If you grew up in the 90s or early 2000s, you probably know Ashish Vidyarthi as the quintessential Bollywood villain. You may remember him as Commander Bhadra, the Machiavellian terror mastermind from Govind Nihalani’s Drohkaal, for which he won the National Award. Or as Ramanbhai, the gangster in Sudhir Mishra’s Is Raat Ki Subah Nahin whose menacing on-screen appearance would send chills down your spine. Over the years, the National School of Drama alumnus has acted in over 300 films in 11 languages, shading his mostly negative roles with nuance and complexity. 

Off the screen though, Vidyarthi presents a very different image. He’s articulate, soft-spoken, and generous with his laughter. He speaks with a clarity of thought—choosing his words carefully—that serves him well in his second career as a motivational speaker, a role he’s been performing since the early 2000s. There’s a restlessness to him—fuelled by curiosity—that keeps pushing him to try new things at an age where most people are looking forward to retirement. 

Two-and-a-half years ago, armed with just a GoPro, he ventured into the social media content game, creating Instagram reels about food and travel that have earned him over 2 million followers. He also runs two successful YouTube channels—one a motivational podcast, the other a vlog—with a combined audience of over 2.2 million. And now, Vidyarthi is hitting the live stage once again, this time as a standup comedian. 

The self-described “one-month-old 58-year-old standup comedian” has been touring across the country with his first standup show Sit Down Ashish, chronicling the funny, absurd and outrageous stories that come with a life fully lived. Making his live debut at the Veda Kunba Theatre in Mumbai on 31 March, Vidyarthi has since staged performances in Guwahati and Kolkata, and has six more dates lined up for the next month in Ahmedabad, Mumbai, Pune, Kolkata and Bengaluru. Ahead of his show at Mumbai’s iconic Royal Opera House on 25 May, we sat down with Ashish (geddit?) to discuss his experiments with standup, the power of restlessness, and how a TATA Steel ad inspired him to never sit still. 

You’re a National Award-winning actor who has acted in hundreds of films over the years, with a steady stream of releases even now. But for over a decade now, you’ve also had a pretty successful career as a motivational speaker. Where did that impetus to branch out of the film industry into something new come from? 

Years ago I saw this ad from Tata Steel which said ‘we also make steel’ and it really inspired me to believe that I could do many things. If a steel company says we also make steel, then it also prides itself on doing other, different things. That thought sat with me like a seed for many years and developed into a basic philosophy of mine—how can I turn everything that there is to me, in me, to my advantage? 

One of the things that I have—and loads of it—is restlessness. I’m extremely restless. When I was much younger, they had assured me that once I get older, I’ll calm down. I’m 58 and I’m still waiting. And while I’m waiting to calm down, I’m finding interesting things to do with all the thoughts that I have. So about 15 years ago, I started doing motivational talks and workshops [with his company Avid Miner]. That took—and takes—me across the globe, curating conversations with organisations. 

And then a couple of years ago, you launched a third career as a content creator…

A: I discovered the world of social media two-and-a-half years ago, and started doing Instagram Reels on food. Then I started doing lifestyle vlogging on YouTube with two different kinds of channels. So at one end you have the travel vlogs, food vlogs and food reels. But I’m also speaking with people about life, about possibilities. 

And for me, my life has been a host of foolish steps, including when I forayed into Southern cinema. The kind of films that I wanted to do were very different from what anybody else had done. And so I ventured into films where I didn’t even know the language. Then when I started motivation speaking, I was foolish enough to go there without even knowing what HR meant. I learned on the job, and vlogging was a similar case. 

I had no clue about it. I just got myself a GoPro and started. There were some adjustments. For example, as an actor you never look directly into the camera. But a colleague of mine, Swapnil Sonawane, he coached me. He said look into the camera, it’s your friend. 

As a performer, if you’re not shitting bricks, then you are probably not in the right frame of mind.  

What inspired you to get on the standup comedy stage? 

A: Like I said, I have done a lot of foolish things in my life. This is one of those things. In January, a friend suggested that I should do standup comedy. And I said sure, why not? Even before I’d written a word, I went and booked the hall for my performance. In my head it was simple—you book a hall, you get a mic, you write a script and then you speak it. So I booked the hall, wrote a script and then announced the show. I didn’t really know the intricacies of standup comedy at all, I had no idea what a call back was. 

Maybe I only dared to do it because I didn’t know the details, didn’t know how long it takes for a person to come on and do a one-hour show. I love the sort of foolishness where people don’t even know that they can’t do something, and they just go and do it.

How did you practice for the show? Did you hit any open mics to develop your chops? 

Over the last 24 years, I’ve been doing a single actor play called Dayashankar Ki Diary. It’s a one-and-a-half-hour play directed by Nadira Zaheer Babbar. I’m the only actor in that play, I don’t get to exit the stage, change my getup or anything. I’m just standing there with the mic, holding the audience, regaling them. 

I have performed that play thousands of times all over the world. Apart from my training as an actor, that has been a huge part of my riyaaz of performing. So no, I did not do open mics. I just opened my show.

I’m pretty sure that cured any potential fear of bombing on stage as well. 

No, it’s still scary. It is very, very scary. Walking onto this stage, there is always that anxiety of what is going to happen? How is it going to go? 

I won’t say that I enjoy the experience—it can be terrible when you’re scared going right up front to the audience—but that’s what gets the adrenaline pumping. As a performer, if you’re not shitting bricks, then you are probably not in the right frame of mind.  

Can you talk about the theme of Sit Down Ashish, what it’s all about? 

I remember years ago in Delhi, I’d gone to a wedding at a friend’s house. We hadn’t been invited, and just so that we wouldn’t feel guilty about eating the food that they had to offer, I took up a dholak and started playing. Then I overheard one of the relatives call me a pretty bad slur. I felt very bad, but I looked at him and said “excuse me, you can’t insult the insulted.” 

I forever knew that I love to laugh at the things that hurt me. So that’s what I did with this material. I’ve written about the things from my life that I found very, very funny. I didn’t necessarily find them funny when they happened, but over the years I’ve learnt to laugh at them. So that’s what became Sit Down Ashish. 

There’s no abuse, no slander in the show. The only person I’m really going after is me, because I’ve assured myself that I won’t sue myself. I’m playing it safe, laughing at myself. No risqué jokes, no abuse. 

What are your plans in comedy after this current tour is over? Is it something you think you’ll be sticking with for a while? 

A: This is a developing show. We’re continuously working on the content. There’s also something around music and comedy that’s going to come out soon, a deviation of this.

What’s interesting about this particular show is that at this point it’s mostly in Hindi, but I have a full English version ready already. So wherever we’re called, we can do the show in English. And I love curating and altering my material as I go, depending on who the audience is. So I see a whole lot of potential for modifying the show depending on whether I’m playing at a club, at an open-air space, or for a corporate client. 

You’ve worked with hundreds of actors over the years, with stars from across generations. Which actor—dead or alive—do you think would absolutely kill it on a standup comedy stage today? 

You know, it could be anyone. There’s a whole lot of options. But my pick would be Mr. Amitabh Bachchan. He’s got this comedic timing that can be really amazing. He’s extraordinary.