Comedy czar is in the house

“I’m from a middle-class family settled in Bengaluru, and had no idea what to do what to do with my life. So I ended up studying engineering,” says Kanan. He worked for three years in a job that clearly didn’t satisfy him so he tried his hand at stand-up comedy — he wont two competitions he participated in, and that gave him a confidence boost. “Initially I started a YouTube channel, and used to ask, rather annoy people with questions about homosexuality or how to pick up a girl. The pre and post-production time for each video took a long time, so Biswa Kalyan Rath (co-YouTuber) and I started a series called Pretentious Movie Reviews,” he says.

The series targets yesteryear Bollywood movies, which the duo reviews in detail. “These movies fall under the genre ‘they're so bad that they’re good’ according to us,” he laughs adding, “However, we made it clear we wouldn’t hurt anybody's sentiments or pass negative comments.” Didn’t mocking movies land him in any trouble? “I’ve actually met quite a few big directors and actors I’ve commented about in my reviews, and fortunately they all took it in the right spirit,” he explains.

Now coming to the best part — Kanan Gill is single! Yes ladies you read it right, he doesn’t have a girlfriend, or at least that’s what he told us (wink!). But he does have his share of fans that adore him. “I had once gone to do a stand-up comedy show in Delhi. I found fans holding up posters with my picture -- not just this, someone heard of my obsession for quirky socks and actually got me a pair!” recalls Kanan. According to him, audiences everywhere are the same, but Chennai holds a special place in his heart. “The audience here is capable of giving crazy reactions and can instantly cheer me up,” he says. “I love this city and look forward to coming back here,” he signs off.