10 lesser known facts about Johnny Lever
- Lever’s real name is John Rao Prakash Rao Janumala, he was born in Andhra Pradesh as a Hindu and brought up in Dharavi.
- Lever practices Christianity. He has transformed into the religion post his son’s miraculous recovery from cancer.
- Johnny Lever was a dropout from school after the 7th grade due to financial problems.
- Johnny Lever used to sell pen on streets while imitating Hindi film actors.
- His name Johnny Lever was given to him by the workers of Hindustan Lever Ltd Company, during a function when he was mimicking their senior officials.
- He is married to Sujatha and has two children, a daughter Jamie who is a stand-up comedian too and a son Jesse.His younger brother, Jimmy Moses, is also a comedian and mimicry artist
- His father used to work in the same company. Johnny got his last name Lever from the company’s last name. He started using it as his stage name.
- Johnny Lever got his first movie Dard Ka rishta, when Sunil Dutt offered him the role after watching his stage performance.
- Johnny Lever is the president of MAAM (Mimicry Artist Association Mumbai)
- Johnny has a younger brother, Jimmy Moses who is also a popular comedian and standup artist. Jimmy is currently seen in Comedy Dangal.
- Lever is a practicing Christian. When asked about his transition, Lever says:
It was God’s will. I had always been a religious person, but one incident changed my life. My son was diagnosed with throat tumor. I was helpless and turned to God for help. I stopped working in films and spent all my time praying for him. Ten days later, when he was taken for a test, the doctors were surprised because the cancer had vanished. It was the beginning of a new life for me