Get Sumukhi Suresh in a room and the laughs will keep coming, thick and fast! The prolific stand-up comedian, writer, and director has now added another feather to her hat — the Netflix Special called Hoemonal, now streaming on the platform. t2 caught up with Sumukhi for a fun chat.
Hoemonal is very you. What started off the idea?
I gave myself the freedom ki main apna time loongi when it came to this. It was only in 2024 that the show really became a show. Before that, I felt it had a class project vibe to it. It was cute, it felt like: “Wow, she is a promising artiste.” But it still wasn’t there. It was only when Kim Sharma, the producer, came on board that Hoemonal became a show, it became an IP. It got the platform to be the show that a community of women would enjoy. Also, at the end of the day, everything comes down to ticket sales. In Bengaluru, we ended up selling 5,000 tickets, while at NMACC (in Mumbai), it was 2,000. These are milestones that make you feel as an artiste that your show has the kind of heft that everyone wants to watch. Honestly, the show was always writing itself. I was always living it till the time it became a show on stage.
Is that generally the case with most of the work that you do?
I think so. Pushpavalli also went through the same journey. But it has been totally true in the case of Hoemonal. I feel after doing it, I am a different artiste. I respect the business of stand-up.
Why the name Hoemonal?
It is because your girl here has been raised very conservatively! (Laughs) I met one boy and I was like: “Okay, I love him!” And then I had to leave my partner and start life afresh, invest in myself. Most Indian girls have been raised to be sindoor chasers. It is only later that we realise that we can also chase money and a career.
At the crux of it, Hoemonal is about someone who wasn’t meant to experience the independence and freedom of being a woman. My hormones truly govern my day, my moods and my body... to the point that I now have a full-blown conversation with them. The sound of my hormones got louder once I became aware of them. Listening to them and working on their behest really works for me.
Does having a Netflix Special hit different?
Dude, Netflix special is everything for a stand-up comedian! It is the thing you work for. I am grateful that my second special is a Netflix Special, and not my first because one gets better with every piece of work, right? This is the beginning of my Netflix specials.
Which specific reactions to the show, especially from men, have taken you by surprise?
Honest to God, the whole show! I always knew it was funny. But in my head, I thought of it as a rom com. For me, it was a chick flick, full of laughter and happiness. It is about looking at your friend and saying: “Did you also do this?” It is also about empathy and in a way, about anger. This is a rollercoaster of emotions. I really leaned into it and enjoyed myself, especially the second half. I have constantly been surprised at how well people take it.
As for the men, I am surprised at how many of them walk in just for the sake of their partners and then walk out as converts. If not a Sumukhi fan, they become Hoemonal fans.
More often than not, do you think that people saying: “Oh, she is just being hormonal” is used as an excuse and even an insult towards women?
Honestly, I have always taken it as a full compliment. I know most are being derogatory when they say: “Don’t mind, she is being hormonal”, but for me, that is my kryptonite! I could have six different emotions at the same point while smiling at you and getting things done. Women are known for being multitaskers, despite the fact that our hormones take a toll on us. But I feel that they also aid us. We make the mistake of thinking that they stand in our way, but I feel they are part of my journey. The moment I accepted them in my gang, my brain now works according to them. Whichever phase they are in, I am like: “Let’s navigate.”
A lot of women don’t have that conversation with ourselves because we are not told we can have it. It just seems like being hormonal is wrong. But I believe that if we are not hormonal, then what are we?! That is a plain life I don’t want to live. I would love to be a hormonal girl rather than a non-hormonal girl.
How has the stand-up comedy scene evolved for female comedians in India? Is there something that the larger audience still isn’t prepared for a female comedian to say on stage?
This is a very good time for comedians because there are so many of us with so many different voices. There is Sharon (Verma), Jeeya Sethi, Prashasti (Singh)... all with different voices. We bring in a lot of variety.
As far as audience acceptance is concerned, it is a hit and miss. They are comfortable with certain things being told by male comics, but not by female ones.
You have written the sparkling dialogues for Vikramaditya Motwane’s segment in Lust Stories 3, led by Konkona Sensharma and Radhika Apte. What were the highlights of that experience?
I had a lot of fun writing them. With Vikramaditya Motwane and Avinash Sampath (screenwriter), there is very little judgment. There is nothing like: “She is a good writer” or “she is a bad writer”. The moment they mentioned “husband swapping”, I was like: “I am going to get my Abbas-Mustan moment in a Vikramaditya Motwane film!” (Laughs)
It was like being in a playground; it was the most peaceful writing I got to do. There is no fear of anything when you are writing for them. I am again writing something for them, and having a blast!
Standing where you are today, what would you tell Sumukhi the kid who grew up in an extremely conservative family?
That she is her own saviour. That Sumukhi was waiting for a man, telling herself: “I am going to meet someone who will never fat-shame me, someone who will take care of me.” That is what most girls think because we have been brought up on a fairytale concept. But today, I would tell Sumukhi that she is her own princess, and that she should be happy about it.
When did you first realise you could get up on stage and make a room laugh?
I used to do a show called The Improv. I did it only for fun because I also had a day job at a food safety lab. One day, before a performance, someone pissed me off by saying that women are not funny. I took it personally, and that ended up being a great show!
Honestly, I still don’t know if I am funny or not, but I am aware of the fact that I tell stories that are entertaining. I will guarantee a gamut of emotions for you to enjoy. Funnies keeps coming and going. In fact, if I could upgrade from funnies to other things, I would love to!
We will take funny anytime!
Yeah! Funny is the base, the carbohydrate of the dish. It has to be there!
You have mastered the art of being saucy. What is the story behind getting certified in the ‘Art of Sauces’ from Le Cordon Bleu recently?
I started cooking very early in life, when I was eight. My mom was studying then, so I took over the kitchen. If I am asked what I do better, between comedy and cooking, I would pick cooking! I am a sabji ‘fixer’. That is who I am.
I worked briefly as a chef in Bengaluru. It was an interesting experience, and so was the food safety lab stint. Le Cordon Bleu is the Mecca of cooking schools. I was going to be in London for a writing workshop and I signed up for a few cooking courses there as well. It is genuinely one of the best decisions I have taken. I also realised I am the annoying one in class because I ask a lot of questions!
Any plans of applying that experience?
Not yet, but I am going again in November to do a course on meats and butchery. And I am a vegetarian.