I expected to meet somebody who was perhaps haughty and snooty, but I was pleasantly surprised to meet an unassuming electrical engineer (2012 pass out from Dharwad) who was good at studies all through her schooling across India. Sonu VenuGopal was quite clear that post her graduation she didn’t want to do a 9 to 5 corporate job and started her career as an RJ with a FM Radio station for about 4 years, which gave her the complete liberty and freedom to express herself. She anchored the morning show and had fans tuning in just to listen to her.
Coming from a typical North Karnataka educated family, matrimony followed in 2016 with a techie husband and she was away in Switzerland for close to two years. After returning to India, Sonu decided to start her own Instagram handle in 2018 and the rest, as they say, is history.
Her mother’s family has been a great source of inspiration for the many reels that she scripts and shoots herself, which Kannadigas across the world love watching every day. Her husband and family are also extremely supportive, giving her the necessary space and time to carve a niche for herself in a predominantly male bastion that is changing across India, with many women entering the stand-up comedy space.
It’s hard to believe that she gets butterflies in her stomach before going live! But once on stage, she is an absolute LIVE WIRE who knows how to engage the audience with her ready wit and spontaneous repartees with the crowd. All her shows get sold out within hours, which itself speaks volumes about her popularity, which also led to her being featured in the prestigious FORBES magazine in 2021.
Her strongest critics are her husband and mother, who don’t mince words and always help with suggestions to improve her performances. Sonu comes across as somebody who is extremely intelligent and has a keen sense of observation. Her bubbly personality is contagious, and she comes across as a people person off camera as well.
She says with conviction that women have a better sense of humour than men and she is keen that we stop projecting women as the perfect work-life balance ‘Adarsh Maa/Bahu/Beti/Patni’ types—as it is natural that sometimes work might take up more priority.It is this refreshing honesty which makes this talented 32-year-old so special.
The premise, set-up, and punchline – the mantra for any act to be successful, hits the bulls’ eye almost every time on her social media or in her live shows, as most of her characters are so very relatable.
Her barely two-year-old daughter Layaa already has a huge fan following & the proud mother ensures she is able to strike the right balance in spite of a very creative and demanding profession. The perks of being a celebrity are always there, and many love to get a selfie clicked with her.
She says that it’s not money that drives her but creative satisfaction, which gives a great high, and the approach is local, but not the topics that work in her favour. Politics is something she would like to avoid for the time being.
This determined Scorpio (Oct 26) and the only daughter of her parents comes from a close-knit family with generations of progressive ladies. Her husband enjoys the success Sonu has achieved and prefers to be BTS (Behind the Scenes), and while his talented wife takes the centre stage, he always makes time for all her live shows.
This foodie and travel junkie (she has already visited more than 22 countries) comes across as someone who, in her own determined way, will work along with everybody and have her cake along with the bakery!
