This modern school alumni might have lived in Australia and Mumbai for the last few years but is known for making aunties from Delhi famous all across the globe, Ssumeir Pasricha a.k.a. Pammi Aunty was a born artist, being classically trained in singing and Kuchipudi as well as spending the last few years being an RJ, a theatre actor, a professional photographer, a tv actor and a sketch artist of renown. There is not a lot he has not dabbled in, read on as he shares his fascinating life story with us.
Q – How are you doing? How has your life been post the lockdown?
“I was extremely sure of treating it as a regular situation from the beginning, dealing with it using my usual sense of tranquility. Of course there was a duration for which we decided to restrict our movements to within the home in order to respect the lockdown imposed by the government, but I have been very fortunate to work uninterrupted throughout. I maintain a close knit team of just 4-5 people, all of them have been taking very good care of themselves and are extremely mindful of hygiene. Those practices have been inculcated in the team since the beginning, that and the fact that I work in the pharmaceutical industry led to me working continually.”
Photographed by Gaurav Bawa, Ashish Chawla, and Praveen Bhat
Q – How did Pammi Aunty, your world-famous comic character, view the pandemic?
“Pammi Aunty had a very specific set of concerns, such as her Kitty parties and Tambola games, which were interrupted momentarily but since then she’s taken to technology like a duck to water and has been hosting kitties and Tambola games online. She’s also getting her life back to normal now. I would say that, she is very determined and spirited and it is difficult to keep her down for long, especially since mostly everybody has adapted to the new normal. She has learnt to be careful but also get on with her fascinating life of friends and socializing.”
Q – Did you try to learn something during the quarantine? And if yes, what was it?
“I have restarted my dance classes where I learn from my gurus and I have recently hired a trainer which caused me to set up a gym at home for the first time ever and I guess that is the new thing I have tried. These are the two things that I had to leave due to various reasons in the past but I am immensely enjoying the benefits of pursuing my interests. Every weekend I spend my mornings taking dance lessons and every weekday I have a training session with my personal trainer at home. I look forward to pushing my body to its limits and working on my fitness level. Apart from that, another interest of mine is cooking, I’ve always liked expressing my creativity and cooking is another great outlet for that. I make sure to indulge in it from time to time.”
Q – You are an internet sensation, but before that you worked on television shows, movies, and theatre. How was the transition from television sets and huge productions with assistants to working solo?
“Starting from theatre is always a huge transition. The pro is that if you start from theatre you learn the craft in depth and get the opportunity to really hone it. The con however, is that, when I started doing TV, like most theatre actors, I was not up to date on the latest technologies. When you face a camera there are a lot of technicalities and rules that must be considered at all times, an unsaid list of rules with do’s and don’ts that actors working with cameras are inherently aware of. Another obstacle that was caused by a theatre background was that my acting happened to be extremely loud in front of the camera when I started. In the beginning my directors would give me a lot of constructive criticism and feedback which can be boiled down to one vital point, I had to learn to be subtle and tone down my voice and expressions to accommodate the medium, the throw is different for TV, it required light acting. A few issues that I particularly remember were that I didn’t know how to give close-ups & I didn’t know what cheating meant on camera. I didn’t understand the set jargon and therefore, had difficulty understanding what I was meant to do. That is the point at which my lovely co-actors, Jayati Bhatia and Shweta Sinha, decided to help me out and share all of the knowledge that they had accumulated over the years. Over time my friends helped me to fine-tune my acting and learn how to be more nuanced than loud. Now when I am approached for theatre, I often tell people that I prefer TV acting more. Every good actor has to go through these rites of passage, we need to learn when we are doing theatre, when we are acting in television series and when we’re acting in movies. Each medium happens to require a vastly different method of acting and comes with its own set of rules.”
Q – When did you realize that Pammi Aunty had gone viral?
“Pammi, just happened to me one fine day and was completely unplanned. It first happened when I was exploring Snapchat and I started creating videos. I was simply having fun, creating this character who had a rich backstory and a very exciting life. The late Mr. Rishi Kapoor shared it on Twitter and the whole social media situation changed, by then Pammi had become an internet sensation. When people had started achieving star status online, I was one of them, another content creator who started at the same time was Mallika Dua. We were one of the very first to achieve that kind of recognition, which made people take social media much more seriously, the possibilities seemed endless. Fortunately, it’s been four years and I can still do Pammi Aunty when I want to. Pammi Aunty helped me achieve fame and respect across the world.”
Q – What’s your creative process when you are working on videos for Pammi Aunty?
“I like to look for source material which one must relate to, the creative vision for the character is to take things from ordinary life which are universally applicable and turn them into content that can amuse people. I don’t post videos simply for the heck of it. My first consideration is, will it be relatable? Am I finding it amusing? I don’t post for months sometime simply to ensure that I put out quality work. I make sure that the content is real, from the heart and very genuine, so it doesn’t look or feel like it’s a dramatized version of life, it is a character that can exist in every home. There are several occasions when I am talking to my mother and it strikes me that this is something Pammi Aunty would say. At certain times my friends ask me to refrain from using their name in the video, lest it cause a scene at their homes.”
Q – Pammi Aunty is an actor, she is a TV show critic and a full-fledged Delhiite. What’s next in store for her?
“We can discuss it but we need the proper channels to execute big ideas. Sometimes you need production houses to support you because you might have a great idea but they need to be convinced about the commercial value of that. There are multiple projects with Pammi aunty which haven’t happened and if they don’t, they don’t but those are the projects I am sure to belong on and deserve a bigger platform.”
Q – What was the most heartwarming experience you’ve had with a fan?
“When I had started doing Pammi aunty, many people thanked me for creating the character and the videos, saying that Pammi is like an anti-depressant for them, when they feel sad they watch Pammi aunty to feel better. There was this lady who was a cancer patient whose son messaged me once that she wants to talk to me and then I spoke to her. So there are lots of grateful messages that I receive and I feel happy that this is what people think of me and sometimes we don’t even realize the impact that we’ve created.”
Q – You are a trained classical singer and dancer. How were you introduced to the art form and who inspired you to learn it?
“It all started in 4th standard. We used to have music classes in school and I used to sing well so my teacher suggested that I learn professionally. I joined the Gandharva Mahavidyalaya for classical singing. I learned for about good 10-11 years by Vipin Chandra Maudgalya, the classical form of music, the vocal and, I continued to learn light music from my music teachers at school. So by the time school ended, I had the training of light music and classical music. By the time school ended, I was doing a show, Guru Shishya Paramparaya and Guru Raja Radha Reddy had come to watch the show. After the performance, he told me that I’m good at dancing and suggested I learn it professionally. Knowing him, I took it very seriously. I found out later that Guru ji teaches Kuchipudi. I met guru ji and he warned me that he would take me under his wing only if I worked hard, it requires dedication. I said I would give it my best and then I obtained training from him for around 6 years before I left for Australia. In Australia I continued with dance, I became a radio jockey there and I did theatre. Once I returned, I resumed my training with guru ji and that is where I was introduced to theatre. I ran into a lot of theatre people and directors so that’s the story of how my passion for acting took root. I decided to take the next step and I moved to Mumbai to start my journey.”
Photographed by Gaurav Bawa, Ashish Chawla, and Praveen Bhat
Q – Being an Internet personality can take a toll, especially the negativity often experienced by public figures. Have you had to face that?
“Yes, I can recall two major incidents. The first was when I made a video talking about Taimur, and it created a huge controversy. I was trolled badly for that video, I even received death threats from some radical Hindu organizations and asking me to remove the post. Similarly, there was another video that sparked a controversy. Certain people can’t digest when the truth is spoken so they make a hullaballoo about everything. The first thing that happens is accusing you of being anti-national when you are criticizing something but the truth is that there are women who are being raped and the country is doing nothing. We should be very vocal about such issues. I feel if 10 people are criticizing, there are 20k that are appreciating me as well. So, I’d rather look at the ones who are appreciative. There will always be people who will not like your work, you cannot make everyone happy. In my own home, it’s not necessary that my whole family will like what I am doing. There are genuine people who are telling me that something I did was wrong vs. the random people whose only job is to troll me.”
Q – You’ve broken gender stereotypes various times, be it by portraying a transgender character on Code Red or donning a female attire for the character of Pammi aunty. Was it a conscious choice?
“It was very organic. There was no master plan behind it, I just did for fun, it became successful hence we are talking today. So it’s very organic and men dressing like women is not a new development, if you go back in older times, Ramayana was
exclusively performed by men. If you go to Kathakali today,
it’s a dance form only performed by men. The beauty of playing any character is that people are convinced that you are the living embodiment of that character and that’s what I have achieved. People actually think that Pammi is some aunty, so that’s the success of Pammi aunty. Kishore Kumar has played female characters multiple times, Rishi Kapoor and Amitabh Bachan in Mere Angane Main. As an actor, I have the right to play any character I can do complete justice to.”
Q – You have done a web series with Alt-Balaji. Is a new season in the works?
“I have not been approached by the platform but if someone approaches me, I would love to create (work) with them. I have proposed a few new ideas and am currently in between talks with some OTT platforms and I would love to take that forward.”
Photographed by Gaurav Bawa, Ashish Chawla, and Praveen Bhat
Photographed by Gaurav Bawa, Ashish Chawla, and Praveen Bhat
Q -Favorite restaurants in Delhi?
“The Big Chill Café.”
Q-Your dream collaboration for Pammi Aunty.
“I would love to have Pammi Aunty on Netflix.”
Q -One actor you would love to work within the industry.
“Kirron Kher.”
Q -One role you wish you had done.
“Akshay Kumar’s character in Bhool Bhulaiya.”
Q -Favorite hangout spot in Delhi?
“My Home, Nik Bakers for coffee.”
