Meet Atul Khatri, The Talented Comedian With '50+ IQ' Who Once Owned an IT Company

Atul Khatri, one of the most prominent standup comedians in India, often sends the crowd on a laughter riot with his impeccable comic timing and hilarious anecdotes. The 55-year-old also claims to be a “50+ guy” — not in terms of age but his IQ level. Atul Khatri draws inspiration from real-life incidents, depicting middle-class scenarios. Before starting his profession as a comedian, he was a businessman who decided to leave his job and start ticking off his “bucket list” instead. Since then, Atul Khatri has flourished in the comedy business, entertaining us with his gigs. Today, let’s take a look at the life and journey of this talented comedian.

Early Life and Education

Born on January 10, 1968, in Mumbai, Atul Khatri completed his schooling at St. Theresa’s Boys High School in the city. He pursued a Bachelor of Engineering from Thadomal Shahani Engineering College (TSEC). Atul Khatri also obtained a certificate in Business Administration from the Alliance Manchester Business School in Manchester, England.

Atul Khatri later joined his family’s computer firm, Kaytek Computer Services Private Limited, in the position of Chief Executive Officer (CEO). At the age of 43, Khatri changed his line of work and focused his attention on comedy.

Job Switch

Atul Khatri started running his own IT company, which he soon found to be quite monotonous. His wife pushed him, claiming that he was built for more. At first, he wanted to become a bartender but was too lazy to partake in courses on Sundays. Atul then tried his hands at becoming a DJ but that also did not work out.

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While figuring out what he wanted to do in life, Atul Khatri started posting jokes on Facebook for comic relief and found that his comical side received much appreciation from social media users. So, he signed up for an open-mic show, following which he found a kick in comedy, and the rest is history.

Content and Impact

Some of Atul Khatri’s most famous comedy shows include – Justin Bieber Concert, Indian Marriages And Chinese Inflation, Why I Hate Sangeet functions and Trip To Chi Chi Islands. During the lockdown period, he started an episode series titled Only Positive News which also became quite popular.

Khatri was a member of East India Comedy, which was created in 2012 by Sorabh Pant. Pant and Khatri both departed EIC in 2017 to pursue their respective careers.

Achievements

Atul Khatri performed gigs at several prestigious comedy festivals, including the Hong Kong International Comedy Festival in 2014, the Utrecht International Comedy Festival in the Netherlands in 2014, the Dubai International Comedy Festival in 2015, and the Just For Laughs Comedy Festival in Australia in 2019.

In September 2018, Atul was honoured with the Best Stand-up Act in India by the India Nightlife Convention and Awards, a division of the NRAI (National Restaurants Association of India).

In January 2019, his Comedy Special “The Happiest Ending” was broadcast internationally on Netflix.

CNN-IBN labelled him to be one of India’s top 20 comedians. He also bagged the CEO’s Got Talent trophy in a competition with 11 other CEOs.

Atul Khatri has been a part of commercials for Amazon, Muthoot Finance, Rebtel, Aegon Religare Insurance, Philips, and Matrix SIM cards.

Net worth

Atul Khatri’s net worth is estimated to be $1.5 million (12 crore 38 lakh approximately). He has 3.93 lakh subscribers on YouTube, followed by 291k followers on Instagram and 2.6 million followers on X (formerly Twitter).