NEW DELHI – Comedy is a serious business and no one knows it better than Kapil Sharma. The stand-up artiste, who has grown by leaps and bounds in his career, now has a show of his own — Comedy Nights With Kapil. In this interview, he talks about how he loves “to put smiles on the faces of people” and his rags-to-riches story.
Turning producer with your own show is a risk. What factors were playing on your mind when you took this step? It feels great to have a show with your name (in the title); it rarely happens in India. We are doing well and are getting the highest TRPs among non-fiction shows. I don’t think any show can come close to this rating for the next five years. If you offer good content, people love you. Every comedian dreams of having his own show and I did too. As for the risk, I was looking to establish my production house.
Do you feel you have got your due in the industry?
Yes, I have. Every artiste wants to excel and be appreciated. One can do a film and not work for six months, but on TV you have to produce good content every week. It involves a lot of hard work as one has to fight for ratings every week. But I have always got love from the audiences, be it during The Great Laughter Challenge or Comedy Circus.
You have come a long way from being just a stand-up comedian.
People expect comedy from me but I am not just a stand-up comedian anymore. I act on stage, host Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa and also conduct interviews on my show. I have grown as a person and an artiste. I had started my career with serious theatre and didn’t know comedy at all. But when I did it, people liked it, so I focused on it. And here I am today. There was no money in theatre; all the hard work I did in Punjab didn’t fetch me any returns. We make people laugh, so we should make some money for it. This was not the case in serious theatre.
You did very well in the music reality show Star Ya Rockstar. Will you be pursuing music too?
I have an offer from a big music company for an album, but I am focusing on my show right now. Next year, I hope to come out with my own album which will have Sufi music with a Punjabi flavour. People will see a different side to me.We heard you are dating Preeti Simoes who is an executive producer on one of your shows.I don’t like to talk about my personal life. I don’t have the time to date anyone; even if I had a girl, she would run away.
Quick five
What is the funniest thing anyone has told you?
People tell me that my appearance in real life is better than on-screen. Perhaps people think I am exactly like the characters I play on TV. So now I wear good clothes in my show. (laughs)
Which TV show do you like?
I hardly watch TV, but I have heard that Dance India Dance is good and that CID, Madhubala and Balika Vadhu are popular too.
According to you, who’s the most popular TV actor today?
Sidharth Shukla is very popular. We keep teasing him on JDJ. Drasti Dhami too is very popular.nTell us something we don’t know about you. People think I am funny all the time. But I am not. I am serious too. Also, I enjoy serious, dramatic films.
A question you’re always asked and are tired of answering?
People always ask me why there is so much double meaning in comedy. So I reply saying, ‘Why don’t you ask people who actually use double-meaning instead of me?’
