She's Funny That Way

Mallika Dua, soon to be seen in a new Hindi film Indooki Jawani, on being a woman in comedy and doing more nuanced roles onscreen

- Suhani Singh

Five years ago, Mallika Dua broke the internet with the YouTube sketch “S**t People Say: Sarojini Nagar Edition”. Since then, her wit has got her two web shows, The Trip (YouTube) and The Office (Disney+ Hotstar), online gigs as host and judge, as well as cameos in films—Hindi Medium and Zero. A significant part in a feature had been missing thus far. That changes with Indoo ki Jawani in which she is the friend the protagonist leans on for advice. In an industry prone to typecasting, Dua was glad to not be playing yet another “chubby sidekick of the heroine”. “She is a gyaan ki dukaan,” says Dua. “That it was directly offered to me suggests that thought went into this. The film is about sisterhood which is not often seen in films.”