Indian comedian Kapil Sharma isn’t boasting when he says that Bollywood stars are queuing up to promote their films on his eponymous TV show.
But he claims it’s often the stars’ entourages that are a handful.
“On my birthday, I had to shoot with Bachchan sahab [Amitabh Bachchan]. I never slept the whole night. His assistants were telling us that your dadi [one of the other stand-up comedians in his show] was not to kiss Bachchan sahab or don’t ask him to sing. There was this long list of dos and don’ts and that was overwhelming,” said Sharma.
But he realised that he was overthinking it, because the legendary actor was game to sing, dance and more. The Pink star had no inhibitions, unlike what his team had led him to believe.
“Seeing his enthusiasm to sing to the live audience, I realised that we are all artists at the end of the day and our job is to entertain and spread joy,” said Sharma in Hindi.
And entertain, he will. The comedian, who is known for his affable personality and easy humour, will perform at the Dubai World Trade Centre today. He will bring along his team, including Sunil Grover, Kiku Sharda, Ali Asgar, Sugandha Mishra and Chandan Prabhakar, from The Kapil Sharma Show.
“We will ensure that there won’t be a single serious face in the crowd ... And we will make sure that this stand-up comedy show is edited and kept tight. Last time [in September 2014], it was televised and so it took us six hours. But this time, we will keep it to two to three hours,” said Sharma. He rose to fame after winning the Great Indian Laughter Challenge in 2007 and has worked his way up in the comic ladder.
“There’s no short-cut to hard work. You just need to keep at it until you find success. Did you know, at The Great Indian Laughter Challenge, I was rejected? But I tried again and was crowned the winner ... I have always tried to give my audience a good time. It’s rewarding to make people laugh,” he said.
While hard work is a given in his life, Sharma hopes that he will strike lucky, too. His dream interview — with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi — is yet to happen.
“If and when that happens, one of my greatest dreams will be granted. After a long time, we have a prime minister who appeals to the youth and the elders. Plus, he keeps himself updated with the latest technology and that’s inspiring.
“I would love for him to come to my show to share his experiences and in turn, I will get a chance to entertain him.” His stand-up comedy is in Hindi and he’s known to poke fun at stereotypes and cultural differences.
But being mean is simply not his style, says the comedian. He’s also particular about not poking fun at people’s physical appearances. Recently, actress Tannishtha Chatterjee slammed comedians for poking fun at her dark skin.
“If you hurt one person in the name of making millions laugh, you have failed in your purpose. I will never crack such jokes. There is a thin line between humour and being offensive. Personally, I don’t find it humorous. I have never cracked jokes on physical appearance and I will never do so.”
But that point took some time to percolate to the Bollywood stars who were reluctant to appear on his show.
“But over the years, they have no such fears and are now lining up to promote their films on my shows. We are the ones doing the rejecting now,” said Sharma. He still remembers his first guest: the amiable veteran Bollywood actor Dharamendra, who obliged him out of courtesy.
“I met him on a flight to Canada and we hit it off. And he appeared on my show because he could never say no to people,” said Sharma.
Don’t Miss It!
Tickets are now on sale on platinumlist.net and are priced from Dh250 to Dh2,500. Doors open at 7pm and the show is scheduled to start at 9pm. Call 050-1596134.
