In an exclusive conversation with The Pioneer, actor and stand-up comic Mayank Parakh opens up about his fascinating journey—from metro construction sites to multiplex screens. From turning down a desert transfer as an engineer to dubbing his own lines in Telugu cinema, he has ticked every unconventional box along the way—one punchline and one film poster at a time
Needhi Gattani
Most journeys begin with a plan—Mayank Parakh’s began with a pause. A civil engineer by training, life suddenly took a turn, leading him onto the stage and eventually to the big screen. Today, he’s known for his clean comedy, relatable storytelling and roles in Telugu cinema, but his entry into the arts was anything but planned.
In an exclusive conversation with The Pioneer, Mayank traces his unlikely path from construction sites to comedy clubs and from job transfers to movie posters.
“Acting and comedy happened accidentally. I was a civil engineer working for the L&T Metro project. And then one day I was fed up. I started doing theatre and then film offers came—and yeah, it took off,” he shares.
An unexpected transfer order became a turning point in his life, shifting him from a full-time engineering role to a full-time pursuit of the arts. When asked to relocate to a desert posting for metro track work, he declined, expressing a preference for metro cities where he could continue acting and theatre. With no alternative offered, he decided to take a six-month break to reassess his career—one that has now stretched into over seven years, as he continues to follow his passion for the performing arts. Growing up in a traditional joint Marwari family in Chhattisgarh, where creative careers weren’t exactly encouraged, came with its own set of challenges. “They were initially shell-shocked because I didn’t tell them I had left my job. The plan was to find another job. But I kept doing theatre because I had a lot of free time with no job, and I was also doing stand-up,” he recalls.
He infact realised that his approach is deeply rooted in his Marwari joint family background. “We lived with about 20–25 relatives under one roof. Now it’s about 15 after some have passed away. There was a lot of drama, no privacy—I didn’t even understand what privacy really was,” he laughs.
Then came a small role in a film through a theatre connection. “The film offer came. I did that film, which turned out to be a hit—Goodachari in Telugu. After that, I moved to Mumbai for four years. Things were okay. People thought I was doing well, but my family wanted me to find a steady income. They weren’t fully convinced until I landed a major film in Telugu called Wild Dog with Nagarjuna sir. When my face was on the poster, they finally went silent—happy that I had made it,” he says.
Roles in films like Wild Dog, Yashoda and Gangs of Godavari have established him as a versatile actor, though the journey wasn’t without difficulty. “There was one film that was both physically and mentally demanding. That doesn’t mean I’m currently challenged physically or mentally,” he laughs.
For Wild Dog, he had to transform physically. “I was around 92–93 kg. They wanted me for a commando role, and I had to shed that weight within three months. I committed to it, but those three months involved a lot of injuries. I nearly gave up due to the pain. I had to go through physiotherapy, gym workouts, and martial arts training. It was a real challenge, but I lost about 10 kg and was thrilled to get the role,” he says.
Sharing screen space with icons like Nagarjuna, Samantha Ruth Prabhu and Rajkummar Rao has been surreal. “When I saw Nagarjuna sir for the first time, I was so starstruck I froze for about 10 seconds—unsure whether to say hello, hi, namaste or namaskaram. But he made us comfortable, treated us like his kids and even invited us for dinner. We had a lovely dinner with him,” he says.
Working with Rajkummar Rao was deeply engaging. “It was all about acting—we discussed acting a lot, which was fun. We spoke in Hindi, so I could connect more easily,” he adds. About Samantha, he shares, “She’s a superstar; her energy is incredible. She makes her co-actors feel very comfortable. We had a fight scene and there were moments of mis-timing or accidental touches, but she was so mindful before each shot, which made me feel at ease.”
For Mayank, the first milestone came with a small role in a play at Lamakaan. “I got a small role and the feedback I received was beyond what I expected for a side character—it was quite positive,” he recalls. That feedback gave him confidence. “So, I did three or four more plays over the next six months. Then I got the lead role in one of the plays, which was a huge hit. That’s when I realised—if I’m consistently getting work and the roles are increasing, then there’s something I might not see clearly, but others do. Those first six months were significant. Things started falling into place early. I didn’t have to wait for four or five or eight films. When I did my first stand-up show, it was a big hit. That’s when I thought, okay, yeah, there is something here.”
But confidence alone didn’t always sustain him. “I had such confidence. But then, after about a year, I realised I’m keeping a snake. It’s a lot of fun to play—adventurous, dangerous—and it often backfires. If the joke lands, it’s good. If it doesn’t, it keeps you awake all night. Gradually, I understood the nature of the job. It took about four or five years. Even in films, the biggest challenges are discipline and routine. No one is there to ask, ‘What’s the update? What’s the status?’ because I’m only writing for myself. I’m seeking films, struggling to meet people. Nobody tells you to meet five or ten people or to audition daily. You have to motivate yourself to get out of the house. That’s the biggest challenge.”
Mayank’s comedy stands out for its clean tone in a scene flooded with edgy content. “I do have edgier material and I achieve that through clean comedy. It’s about your language and the taboo topics you choose. My content is very clean—no bad words—suitable for everyone. It wasn’t a conscious decision at first. When I started performing, I was discovering myself. You figure out what feels right and what doesn’t,” he says.
At first, profanity wasn’t natural for him; he was more influenced by comedians he idolised— Raju Shrivastav and Jerry Seinfeld, who performed clean comedy.
His solo show, Marwadi Dream, is a tribute to that unconventional path. “It’s about how a Marwari boy from a business family of seven generations decided to break tradition and get a job. That was okay. Then he became a freelancer and started working in the arts—performing arts. Nobody in my family did that or even thought about it—but I did. That’s the Marwadi dream,” he shares.
Meanwhile, his travel-themed show, Ready for Departure, is rooted in real journeys. “I talk about places I visited. How are other places, what all stories happened there. And then there’s a section where I travelled with my family—the Marwari family. So what kind of food, travel dynamics—that’s covered,” he shares.
Though his roots are in Hindi-speaking regions, Mayank found his screen space in Telugu cinema. “It all started during my theatre days. I wanted to work in Hindi films because of my mother tongue, so I shifted to Bombay for four years. But I received many opportunities from the Telugu film industry, which led me back to Hyderabad, since I was there most of the time for shoots. It was a smooth transition to the big screen. At first, the language was a challenge, but now I dub my own voice in Telugu. I had to learn the language through coaching,” he says.
Talking about Musepad, performed at Vivanta Hyderabad as part of the brunch meet comedy experience—where laughter is literally on the menu alongside food, drinks and unfiltered vibes—he says it’s a new and interesting format. “Performing in the morning, we aim to attract a new audience that doesn’t usually go out in the evenings. Some people go out in the mornings for brunch, pottery sessions or entertainment. I’ve been doing similar shows in Mumbai for years, like Breakfast and Bad Jokes. We’re trying to introduce this new format in Hyderabad—maybe morning shows will create a new timeline, space and audience. Night and day audiences are quite different. I believe if we keep at it, more people will join.”
So, what does the journey look like to Mayank now? “It’s been thrilling—not always comfortable or pleasant—because it’s so different from what’s in front of you. It’s been full of ups and downs, patience and rejections. I got my first web series role after being rejected from around 80–90 auditions. This profession is filled with self-doubt and internal struggles. I’ve acted in 15 films, 4 web series and have been doing stand-up for over seven years. Even now, there are moments of self-doubt—but they’re much less intense now,” he signs off with a smile.
