Mumbai: Actor-comedian Johnny Lever turn a year older today (Friday). Johnny Lever’s real name is John Prakash Rao Janumala. Early in his career, he used to do stand-up comedy on stage. On his birthday, here are some interesting facts about Johnny Lever.
Johnny was born in Andhra Pradesh. His father Prakash Rao Janumala worked at Hindustan Lever Factory. Johnny is the eldest of six siblings including two brothers and three sisters. Johnny’s family was very poor. Due to financial constraints, he left school after the seventh grade.
Once he quit studies, Johnny decided to help the family by earning some money. He used to sell pens by imitating actors in the streets. He used to earn approximately five rupees every day, which was a big deal at that time. Later he joined Hindustan Lever with the recommendation of his father.
Johnny was constant source of laughter to his colleagues with his acts. His mimicry became so popular that his colleagues named him Johnny Lever. He used to do stage shows and in one such programme, he caught the attention of the legendary Sunil Dutt. He gave Johnny his first break in the film Dard Ka Rishta. Incidentally, Sunil Dutt is the father of Sanjay Dutt.
Since then there has been no looking back for Johnny. He has appeared in more than 350 Hindi films and has a huge fan following. In fact he has worked with all the top stars including Shah Rukh Khan and Salman Khan. At times his roles receive greater appreciation than the main characters of the film. Among his memorable films are Tezaab, Kasam, Khatarnak and Kishen Kanhaiya. He is married to Sujatha and has two children, daughter Jamie who is also a stand-up comedian and son Jesse. His younger brother, Jimmy Moses, is also a comedian and mimicry artist