Devanshi Shah On How Comedy Became Her Rebellion & Independence

When Devanshi Shah walks onto a stage, she carries more than a mic. She carries the weight of a childhood filled with rules she was expected to follow and a womanhood shaped by expectations she never agreed to inherit. The Mumbai-based standup comic speaks with a disarming mix of humour and honesty. She laughs at her own life even when that life has been anything but simple.

In the newest episode of Rulebreaker: The Shaili Chopra Show, Shah talks about breaking out of a conservative Gujarati household, finding her voice on stage, navigating arranged marriage markets, and learning how to grow money and care for her body. 

True blue rule breaker

“I have broken all rules,” Shah exclaims. “If you told me a rule, I broke it. Speaking on stage was the biggest one. In my house, a woman with a voice was not encouraged. Talking about marriage, parenting, the government, anything with an opinion, felt like rebellion.”

Growing up Gujarati often means growing up inside the logic of money as stability. Shah never fit into that mould. Her humour about it is sharp.

“I was never expected to earn money because I was a woman. I was supposed to get married and go away. When I started earning, they said it was ridiculous. When I continued earning, they said it was too little. There is no way to please them.”

She adds that money in her community is a never-ending race. “No money is enough. Even my parents are not happy with the money they make. They chose their professions only for money. I chose comedy because I loved it. That difference shows.”

Shah built her career in secret. For five years, her parents believed she was dating someone. “I would sneak out at night and tell them I was working late. They were convinced I had a boyfriend. I didn’t, which annoys me till date. But standup was my secret relationship.”

When she appeared on Comicstaan, the truth came out. Her mother took it well. Her father did not.

“They get upset because I talk about them,” she admits. “My dad pretends my career does not exist. But when society praises me, they are proud. When society judges me, they agree with the judgment. They never learnt to pick a side because the world around them keeps poking.”

This pressure often spills into marriage. Shah has spent years in the arranged marriage “market”. Her assessment is blunt.

“The men in that space are often not ambitious. The women are surgeons, dentists, and entrepreneurs. These women earn crores. These men reject them for ambition. Everything that is a strength becomes a weakness. It is a strange world.”

She believes her generation will marry only for love. “We do not need marriage for social or financial security. We can get that on our own.”

A turning point for her was financial independence. “Money gives you the power to say no. Not just to men but to families and expectations.”

She urges young women to first understand what they love doing. “Find something you can grow with. Then learn how to grow your money. Not just save it. I earned a lot in my twenties but did not grow it. Now I am learning investing. That changes your life.”

Self and care

The conversation shifts to women’s health, a subject she insists we mishandle. “We ramble through our twenties. Then we hit thirty and wonder what is happening to our face, hair, and body. For years, I battled weight issues. I was misdiagnosed with PCOD. Later, I found the correct diagnosis and treatment. Healthy and skinny are different things.”

Body shaming shaped her childhood. “In my family, every woman is told to become skinnier, even if she is already thin. We grow up comparing ourselves to magazines and now Instagram. It never ends.”

She recalls an early experience at a popular weight-loss centre. “They took ₹5,000. They marked your body. They told women to eat four almonds a day. There was a woman whose husband refused to touch her because she was fat. She begged them to make her thin so she could have a married life. This industry feeds on insecurity. It is cruel.”

Her advice to women is simple. “Get regular checkups. Focus on nutrition. Home-cooked food helps more than any trend.”

If she could speak to her younger self, she would say one thing. “Stop eating your feelings. Accept yourself. You cannot change the cloth, but you can make it prettier without cursing it.”

In her world, rebellion is not a performance. It is survival. And comedy is the tool she uses to carve space for herself and for every woman who learns to say no and mean it.

Shah continues to sharpen her voice on stage. And in doing so, she reminds us that rule-breaking is not chaos. Sometimes it is clarity.