A living room with an old television playing archive footage

THE ZAKIREXPERIENCE

I started in Indore, in front of twelve people. Last year I played Madison Square Garden. The stories didn’t change. Only the room did.

Born to a Music
& a Dream

Indore. A family of classical musicians - my grandfather, Ustad Moinuddin Khan, a renowned sarangi player. I was three when I started the sitar. I was good. I was never going to be that good.

SITAR AT AGE 6
DROPPED OUT OF B.Sc

A COPYWRITER
WITH BIGGER JOKES

I came to Delhi to figure things out. Copy at HT Media by day, Russell Peters on a laptop screen by night. Something clicked. It wasn’t a plan just a feeling that wouldn’t go away.

RUSSELL PETERS SHOWS
HT MEDIA · 4 YEARS

90 SECONDS.
SIGNALLED OFF.
CAME BACK.

₹500 to get on stage. It took me eight months to save it. They gave me ninety seconds instead of three minutes, then signalled me off. I walked home that night and started writing the next one.

₹500 COVER CHARGE
90 SECONDS ON STAGE

INDIA'S BEST
STAND-UP COMEDIAN

Two years of open mics. Most nights, twelve people. Then Comedy Central ran a competition called India’s Best Stand-up Comedian, and I won it. The rooms stopped being twelve people after that.

COMEDY CENTRAL · WINNER
FIRST PAID SHOW

MUMBAI CALLED.
I PACKED ONE BAG.

They asked if I’d write for a show. I said yes before they finished the question. Ten episodes on Star World with Sorabh Pant, one bag, and a city I didn’t know. It was the first time I’d looked into a national camera.