Exclusive! Pop Kaun? actor Kunal Kemmu: Comedy gets a lot of love, but not much respect

Through the decades, Kunal Kemmu has proven that he is a versatile actor with every project that he has signed. He has given intense performances in films like Kalyug, Malaang, Kalank and the web series Abhay. He has also shown that he can do comedy, with films like the Golmaal series, Go Goa Gone, and the recently-released web series Pop Kaun?  

While the actor is happy with the love and appreciation that he receives from the audience, in conversation with OTTplay, he pointed out that actors who are good at comedy get the tag of 'comedian' and are, therefore, not taken seriously; they don't get the due respect they deserve.  

Kunal said, "Everyone will admit that comedy is one of the toughest genres, but even though comic actors get a lot of love from the audience, they don't really get respect. We tag actors who do comedy well as 'comedians'. And this is a global phenomenon. Have you seen anyone win an Oscar for Best Actor for doing a comic role? No. Comic actors don't even get nominated. In India, we have the Best Actor in a Comic Role category at some award shows. But according to me, the best actor is the best actor: he can do comedy, tragedy, action or whatever...you know what I mean?"

The actor added, "There was a time when comics used to get only 10-minute-long parts in films, but now times and stories are different. So, the mindset of the people also needs to change. That is why I feel that actors who do comedy get love from the audience, but not much respect from critics." 

Kunal plays the male lead, Sahil, in Pop Kaun? Sahil is in a hilarious search for his father and has to choose who he may be from between four people. 

Pop Kaun? is the last project of the late actor Satish Kaushik, who passed away on March 9. It also stars Nupur Sanon, Saurabh Shukla, Chunky Pandey, Jamie Lever, Rajpal Yadav, and Ashwini Kalsekar.

The show is available to stream on Disney+ Hotstar.