In his early childhood when he began cracking jokes among friends and relatives and imitating famous comedians and scripting dialogues, Faizan Mehraj Ganie realised that God had bestowed a talent upon him. He is now dreaming big, and comedy has become his obsession.
Born and brought up at Shirpora in Anantnag, the 17-year-old Faizan has become famous among his peers for his humour. He uses different laughter evoking tricks including jokes, satirical observations and mimicry to bring a smile to their faces.
“It gives me immense happiness when my comedy brings a smile to people’s faces. I want to see everyone happy,” says Faizan. “I believe laughter is the best therapy.”
Faizan , an 11th class student at the Al-Sarvat Convent School, is an emerging comedy artist who has succeeded in creating his own identity among the people.
Initially, Faizan used to do comedy shows at his School, at friends’ places, at parties and among his relatives. Later, Faizan, like the thousands of other artists of this age, started to use social media as a platform to reach a broader audience.
“Internet has brought a revolution in connecting the whole world. At present I have thousands of followers on social networking sites, particularly, Instagram and YouTube,” says Faizan. “I am slowly heading towards my dream.”
Lately, Faizan has been invited to various events and ceremonies across the valley. He has already performed at the Dak Banglow of Anantnag, Tral and the University of Kashmir. Faizan believes that every dream can be achieved at any point of time in life when the person continues their hard work. It was a single video of Faizan that went viral on social media and made his name as a comedian.
“I have never stopped in my life. I have overcome every obstacle and will do the same in future. A single video has made me famous. I never thought thousands of people would follow me within days,” says Faizan.
Faizan has an inborn talent for comedy. He hasn’t learnt it from anyone. He has been practising his talent since childhood and his family, –especially his father, has come to value his talent and provides him with full support His father, however, like any parent, concerned about the future of his son, has always advised him to not let anything come in the way of his studies.
“Besides study,” says Faizan, “I work on my new videos in leisure. I generate new ideas and write them down.”
Even though many of Faizan’s relatives and friends have from time to time expressed their disapproval of his “useless activities”, he hasn’t stopped. Faizan’s school has proved instrumental in providing him with a platform where he has often been called to perform at the morning assembly.
In the beginning, Faizan used to imitate Zaid Ali, a standing comedian and artist, and then Zakir Khan, another artist from the same field. However, over time, he has developed his own originality in the presentation of his talent.
Before making a video, Faizan would write a script, then compose it and finally set up a camera. He would do all this on his own.
“Now I ask my younger brother or, sometimes, my cousins to help me. When I finish my script and am ready to perform, they handle the camera,” says Faizan.
Faizan says parents should not force their kids into a walk of life which they think is appropriate; instead, they should listen to their kids and let them choose.
“Parents would never choose anything bad for their kids, but I believe that God bestows everyone with some talent. We should realise that and help people identify and achieve their dreams,” says Faizan.
Criticism is what guides him to better performance. He gets many good suggestions for improving his acts from his followers. But these are sometimes accompanied by discouraging comments.
“I receive some negative comments as well. But I don’t care. I take every criticism positively,” says Faizan.
Faizan hopes—and we hope too—that one day he realises his dream of performing on a stage before a huge audience.
