She Wouldn't Get Married: When Bharti Singh’s Family Opposed Her Dream To Pursue Comedy

Bharti Singh family boycotted her for pursuing comedy: Popular Hindi comedian and actor Bharti Singh recently revealed that she faced immense opposition from her family when she decided to pursue a career in comedy. Hailing from Amritsar (Punjab), Singh came to Mumbai to fulfill her dreams in the entertainment industry. It was in 2008 when she participated in The Great Indian Laughter Challenge and rose to fame, but to achieve this milestone Bharti had to face boycott from her relatives.

Singh, who is celebrating her 37th birthday on July 3, had earlier revealed how her relatives shunned her mother when she decided to pursue her career in comedy in a big city like Mumbai. She had spoken about their inappropriate taunts on "how girls succeed in Mumbai".

Over the years, Singh earned recognition for her great comic-timing and is now celebrated as a comedy queen. She had opened up after a contestant from Haryana narrated her story on India’s Best Dancer. She spoke of facing opposition from her villagers, as reported by Janta Ka Reporter in 2020. She was quoted as saying on the show, "When I was preparing to come to Bombay after I got selected in a comedy reality show. Our relatives boycotted us. They said, ‘she doesn’t have a father. What’s her profession? She makes people laugh. She wouldn’t get married. We know how girls succeed in Mumbai.’ My mummy was a single mother. My father died when I was two years old.”

Singh lost her father at the age of two. In an interview with Rediff, she had revealed that she came from a very poor family and her mother had struggled a lot for her children. She took up jobs as a cook in different houses. Singh further noted that when she got selected for Laughter Challenge, her relatives were against it. The mindset in the village, she explained, was outdated and they take advantage of it. "Uneducated people in the village think that girls can make a name for themselves only when they do a wrong thing," Singh alleged, adding that her mother was very supportive of her dreams.

After her first comedy show, the actor appeared in a couple of shows like Comedy Circus 3 Ka Tadka, Comedy Circus Maha-Sangram, Comedy Circus Ke SuperStars, Comedy Circus Ka Jadoo, and various more editions of Comedy Circus. The Kapil Sharma Show star is now a co-host of the dance reality show Dance Deewane with her husband Haarsh Limbachiyaa.

The comedian recently revealed that she had to take pay cut of 70 percent for her show Dance Deewane and 50 percent for The Kapil Sharma Show. "I guess everyone felt the pinch when they were asked to take a pay cut, and I was no exception," said Singh. She added that she did negotiate the pay cut with channels, but considering the situation that unfolded in last year, she realised that since TV and shows weren't getting any sponsors, channels were struggling to pay up. "Once we generate good ratings, sponsors will automatically come back and our fee will also be raised," she revealed. Singh went on to add that technicians working on the sets of shows shouldn't be made through the pay cuts.

Feature Image Credit: Indian Express