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Between TV & Radio, How Anirban Dasgupta & Kanan Gill Are Tackling Australian Media

By DA Staff 19 April 2019 2 mins read

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The Melbourne International Comedy festival is still on and our homegrown talent is making all kinds of impressions there. Taking over Comedy Zone Asia, which highlights Asian standup talent, are Anirban Dasgupta and Sonali Thakker from India; the Indian All-Star Comedy Showcase features Kaneez Surka, Anuvab Pal, Naveen Richard, and Sonali Thakker; and then thereโ€™s our Improv Dream Team with Surka, Richard, Kanan Gill, and Rahul Subramanian.

In the solo acts, Sumit Anand is back in Melbourne, this time with Nothing About Godzilla, while Subramanian and Gill debut and tour their new live specials, Is This Even Comedy and Teetar, respectively.

Weโ€™ll get you the full scoop in a bit, but from whatโ€™s available for us to keep track of online right now, hereโ€™s a quick glimpse into how Dasgupta and Gill have been tackling the local media there.

Anirban Dasgupta

Besides his standup shows, Dasgupta has also been on the radio, complaining about HR, punctuated with his trademark machine-gun chuckles:

“When employees get motivated, they quit.”

He was also on a podcast on JOY 94.9โ€”an LGBTI community radio station in Melbourneโ€”trying his damnedest to give Australians an insight into Indian culture through his own stories. He takes listeners through stories of being pressurised to have a kid, the online outrage surrounding his YouTube video on Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose, the comedy scene in Kolkata, AND meeting Hannah Gadsby. (Listen from 4.30 min.)

Kanan Gill

Meanwhile, Kanan Gillโ€™s being interviewed by wide-eyed TV presenters, equally fascinated by his switch from Computer Science & Engineering to standup comedy, and having a bagged a role in a Bollywood film.

On The Sunday Project, heโ€™s asked why his show is called Teetar and what it means. โ€œIt was a very bad idea to name it Teetar,โ€ Gill responds, almost sheepishly. โ€œItโ€™s a word in Hindiโ€”which people who speak Hindi donโ€™t even knowโ€”for a show thatโ€™s in English. And I just thought it would be funny. The word teetar means partridge[โ€ฆ] I sent the description to the Melbourne Festival and now Iโ€™m stuck with the name!โ€

After getting past the now-global question of Pretentious Movie Reviews that will follow him everywhere, Gill also helps clear out some confusion about whatโ€™s up with Bollywood: โ€œWere you involved in the fake kissing?โ€ the mildly confused, curious presenter asks Gill. โ€œThere are some dance moves that are meant to be a kiss but arenโ€™t quite a kissโ€ฆ?โ€

Trying to keep a straight face, Gill replies, โ€œUm, no. Weโ€™re past that. Weโ€™re into the dance moves that donโ€™t mean anything now.โ€

Two of his interviews are available so far for us to watch in India:

Kanan Gill on The Project TV
Kanan Gill on Studio 10

If youโ€™re reading this Down Under, Kanan Gill is touring Teetar at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival from 19-21 April, Perth Comedy Festival on 24 April, Sydney Comedy Festival on 26 April, and in Brisbane on 27 April. Tickets available here.

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