Aditi Mittal is pretty difficult to catch hold off. Between photo shoots, meetings and jetting off to different cities to perform, this comedian definitely has her hands full. “ I seem to spend 80 percent of my life at the airport,” she says laughing, when she finally gets a minute to speak, “but it's all fun and it's all great.”
Her recent show with noted comedian Nitin Mirani, 'He said She said', which was organised by The Goan Comedy Club here in Goa saw them addressing a lot of stereotypes about women. “ The aim was about getting the genders together. He said this, she said that, but what they said is the most interesting thing. After he is done talking and she is done talking, the things that both of them say combined is interesting,” she says, adding that she is a great fan of Goa. “This is personally the beginning for me for lots of stories about Goa. And I hope that Goa loves me back as much as I love Goa.”
Tagged as among the top 10 comedians in India, Aditi Mittal began doing stand up comedy around four years ago after her stint in production in the media industry. In doing so she became one of the few women to take up a field which at that time was still relatively new in the country, a decision which she credits to “shamelessness, anger and desperation” on her part. And Mittal slowly became a recognised name in the industry and her gutsy humour soon led her to performing at humour festivals and in clubs all over the country and also abroad. She has been a regular at the Canvas Laugh Factory, Comedy Store Mumbai and appeared on BBC World, BBC America, BBC Asia and in Stand-Up Planet, an American documentary about the best humor to be found in the developing world.
But Mittal does not shy away from admitting that the scene was very different from what she expected. “When I started doing comedy I was under the impression that this field would develop independently. But it's not only about merit, making it in this industry depends a lot on friendship, broship and holding each other up,” she says, adding that she's not everyone's favorite person. “ I am popularly unpleasant. But it is unpopular women who make things happen for their popular self,” she reveals. Mittal also cautions that anyone who seeks to get into the industry needs to be prepared. “ Make sure that you are ready for a bulk of work and lot of meet and greets and constant making contacts etc. You have to constantly work harder, better and be stronger,” she says. And while her frankness in talking about issues that are still frowned upon in the country gets plenty of raised eyebrows, Mittal doesn't give a damn. “There may be 300 people telling me that everytime I open my mouth I say too much. But this doesn't affect me,” she states, adding that there need to be more women in this industry. “We need more funny women. We need more women coming out, standing up there and speaking their point of view without worrying about what anyone has to say.”
