The pressure to be constantly funny takes a toll on your mental health: Mallika Dua

Actress, comedienne, and writer, Malaika Dua is considered one of the best in the industry—and her work is nothing but excellent. She gained popularity after one of her videos “Shit People Say: Sarojini Nagar Edition” went viral on social media. And ever since then, she has been a star in her own right. But is life as glamorous and funny as it looks on the screen? Let’s hear it from Mallika herself.

Mallika recently revealed that there’s always this pressure to constantly perform and pretend to be happy, which is why it is important to draw a line and look after one’s mental health. The 31-year-old comedian said she started her comedy career purely out of fun but soon realised that it can become an unhealthy loop of numbers and greed, one which has to be navigated with caution.

No matter the work, being under pressure can take a toll on your mental health

“I feel a lot of pressure, every day. It takes a massive toll on your mental health. I didn’t start to appease anyone, it was purely out of my own happiness. It started as ‘you are good at it, you should do more’ then it became ‘if you don’t do it, you won’t make money,’” she says. 

“Then it transformed into ‘you must do it because others are doing it and you must be better than them.’ So there’s no end to it. I don’t post obsessively anymore. I don’t want to get caught up in the rat race of numbers,” Dua reveals. She also said it is no secret in the comedy business that many comics across the world go through depression. 

Dua, who has previously featured in movies such as Hindi Medium, Namaste England and Zero, currently stars in Indoo Ki Jawani. Dua said one of the reasons why there aren’t enough women in comedy is because it was never made aspirational for a woman to be funny.

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The actor said every time a woman has showcased her sense of humour, she has been made to look like “an idiot”, which isn’t the case with men. “For them, being funny is taken as a romantic attribute. But it’s changing now, thanks to pop culture. The next step would be if agents back their women artists as hard as they back the male artists,” she added.