Johnny Lever is a pretty famous name of Indian television and Bollywood but not many of us know the hardships that Johnny Lever faced to reach where he is today. Today we will tell you about the struggles that Johnny faced in life and how he rose from rags to the riches.
Early life & education
Born in a Telugu Christian family, he is basically from Prakasam, Andhra Pradesh. However, he was brought up in Dharavi, Mumbai, and his father used to work as an operator in Hindustan Lever Ltd. His real name is John Rao Prakash Rao Janumala and he is the eldest among his three sisters and two brothers.
Johnny was unable to complete his schooling because of his family’s financial problems. As he was the eldest, he left school when he was in seventh standard and started doing small jobs such as selling pens on the roads of Mumbai by doing mimicry of Bollywood actors and dancing on their songs. He also learnt a unique style of comedy acting in Yakutpura, old Hyderabad.
Job at Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL)
He started working with his father at HUL but during free time, he used to entertain his colleagues by doing mimicry of Bollywood actors. In a function, he was asked to show his talent and he copied the talking style of some senior officials of HUL. After that he was given the nickname of Johnny Lever. He kept the name when he entered Bollywood. In 1981, he left the job of HUL after working for 6 years as he was not able to attend the office due to his shows. What’s more, he was also earning good at that time.
Stand-up shows
Johnny started doing stand-up comedy shows in the orchestras and slowly, he became popular. Then he got the chance to join the group of Kalyanji- Anandji and did many shows and world tours with them. It is being said that Johnny Lever is the first Indian stand-up comedian. In 1982, he got the chance to do shows with Amitabh Bachchan and it was during these shows that he was noticed by actor Sunil Dutt and he offered him a movie “Dard Ka Rishta”. Till then, Johnny started getting TV commercials as well that further increased his popularity.
Movie career
He got his first break with Tum Par Hum Qurban and then he was seen in Dard Ka Rishta, since then we have seen him in more than 350 movies. He has judged reality comedy shows and worked in TV serials as well. Presently, he is working in a serial “Partners – Trouble Ho Gayi Double” on SAB TV.
Personal life
The name of Johnny’s wife is Sujatha and he is a proud father of a daughter and son named Jamie and Jesse respectively. Jamie is also a stand-up comedian and she has worked in some shows and movies.
Despite becoming a star, Johnny is still a very humble person and we will love to see more of him in the future as well.
A big change in life
His son was diagnosed with cancer and it broke him completely. This incident brought a big change in his life; his faith in God increased and he started preaching about religion. On the question of this transition, Johnny said,
“It was God’s will. I had always been a religious person, but one incident changed my life. My son was diagnosed with cancer. I was helpless and turned to God for help. I stopped working in films and spent all my time praying for him. Ten days later, when he was taken for a test, the doctors were surprised because the cancer had vanished. It was the beginning of a new life for me.”
Johnny Lever’s life is a great source of inspiration for many people and we wish that he achieves a lot more in life.
