Azim Banatwala is a prominent Indian standup comedian and writer, who is also an engineer. He is a master of all genres and a master of syntax, known for his quick-witted and observational comedy in the English language.
Contents
Wiki/Biography
Azim Banatwala was born on Thursday, 8 December 1988 (age 33 years; as in 2021) in Mumbai. Their zodiac sign is Sagittarius. He completed his graduation in Computer Engineering from Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Technology. After his graduation, he became a writer and worked as a social media manager and comedy content writer for UTV Media.
Physical Appearance
Height (Approx): 6′ 0″
Hair Color: Black
Eye colour: black
Azeem Banatwala is playing football
Family
Azim Banatwala belongs to a Muslim family.
parents and siblings
There is not much information about Azeem’s parents and siblings. His family includes his mother, father and elder sister Tarannum Banatwala.
Azim Banatwala with his family
Wife
Azim Banatwala is married to Sana Khan, the founder of Bombay Closet Cleanse, a thrift store in Mumbai, co-host of Senti-Mental, a podcast, and a pole dancer.
Azeem Banatwala with his wife
Religion
Banatwala belongs to Muslim community.
livelihood
as a comedian
Azim Banatwala is a social commentator and political humorist. He started his journey as a comedian in 2011, when he won his first open mic in Mumbai.
This was in a small pub called Zenzie’s, which no longer exists. That’s where I got noticed and people started allowing me to perform for a few minutes at other venues.”
Subsequently, Banatwala became one of India’s most prolific standup comedians. He is a regular at Mumbai’s Canvas Laugh Factory and has been a part of India’s busiest comedy company, East India Comedy, which holds the record of performing 130 shows across the country in a year. He has two stand-up specials to his name on Amazon Prime Video. Cometh The Hour was his first film on the OTT platform.
Azim Banatwala’s first standup special Cometh The Hour
His second stand-up on Prime was Special Problems (2019), which demonstrated Bantwala’s confidence in his performance, as he can be seen performing the entire show while standing in one place. He talks about racism, Kashmir, government, overpopulation and stupidity in this show. Some of Azeem’s other notable works include My System (2017) and Between the Lines, which toured India in 2019 and 2021.
Banatwala is a global star and has performed not only across India, but also in Asia, the UK and Australia. He has considerable international radio and TV credits to his name. He has appeared on ABC’s Comedy Bytes and ABC’s Comedy Up Late in Australia. He participated in the MICF Road Show across Australia and performed 42 shows in 45 days. He has also performed in the Comedy Zone Asia Lineup and the Indian All-Star Showcase for the Melbourne International Comedy Festival (2018). He also had the opportunity to guest star in various showcases at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival (2017).
When asked in an interview what subjects he chose to perform, he replied,
I talk about things I feel strongly about and want to talk about. I have jokes on the left and the right.”
Continuing to talk about his political humor, he said,
I keep maintaining that we are not specifically against the BJP. Similar dissent comes against anyone who abuses power. For example, when Congress was in power, there was some degree of corruption and scams. We used to talk about that too. Now with BJP, some things have become communal.
as a writer
Azim Banatwala is known for his creative and well-organized fashion of expressing or writing his content. Bantawala, who has a good command over the English language, has been a professional writer and has worked as a content writer and social media manager for UTV Media. He has written in almost all genres for publications including travel, humor, lifestyle, sports and technology. Azim has written features for various leading publications such as The Man, TechTree, Deccan Chronicle, Scroll, Indian Video Gamer and The Week Magazine. Additionally, Banatwala has been part of the core editorial team responsible for putting together and launching National Geographic Traveler India, an ACK media magazine, in July 2012. Currently, he is and has been the HR of his comedy club, East India Comedy. Head writer and creative director of the news comedy show EIC Outrage. Azeem has written for both sketches and branded content.
controversies
- Banatwala recently had his Twitter account suspended due to the hate comments he was receiving from some people who were hurt by some of his jokes. Talking about this in an interview, he said, “It has come to my attention that many people have been upset and hurt by the tweets made by me many years ago.” For this I would like to apologize unreservedly. Many of these were even before I started doing comedy, but that doesn’t negate the fact that they were not acceptable.
- Azim Banatwala posted an Insta story about a comedy special he was launching. After which he clarified that the special would be heavily edited, and anyone who wanted to watch the uncensored version could join him in a Zoom live session and pay to watch. Talking about the same he said,
The message behind my edited special is that this is what comics in India today have to do to make ends meet. From now on, I’ll stick to social commentary. Religious and political discourses can affect my livelihood. I don’t want anyone to say that he earns his living by making fun of Hindus. Azeem, I can express myself as a person, but not as a comedian.
- Recently, a fellow comedian Munawar Faruqui was arrested for hurting the sentiments of Hindus in some of his performances. Azim Banatwala came forward and tweeted in his defence.
Azim Banatwala’s tweet
Facts/General Knowledge
- Azeem’s stand-up special, Problems, on Amazon Prime won the Critics’ Choice Best Online Special category at the DeadAnt Annual Comedy Awards.
- When asked in an interview about his idols and people he looks up to and whether he would pay to see them perform, he said,
I’ve already paid and seen most of my idols like Eddie Izzard, Bill Burr, Jim Gaffigan, Ed Byrne. I would like to see Jim Jefferies live someday.”
- Azim got the chance to perform in front of 80,000 people at the Global Citizen Festival, just before Coldplay’s performance.
- Azim is not fond of biryani. When he was in Hyderabad for a show, he was asked in an interview if he was going to eat biryani (a Hyderabadi speciality) after the show, to which he replied,
no chance! I am not one biryani Absolutely individual. Please, I’ll look for a good burger!”
- Azeem has confessed that he too has faced failures in life, including some shows lasting half an hour without any laughs.
- Azim Banatwala has two pet cats, Couch and Button.
Azeem Banatwala playing with his pet cat
- Azeem has managed to garner a loyal fan base with his witty performances and has garnered over 4 million views on YouTube.
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Categories: Biography
Source: vcmp.edu.vn