Meet the 'impatient' star

I told my mother I interviewed the Potus. She responded to it by asking me if I had turned off the geyser,' says Cyrus Broacha

Vasudha Zora | NT

Bengaluru: With nearly four decades of experience in the entertainment industry, Cyrus Broacha is a humble, simple man at heart. A multidisciplinary in podcasting, anchoring, holding youth shows, doing comedy, political satire, content creator and theatre, he started off at the young age of 14 years. He is coming to the city to perform a comedy show.

Speaking on what type of performer he has become over time, Cyris said, “I must say that I am impatient as a performer, going on the stage and interacting with people, not following the script and going extempore is something my adrenaline thrives on. I hate a barrier between the audience and the artiste, as the whole point of art is to connect minds, feelings and hearts.”

“Theatre is always fun, but no cash flow. Then, I spoke dumb stuff on the radio with common people three times a week and earned a good Rs 4,500 per presentation. I did these live shows from the Akashvani office. Basically, they would play a song, and then we would have calls arranged with locals where I played their therapist,” said Cyrus.

Chuckling while reminiscing his formative years, he continues to say that girls were more interesting to speak with than boys. It is funny how we Indians communicate, so the initial few minutes of the live call would be wasted just saying, ‘Helloe! Hello! Haan can you hear me?’ and since it was live on air, we could not edit anything, so that was the pain everyone felt.

He shares that there was a time when the peon of a government office did not show up, and all the officials as well as his team who were ready for the shoot were left hopping mad. “We must realise how important the security and management teams are, even the managing director cannot enter the office without them being around,” he added.

He spent his earlier years putting his peppy and chatty charm in theatre, which transitioned with the outburst of the radio culture, giving him the opportunity to showcase his talent in a live show by FM Radio City. In the late 80s he shot ‘Jalwa’ with Pankaj Parashar, Gul Anand and Naseeruddin Shah.

’Jalwa’ was shot during the famous cricket rivalry with our neighbouring country, which Javed Miandad won for Pakistan. It is one of my cherished memories from that time.” Cyrus has been a part of MTV Bakra, which kick-started his career as an anchor. He soon started doing interactive stand-up comedy, he reveals.

His devoted fan base loves him for that energy, recalling one of his overwhelming yet funny instances with a fan he said, “This was a time when I did not have security. So people would just come up on the stage and talk to me. This guy in the audience in a show in Amritsar came on the stage after the show and kissed me on the lips in front of everyone.” He continued, “I was overwhelmed by the experience, but that was the impact I made.”

On being asked how he feels as a celebrity, Cyrus lets another of his little chuckles before saying, “Regardless of what I do, I don't ever feel like one and I will tell you why, there were times I went home all excited and as I was at the prime of my pride and shows, I told my mother I interviewed the Potus. She responded by asking me if I had turned the geyser off.”

He thinks that this has kept him humble in many aspects and has affected the way he performs. “I am not a serious guy. I just talk about fun and dumb stuff based on the vibes I receive because ultimately I need to have fun. It is where the boost of my energy rests.”

He will be in Bengaluru on February 8 at the Chowdiah Memorial Hall at 7.30 doing stand-up comedy, during which he will pick out 12 participants to join him on the stage.