Shakeel Siddiqui

Shakeel Siddiqui (Urdu: شکیل صدیقی‎) is a Pakistani stand-up comedian, stage and television actor better known as 'Teeli' in Pakistan. He rose to prominence in India after appearing as a contestant in first season of Comedy Circus.^[2] Although he didn't win, he became so popular that he was hired as a co-host in the second season of the show. He was paired to actress Urvashi Dholakia in reality show, Ustaadon Ka Ustaad (2008).

Shakeel Siddiqui also appeared as a celebrity guest in Salman Khan's reality game show, Dus Ka Dum (2008)^[3] and as a guest judge in Boogie Woogie dance competition. He was also a participant in the third season of Comedy Circus, dubbed Kaante Ki Takkar.

Today Shakeel appears on all major channels of Pakistan for his performances.

Earlier career

Shakeel in his earlier career quite did not clicked until he was found by Umar Shareef which eventually made him a big theater artist. Shakeel's role in stage plays and films were quite popular, he worked with Indian comedians like Jhonny Lever. Shakeel Siddiqui performance was notable in stage dramas Beauty Parlour, Budha Ghar pay hai, Chand baraye Farokht and Nayi Ami Puranay Abba. His situational jokes for Shruti Seth on the sets of Comedy Circus made the Indian audience absolute stunned and his presence of mind has led him to marvelous success in India. Shakeel Presently co-host a show with another stand up comedian Kashif Khan called Hazraaat on News Channel Abb takk

Shakeel Siddiqui in India

Shakeel was best known for his time in India for the show Comedy Circus where he was critically acclaimed as a king of stage comedy, he later stepped out of the competition by himself and participated separately on fan's choice alongside Urvashi Dholakia initially and, Shruti seth and Mona Singh at the final season of his appearance. Among the other participants he became role model and participants like Swapnil often referred him as the best stand up of the show. Satish Shah and Archana praised Shakeel for his tremendous performances and cracking furious jokes on Shruti Seth. He appeared in Game Show Dus ka Dum on Sony Television. Many comedians often mimic Shakeel in the remembrance after he was forcefully departed from India due to the political pressure by extremists.^[4][5]

Departure from Indian television

After the 2008 Mumbai Attacks some news channels and blogs reported that Shakeel was beaten and forced to leave India by Hindu religious extremists.^[6][7][8] However, he later denied being beaten or abused and claimed that the producers of Sony were threatened by the members of MNS of "dire consequences" if they continue to allow Pakistanis to perform on their shows. As a safety precaution, the producers and the artist agreed to have him depart from the country. This claim coincides with later reports.^{[9][10][11][12][13]} He has made several appearances on Indian TV shows since then.

Return to Indian television

In October 2014 Shakeel made a comeback to Indian screen with Comedy Classes on Life Ok.^[14]

References

External links

• Shakeel Siddiqui at the Internet Movie Database