The quality of stand-up comedy has come down drastically: Badava Gopi

“I play Abi’s father in the serial and Abi is my eldest daughter according to the story. In Hip Hop Adhi’s film Naan Sirithaal, I played his dad and the character went on to become a huge hit on social media. There were memes saying how a dad-son relationship is meant to be. This role in Abi Tailor is in contrast to Naan Sirithal. Here the daughter is the pillar of the family,” he begins. Badava Gopi’s humour comes to the fore when we ask him about shooting with a 100-member unit in such times. “Till last week I was standing in the TASMAC queue. Now here I am shooting for Abi Tailor,” he says. He quickly adds, “You heard it right, I was in the TASMAC queue wearing a mask and observing how alcoholics behave as a part of my prep for this role. Now we are following safety protocols on the sets.

This is a mega serial that will have over 1,000 episodes.” On his transition from film to television, the actor says that he sees everything as a medium to perform. “Be it movies or television, performance is the same. Coming from movies, I see television as a platform for me to showcase my character through Abi Tailor,” he tells us. Badava Gopi, who was one of the early patrons of stand-up comedy circuit feels that the quality of comedy has drastically come down. “People’s sense of humour has certainly evolved. However, the quality of stand-up comedy has come down. There is a perception even among stand-up comedians that climbing the stage and cracking jokes using vulgar words works with the audience. I vehemently condemn this. They fail to narrate the content and get carried away by using such words he says. On the filmfront, Badava Gopi will be next seen in Maanadu.