Munawar Faruqui (Bigg Boss)

Some Lesser Known Facts About Munawar Faruqui

• Munawar Faruqui is popular for his YouTube videos Dawood, Yamraaj & Aurat (2020), Ghost Story (2021), and Doctor & Engineer (2021).

• His home was destroyed during the 2002 communal riots in Gujarat. When he was 16, his mother died by suicide. Fedup of his tumultuous life in Junagadh, his father shifted the family to Mumbai in 2007, to make a fresh start.

• In 2008, his father fell sick and became bedridden. Therefore, he had to take charge of his family at the age of 17. Thereafter, he assumed the responsibility of his three sisters’ marriage. To make ends meet, he worked during the day and pursued a computer course in the evening.

• Before becoming a standup comedian, Faruqui worked as a utensil seller, a salesman, in a shop.

• In his early twenties, Faruqui worked as a graphic designer in a reputable firm, where he discovered that he was good at coming up with witty one-liners for posters.

• Faruqui decided to venture into stand-up comedy while pursuing one of his odd jobs. Apparently, he was present on the shooting set of an advertisement in which the makers were replicating a stand-up comedy scene. As the makers of the advertisement fell short on the extras, they asked Munawar to sit and pose as an audience. Thereafter, the makers asked him to go on the stage and say two lines. While delivering those lines Faruqui felt the urge to begin his career in the comedy business. While talking about this incident in an interview, Faruqui’s friend Balraj Singh Ghai said,
  

  He said when he went on stage and said those two lines, it felt powerful, like it was something he should do for real. He came for some of our open mics and became an instant hit.”

• Intrigued by standup comedy, he started visiting open mics. Although at home his family encouraged their children to pursue a career of their choice, they initially dismissed standup as “time-pass” when Faruqui began to show an interest in it. It was when people started approaching him for selfies that his family realised that stand-up comedy was a full-time profession.

• In July 2019, he performed his first one hour Gujarati show titled “Dodh Dahyo” in Malad, Mumbai.
  

• He started uploading standup comedy videos on his self-titled YouTube channel in January 2020, and soon, he gained massive popularity. On 24 January 2020, Munawar released his first video titled ‘Politics in India,’ which marked his breakthrough moment.
  

• His first ticketed show opened in Mumbai in February 2020. In the same month, his father died. In an interview in 2021, while talking about his dilemma, he said,
  

  Last year has been testing. I lost my father in February, but also got my first shows in Mumbai, the same month. There have been days I’d be crying in the green room just before being called up to the stage.”

• During the Covid-19 lockdown in 2020, Munawar Faruqi’s fictional character Razzaqbhai which he used in his Instagram videos, attracted many followers.

• In April 2020, he struck stardom with the stand-up comedy video titled ‘Dawood, Yamraaj & Aurat,’ uploaded on his channel. In the video, Faruqui talked about his residential area, Dongri, a neighbourhood in South Mumbai known for fostering criminals like Dawood Ibrahim. He said,
  

  Have you heard of Dongri? Every time I mention it, half the people I’m speaking to don’t know what I’m talking about, and the other half turn around and say, ‘Oh, that Dawood wala?’ But what kind of stereotype is this? But Dongri isn’t famous just because of Dawood, there is Haji Mastan, Tiger Memon — what gangsters we’ve given.”

  Immensely appreciated, the video has garnered over 10 million views.
  

• After performing the set ‘Dongri to Nowhere’ for the first time in August 2019, in October 2020, he started its nationwide tour. Due to the controversy in which he was arrested in Indore, the tour came to a halt.
  

• In February 2020, he uploaded ‘The Chowkidar Song’ in which he mixed music with comedy to mock the Modi government. In March 2020, he uploaded the video ‘The NRC Song,’ which featured jokes about Delhi Riots and sarcasm and satire on Indian politics on his channel.
  

• In August 2020, he released his first official music video “Jawab” in collaboration with Indian musician Spectra.
  

• A group of South Asian American stand-up comedians, performed a virtual comedy show on 6 February 2021 to showcase unanimity among standup comedians and to exhibit their support for Munawar Faruqui, who, at that time, was jailed after his arrest in Indore on 1 January 2021.

• In March 2021, Munawar teamed up with the Indian musician Nazz for a hip-hop song titled “Aazmaish,” based on his own life. Written by Munawar and music composed by Audiocrackerr, the song centred around his arrest in Indore.
  

• In April 2021, he established his second YouTube channel ‘Munawar Faruqui 2.0’ in which he uploads his live stream videos while playing various games like Super Mario, Grand Theft Auto V, and Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout.

• Munawar Faruqui occasionally enjoys smoking hookah.

  

• After 16 cancellations of his shows across several states because of threats from Hindutva outfits, Munawar Faruqui performed in Mumbai at a show facilitated by All India Professional’s Congress of Maharashtra in December 2021. Since his arrest in January 2021 in Indore, Hindutva groups had constantly targeted him.

• On 8 May 2022, Munawar Faruqui emerged the winner of Kangana Ranaut‘s show Lock Upp; he took home a trophy, Rs. 20 lakh cash prize, and a brand new car. Payal Rohatgi and Anjali Arora were announced as the first and second runner-up, respectively. During the show, the comedian talked about many things about his past; his divorce, his mother’s suicide, and being sexually assaulted as a child. ^[12]The Indian Express

• In 2023, Munawar appeared as a contestant in a reality show titled ‘Bigg Boss 17,’ which aired on Colors TV.

  

• According to Ayesha Khan, Munawar double-dated her and lied about breaking up with Nazila. Before Ayesha entered the reality TV show Bigg Boss season 17, a teaser was released on Colours TV in which Ayesha could be heard saying,
  

  You told me you have broken up with Nazila but you have been talking about your relationship with her so loudly on the show. You told me you love me and want to spend time with me. You told me you love me and want to spend quality time with me. And all this while you were begging her to say… isko two timing nai bole. Toh main kaise aaye picture mein. Sirf mere aur uski baat hoti na toh main shayad yeh conversation sun lete. There were other women involved.

• Prior to her entry in the Bigg Boss 17 house as a wild card contestant, Ayesha revealed that she was once approached by Munawar. She said,
  

  He asked me out. While we were not committed, things were happening between us. Now he is lying on national television about his dating life. I need to confront him. He has broken my trust. He kept me hooked while he was involved with other women.”

• On 18 December 2023, Nazila talked about her relationship with Munawar during an Instagram live session. She also responded to claims made by Ayesha Khan. Nazila said that she had no knowledge of Munawar dating Ayesha. She added that Munawar had told her she was the only person he loved but there were other girls involved. ^[13]India Today

• Munawar was soon reported to be back in a relationship with Ayesha after he expressed his wish to make things right with her in an episode of Bigg Boss 17. In the episode, he asked Ayesha if her family would accept him if they resolved their issues. ^[14]The Siasat Daily

• In January 2024, an actor named Anjali Arora made some allegations against Munawar in an interview. She claimed that he is skilled at playing with both words and relationships. ^[15]The Times of India While justifying her claims, she said,
  

  Kyunki unhone kitni ladkiyon ki zindagi se… I don’t know kitni ladkiyon ki Abhi sacchayi bahar aana Baaki hai.”

• On 28 January 2024, he emerged as the winner of the show ‘Bigg Boss 17.’ He received a prize of Rs. 50 lakh and a Hyundai Creta.

  

• Here’s an interesting video about Munawar Faruqui’s biography: