You know him from India’s Laughter Champion and his superb rendition of various famous voices. Comedian Jaswant Singh Rathore recently spoke at length on voice replication, how it drives his mimicry performances, and why he prefers only mimicry to convey more about different aspects of actors like Suniel shetty and Sunny Deol. In a conversation with Jay-Ho! The Jay Kumar Show, Jaswant Singh Rathore opened up on why he is not happy to be called as a mimicry artist.
Talking more about the craft of voice replication and modulation, Jaswant said how mimicry is fundamental to the art of acting. Taking the example of Ranbir Kapoor in the movie Sanju, Jaswant said that Ranbir Kapoor is in fact mimicking Sanjay Dutt completely. Misery is in fact a strong talent, he said, and spoke about the respect given to mimicry in the South,” All the top actors were once great on mimicry”.
According to Jaswant, mimicking is an art and it builds the foundation of acting and singing besides enhancing whatever is present within. That is why he is not happy with the perception that mimicry requires less talent and does not like being called as a mimicry artist, because of the connotations it has. Moreover, he said, mimicry also cannot be the only kind of presentation on stage. The performance also needs to have humor, content, self-confidence, “only then you can stay long in the race”.
Coming to audience response to mimicry on stage, Jaswant says that people’s reactions and respect for the celebrity, which he is also honoring through his performance, fuels his performance. Mimicry is about knowing when not to get carried away and overexpress, he said. He also explained that mimicry is about keeping the heroism and conveying the mannerisms intact. He also credits his audience for appreciating his performance of Suniel Shetty, which was received well and was good for him financially too.
Signing off, Jaswant said that mimicry is about capturing the soul of a person and making people laugh at the concept being shown, not just with the mimicry. Art is about conveying emotions, and mimicry is just one way. Stay tuned to Jay-Ho.com for more updates on Jaswant Rathore and his wonderful journey.
