10 Best Mimicry Performances

Indian Television has had excess of stand-up comedy performances in the past few years. The trend was started by The Great Indian Laughter Challenge way back in 2006. It was aired on Star One and was followed by several other reality shows. When I look back at those times, I can separate some performances that stood out the test of time. Let me take you to the journey of some of these Stand-up performances. I have taken due labor to bring in the best mimicries and ensure diversity. I hope you will love to bookmark this page for future doses of laughter. Enjoy!

1. Kuldeep Dube at Laughter Challenge II (2007)
Kuldeep Dube steals the top spot with this unparalleled skill and impeccable script beating the likes of Sunil Pal and VIP. He narrates the creative dramatization of ‘Rashtriya Shaadi’ i.e. marriage of Aish & Abhishek in a very engrossing manner. The mimicry includes Rajpal Yadav, Nana Patekar, Amir Khan, Amitabh bachchan, Irfan Khan and Ajay Devgun. The controversy over ‘safed rasgulla’ truly steals the show.

Dialogues:
Nana Patekar: rasgulle ki nadiyan baha sakta hoon main and maine abhi abhi Amar Singh ki thali mein ek safed rasgulla dekha hai.
Rajpal Yadav: arre ab to bilkul nahi rukenge tumhari shaadi me

2. VIP at Start Plus Award function (2008)
There is no doubt that VIP has a gift from god when it comes to mimicry. He seldom fails to do justice while faking bygone era including but not limited to Rajendra Prasad, Suniel Shetty, Akshay Kumar, Paresh Rawal, Mithun da, Amitabh Bachchan, Asrani, Dev Anand, Rajesh Khanna, johnny Level, Sunil Dutt, Sunjay Dutt, Ashok Kumar, Sanjeev kumar, Naseeruddin Shah, Pran, Amjad Khan (Gabbar), Lalu Prasad, Govinda, Sunny Deol, Kamal Haasa, Gulshan Grover, Shahrukh, Hrithik Rohan, Om Puri, Saif, Shakti Kapoor, Kulbhushan Kharbanda, Dara Singh(Duryodhan of Mahabharat), Amrish Puri, Nana Patekar, Dilip Kumar, Shatkughan Sinha and Dharmendra. In this astonishing performance he comes out with 50 voices of Bollywood in just 5 minutes. Check how fast that is using a calculator. Well, let me do that for you it’s 1 voice every 6 seconds and that to non-stop. Phef!.

Best Dialogues: Well it will be an insult in choosing the best one out of 50 great voices but i will make it a try by choosing a few.

Paresh Rawal: are deva! chamma ayila, sablok bole to me kahe ko ni bolega re deva.
johnny Lever: ohhh, kamaal karta hai yaar. chup karrr.
Lion(don’t know real name of villain): saara shehar mujhe loin ke naam se jaanta hai, smart boy!
Naseeruddin Shah: bhai kamaal ki baatein karte ho.
Rajesh Khanna: Babu moshaye

3. Sunil Pal at Laughter Challenge I (2007)
It is one of the most stellar performances of stand-up comedy on Indian Television with the story of Veerappan kidnapping Madhuri story. It includes spotless mimicry of the likes of Naseeruddin Shah, Sunil shelly, johnny Lever, Irfan Khan and obviously Ratan Noora. You will remember Sunil Pal mimicking Sunil Shetty as ‘ai veerappan’ remember him with trademark style of flapping hands.

Dialogues:
Sunil Shetty: Aeh Veerappan, Veerappaan. Madhuri ko chhor de.
Naseeruddin Khan: kisi ladki ko jungle me utha ke lekar aanagunah hai, 10 guna hai, 100 guna hai, hazar guna hai. Main o kehta hoon paap hai yeh.
Ratan Noora: Freestation, Laas
Johnny Lever: veerappan chhappan, abe itni gandi shakal le ke paida kaise ho gaya
Irfan Khan: chakkar kya hai bhaiya

4. Priya Raina at India’s Got Talent (2009)
Priya Raina, a singer by hobby pulls it off an unexpected performance. The only female in the list, Priya in her 2 minute appearance proves that she is more than capable of mimicking the likes of Sri Devi (from Chandni), Juhi (from Ishq), Kajol (from DDLJ), Karishma (from Raja Babu), Priyanka (from Fashion) and Madhuri (from Devdas). She also tries her hand at male voice of Mithun da but fails to strike it. All the voices except Priyanka and Mithun are very finely done. Kajol’s and Juhi’s performance stands out from the rest.

Best Dialogue: bauji, bauji maine kaha tha na bauji.

5. Sunil Pal at Laughter Challenge V (2008)
What happens when Nana Patekar hosts Kaun Banega Crorepati in his Krantiveer styled sarcasm. It is another masterpiece by Sunil Pal which didn’t get the praise it deserved. In this mini performance, Sunil Pal leaves no stone unturned to mingle the atmosphere of Nana fils and KBC to take the audience to the laughter limits.

Best Dialogue: crorepati banne ki laalchi aurat, idhar aa & bhagwaan ne jabaan di, lage maangne.

Bottom Five – Just missing the cut
While the first five performances are all time greats but some of the wonderful artists like Raju Srivastava, Kapil Sharma and Krishna/Lahiri have shown their own niche in mimicry with their own strange fictional characters. So, the back five are not ordinary ones by any standards. Just for the sake of space and policies of these blogs I have to cut short my review. Before I finish I will like to offer you brief description of the next performances with their links.

6. Kapil Sharma Laughter Challenge III (2008)
Kapil Sharma, former Laughter Challenge winner and 4 times Comedy Circus champion mimics a Police Officer in his own trademark style.

7. Raju Srivastava at Laughter challenge IV (2009)
Creativity is the biggest asset in comedy and Raju Srivastava is one of the most thoughtful and creative comedian i have ever seen. He describes the scene of a traditional Indian marriage for the eyes of inanimate objects and hapless hosts and invitees.

8. johnny Lever at Laughter Challenge (2008)
How can we forget the king of Indian Comedy. Johnny Lever has given only a limited stand-up comedies and this one is one of his best. It is a must watch. See him mimicking a stubborn Sardar arguing with an auto rickshaw driver.

9. Krishna and Sudesh at Comedy Circus (2008)
Krishna Lahiri Jodi is a made for each other when we look at their contrasting styles of comedy. It is arguably the best comedy jodi on Indian TV even better than Ali Brothers of Pakistan. See them mimicking Sunny Deol and others in a musical performance.

10. Indian Idol IV Contestant (2008)
This is a surprise entry. An Indian Idol singing contestant impressively mimics Indian Actors in a situational comedy. Voices of Fardeen Khan and Amir Khan are incredibly accurate. This one’s a real jewel in amateur category.