Talktime | Kapil Sharma
India’s best stand-up comedian is all joy and no worries as his new show unveils on a new platform on TV today. An effusive Kapil Sharma talks to PRAKRITI ROY about how a fresh show is good for creativity and how his Shantivan Co-operative Society will be ruling the gaffes on the small screen every weekend
You shot your first episode at a live event in Delhi. Do you like performing liveIJ
I enjoy performing live. I am a stage artist after all. If you see my work on TV, you’ll see that it’s like a live performance. And comedy is something that gives you instant reactions which you can get only on stage. That’s why I’ve never done a daily soap. I just can’t do those dramatic things.
What’s your connect with DelhiIJ
I have spent a lot of time here. My uncle stays here and we have a home here. I used to perform here during college days and when we used to come to stage our plays at NSD for the Rang Mahotsav.
Why not daily soapIJ
I have been offered so many. All kind of weird roles have come my way. I don’t listen to the script because I don’t want to do them. I enjoy comedy.
How has the jump from Comedy Nights With Kapil to The Kapil Sharma Show beenIJ
We are still going to make people laugh. But there is definitely excitement in doing something new. We had been doing Comedy Nights With Kapil for three years. If we had been there for three more months, we would have changed some stuff there as well. Change is necessary. Fortunately or unfortunately for us, we discontinued that. But working on a new show unleashes your creativity. Your mind opens up and starts thinking of new scenarios and new sets.
Why no details about the new showIJ
It’s the Shantivan Co-operative Housing Society this time. There are lots of families staying there and many new situations. Sumona will be one of my neighbours and not my wife. The intention remains the same: Making people laugh.
Why is she not your wife this timeIJ
We don’t want to keep repeating the content. With new characters and a new set-up, there’s lots more to do. We might still be fighting each other, even as neighbours, though.
What will the other cast be doingIJ
All of us play multi-characters. So, it’ll keep changing according to the gags. I sometimes actually wonder that since we made Sunil (Grover) my mother-in-law and father-in-law in the previous show, what would we have done if we needed both togetherIJ We realised that later.
Any mistakes you want to rectify this timeIJ
I don’t think so. It was a superhit showyaar.
Will there be gender reversals in this oneIJ
If the situation requires. All actors play male and female characters as per the script’s requirement. The thing is, in comedy, you need to be a bit over the top. So if we have a real girl there instead of a man dressed up as a woman, I won’t be comfortable doing a lot of things and I will have to stay in my limits. But when I know it’s Sunil, I can hit him & punch him, because I know that she’s really a man. Won’t it be weird if I am punching a womanIJ
Those cross-dressed characters were the USP. How will you make up for thatIJ
This show will also have things like that. But the important thing is that there are only a few actors with the right comic timing in our industry and I am grateful that all of them are in my team. The actors are the same but the characters will be new. It’ll be fun.
What about Angoori bhabhiIJ
No, not at all! I had no hand in her leaving her show Bhabiji Ghar Pe HainIJ My name keeps coming up in everything. When Kiku went to jail, the headline was Kapil ki Palak jail mein. News of Sumona’s marriage was Kapil ki biwi ki shaadi. Their dispute was already there. My casting team only approached her when they heard that she’s free. But we didn’t want to work with someone who had these issues going on. So it didn’t work out. We don’t want any negativity in the new show.
Is comedy challengingIJ
Comedy is definitely a tough job. There is no way around it. Producing two episodes a week is quite demanding for the content team. Plus, our funda about below-the-belt comedy is clear – we don’t do it, we’ve never done it and will never do it! In our live show in Delhi, there were so many children. That’s our USP, that people have faith in us doing clean comedy. It’s a trust that we want to maintain. It’s hard but when we sit together, it becomes easier. I feel, comedy is not something you write first. Rather, you just brainstorm, do a few other things and then write down the best things from the session for later use. We all sit and discuss one topic and everyone contributes.
Gags are scripted but even then we have to improvise, especially when someone forgets their lines. We have a good tuning and chemistry with which we carry each other forward. We don’t give the celebrities a script because then we would lose out on their natural reactions.
Once you and Amitabh Bachchan played a prank on Chandan Prabhakar. Tell us more.
Yes, Bachchansaab and I played a prank on Chandan Prabhakar(the servant on the earlier show). I wanted to get back at him for missing his rehearsals. I didn’t know that Bachchan saab would take the prank so seriously and almost walk out of the show! There’s a naughty kid hidden inside him.
let’s hear about your tuning with SRK.
Shah Rukh Khan and I have a very good chemistry. We can relate to each other as we’re both from north India. So whenever he comes on the show, I’m tension-free. Woh mere bharose baithe rehte hain, main unke bharose baitha rehta hun, aur apna kaam ban jaataa hai.
What’s your opinion about supernatural characters getting all the TRPs on TV nowadaysIJ Will you introduce one on your showIJ
I don’t think there will be a supernatural character on my show. I like doing believable things. How can someone randomly become anaaginIJ You spend so much time on graphics. Too much taam-jhaam. We are only about things people can relate to.
Do you have to maintain caution while performing spoofs on celebrities and issuesIJ
We always have to take care. You can’t hurt anyone’s religious or personal sentiments. As far as my work is concerned, I am sure you’ve never heard of anything offensive from me. It has happened earlier that I was doing an act on a show where people were doing vulgar comedy and my name somehow got associated with it. According to me, all this intolerance business is marketing and we have given undue importance to it. Why do we take things so seriously all the timeIJ
Do you consider yourself as an actor or a comedianIJ
I am an actor who likes to make people laugh. Before I started with stand-up comedy in 2007, I used to do theatre.
From stand-up to situational comedyIJ
When laughter Challenge came, people actually got to know what stand-up comedy was. Before that, there were mimicry artists. After that, we started doing duo acts in Comedy Circus. Then with Comedy Nights..., we created a multi-character play format. If you think about it, there was no format as such. I used to sing, interact with the audience and do whatever I felt my strength was.
Are the show’s creative reigns in your handsIJ
My entire purpose of becoming a creative producer was so that no one stops me from doing things my way. When I made a show that truly came from heart, it became a hit. Before that, I was doing limited stand-up acts on other people’s shows. I want all the control in my hands. I don’t earn any money from being a creative producer.
What about politicians on your showIJ
I wanted (Narendra) Modiji on my show because a person’s lighter side should also be shown. look at (Barack) Obama, he came on a light-hearted chat show. Why can’t we do thatIJ But frankly, I don’t understand politics. I still don’t know what happened at JNU! Politicians are most welcome.
What are the goals of your new showIJ
I don’t set goals. We just want to make people laugh, work hard and have a blast.
What about more moviesIJ
K9 Productions is doing something in that sector. It’ll take time to develop as even in films, I want the control in my own hands. It’s not that I am arrogant. But a man knows his strengths best. If someone tells me to dance, it’s not possible because I don’t know how to.
TV versus films...
TV is the medium that keeps me connected to the public much more than films can do. People have to spend money and go out of their way to watch a film. But you can reach people’s homes directly and free through TV. But I don’t want to keep working on the same thing and exhausting myself. You know how those 25-kg girls (on daily soap) wear 35-kg sarees and faint.
Anything you miss from your earlier lifeIJ
Those youth festivals when we used to represent our college in competitions in our university days. I miss my father a lot because he never got to see what all I’ve achieved. We were broke when he passed away.
What’s been your biggest life-changing incident
When I got rejected for laughter Challenge. My sister had got engaged but we didn’t know how we would afford the wedding. later, I was called back to the show and emerged the winner of that season.
What do you do in your free timeIJ
When I’m not shooting, I’m working on what to shoot. TV is, indeed, hard work. The thing is that the channel puts my name in the title credits, so I feel like I need to check on everything that’s going on. Otherwise, I could just sit back and mind my own business.
When are you serious, if at allIJ
How do you think I get so much work done if I’m never seriousIJ Comedy is serious business.