Zakir Khan
Born (1987-08-20) 20 August 1987 (age 36)
Indore, Madhya Pradesh, India
NationalityIndian
EducationSt. Paul Higher Secondary School, Indore
Occupations
Years active2009 –present
Known for
RelativesUstad Moinuddin Khan (grandfather)
YouTube information
Channel
GenreComedy
Subscribers7.53 million[1]
Total views707 million[1]
100,000 subscribers
1,000,000 subscribers
Last updated: 23 July 2023

Zakir Khan (born 20 August 1987) is an Indian comedian, poet and actor. In 2012, he rose to popularity by winning Comedy Central. Khan has also been a part of a news comedy show, On Air with AIB.[2][3] He has released four hour-length standup specials: Haq Se Single (2017), Kaksha Gyarvi (2018), Tathastu (2022) and Mannpasand (2023) on Amazon Prime Video.

Early life

Khan was born and raised in Madhya Pradesh to a Rajasthani Muslim family of classical musicians. He is the grandson of Sarangi Maestro Ustad Moinuddin Khan.[4] He spent a large portion of his adult life in Delhi.[3] He comes from a humble background and credits his father with being supportive of his talent.[5][6]

Career

Khan has a diploma in Sitar and is a college dropout.[7] He has stated that had he not been a standup comedian, he would instead be working as a music teacher. He became a known face in India's stand-up comedy circuit in 2012 when he won the title of 'India's Best Stand Up', a comedy competition organized by Comedy Central.[8][9] Besides performing at many stand-up comedy shows, he has also ghostwritten and produced radio shows. His comedy style was applauded in NDTV Prime's The Rising Stars of Comedy television show. Khan is known for his punchline "Sakht Launda" which refers to a guy with immense self-control who doesn't easily fall for girls.[5] He also performed with Joke Singh at Gurgaon.[10]

He is an emerging Urdu Poet and comes from a family of artists. He has presented his poetry in events like Rekhta.[11] On his train journey to Delhi, he wrote first poem, "Mai Soonya Pe Sawar Hoon". He also wrote "Apne Aap Ke Bhi Piche Khara Hoon Main", "Bus Ka Intezar Karte Huye".

In September 2017, Khan appeared as one of the three mentors along with Mallika Dua and Hussain Dalal for the fifth season of The Great Indian Laughter Challenge, judged by actor Akshay Kumar. He has more than six million subscribers on YouTube and is known for works like his Amazon Prime special Haq Se Single.[12]

Khan wrote and played the protagonist in the Amazon Prime web series Chacha Vidhayak Hain Humare.[13]

In 2015, Khan co-hosted and wrote On Air with AIB, a news comedy show, with Sorabh Pant and Gursimran Khamba from the Indian comedy group All India Bakchod. The show was broadcast on Star World, India. Khan co-hosted the 5th Annual Golden Kela Awards.[14]

He also appeared as one of the judges in Amazon Prime's Comicstaan Season 2 where he mentored the contestants in a genre of comedy known as anecdotal comedy.[15] He also went on to be one of the four judges in Season 3.

Khan has also featured in the recent Amazon Prime's One Mic Stand Season 1 alongside Bhuvan Bam[16]

He has also begun his show called Farzi Mushaira which is available on Amazon mini TV.

Apart from comedy, he has also generated podcast series Ummeed on Gaana, where he shares the inspiration he got from incidents in his life, along with his other comedian friends.[17][18]

Work

Television

Year Title Role Notes Ref.
2017 The Great Indian Laughter Challenge Mentor Season 5 [19]
2022 The Kapil Sharma Show Self Guest [20]
2023 Kaun Banega Crorepati Guest Season 15 [21]

Stand Up Specials

Year Title Notes Ref.
2017 Haq se Single Released on Amazon Prime Video
2018 Kaksha Gyarvi Released on Amazon Prime Video
2022 Tathastu Released on Amazon Prime Video [22]
2023 Mannpasand Released on Amazon Prime Video [23]

Web series

Year Title Role Notes Ref.
2015 On Air With AIB Himself Season 2 [24]
2016 Journey of a Joke Season 1; Episode 1 [25]
Humorously Yours Cameo [26]
2018 Chacha Vidhayak Hain Humare Ronny Pathak 2 seasons
2019 Comicstaan Judge Season 2 [27]
One Mic Stand Himself Season 1; Episode 1 [28]
2021 Dhindora Cameo
2022 Farzi Mushaira Host Also writer

References

  1. ^ a b "About Zakir Khan". YouTube.
  2. ^ Mathews, Neha (26 March 2016). "A sharpening of the comedic senses". The Hindu.
  3. ^ a b ScoopWhoop (28 February 2018). "From Radio Intern To 'Sakht Launda', Zakir Khan's Story Will Inspire You To Be Who You Want To Be". ScoopWhoop. Retrieved 16 May 2018.
  4. ^ "Who was Zakir Khan's grandfather Ustad Moinuddin Khan?". Ground Report. Retrieved 2 December 2022.
  5. ^ a b Gupta, Deepak (11 May 2016). "AIB Diwas: Zakir Khan shares tips on wooing city women(Watch)". India News, Breaking News, Entertainment News | India.com. Retrieved 5 November 2020.
  6. ^ "These 15 Zakir Khan's Shayaris Shows The Another Side of 'Sakht Launda'". ZestVine.com. 5 November 2019.
  7. ^ "Zakir Khan – Indian Stand-up Comedian over a Chaaipani conversation". Chaaipani. 19 June 2016. Retrieved 5 November 2021.
  8. ^ "Zakir Khan's rags-to-riches rise in India's burgeoning standup scene". Sunday Guardian Live. 20 July 2019. Retrieved 3 March 2020.
  9. ^ "Zakir Khan – Artist Profile". Eventseeker. Retrieved 3 March 2020.
  10. ^ "Nishant Tanwar, Zakir Khan entertain guests on Gurgaon's Funniest Day at Epicentre in Delhi". The Times of India. 17 November 2014. Retrieved 17 November 2014.
  11. ^ "Zakir Khan- Comedian At Jashn-e-rekhta 2017 Beautiful Poetry And Comedy Part-1". IndiaTimes. 27 February 2017. Retrieved 12 March 2022.
  12. ^ "Best Stand Up Comedians in India". CelebsWhoop.com. 23 April 2020.
  13. ^ Zakir Khan's web-series 'Chacha Vidhayak Hai Hamare' Has An All Exclusive Free Premier For His Biggest Fans, archived from the original on 26 May 2018, retrieved 10 May 2018
  14. ^ Mitra, Ankita (11 April 2013). "Not so Serious". The Hindu.
  15. ^ "Amazon Prime Video show Comicstaan renewed for second season; Zakir Khan joins as judge". Firstpost. 6 August 2018. Retrieved 5 November 2020.
  16. ^ "One Mic Stand Web Review: So you wanna be a stand-up comedian?". 19 November 2019.
  17. ^ "Gaana Shows & Podcasts Original 'Ummeed With Zakir Khan' Shares Quirky Insights on Hope, Success & Self Care". Indian Television Dot Com. 24 February 2020. Retrieved 12 March 2022.
  18. ^ "Zakir Khan On His New Podcast Ummeed With Zakir Khan, "Hope Is The Tiny Light That..."". Koimoi. 19 February 2020. Retrieved 12 March 2022.
  19. ^ "Akshay Turns Judge & Zakir Khan, Mallika Dua Become Mentors For The Great Indian Laughter Show". IndiaTimes. 4 July 2017. Retrieved 11 March 2022.
  20. ^ "जिसे 2 मिनट भी परफॉर्म करने नहीं दिया, वह 'द कपिल शर्मा शो' में गेस्ट बनकर पहुंचा; सुनाई आपबीती..." News18 हिंदी (in Hindi). 1 January 2023. Retrieved 2 January 2023.
  21. ^ "Zakir Khan joins Khan Sir on 'KBC 15', explains 'Sakht Launda' to Amitabh Bachchan". India Today. Retrieved 26 September 2023.
  22. ^ Service, Tribune News. "Zakir Khan's stand-up special 'Tathastu' to stream on Prime Video". Tribuneindia News Service. Retrieved 1 December 2022.
  23. ^ "Zakir Khan to return with stand-up special 'Mann Pasand' on Prime Video". The Times of India. 2 December 2023. ISSN 0971-8257. Retrieved 7 December 2023.
  24. ^ Gupta, Deepak. "AIB Diwas: Zakir Khan shares tips on wooing city women(Watch) | India.com". www.india.com. Retrieved 11 March 2022.
  25. ^ Pillai, Akshay (19 November 2016), Journey of a Joke feat. Zakir Khan, retrieved 11 March 2022
  26. ^ "TVF's new web series Humorously Yours is a look at the life of a stand-up comic". Firstpost. 18 December 2016. Retrieved 11 March 2022.
  27. ^ Karbhari, Nenshad H.; Ghosh, Angshuman; Shah, Vicky (12 July 2019), Sunn Lo Bhai With Zakir, Comicstaan, retrieved 11 March 2022
  28. ^ "Zakir Khan Talks on Being a Mentor to Bhuvan Bam in One Mic Stand - video Dailymotion". Dailymotion. 13 November 2019.

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