Bharati Dubey (MID-DAY; March 21, 2016)

A public apology from Kapil Sharma may not be good enough for Sunil Grover, who, sources say, has resolved to quit The Kapil Sharma show. According to reports, Kapil assaulted and hurled abuses at Sunil during their return flight from Melbourne, where they did a stage show recently.

“Kapil’s long post on social media means nothing to Sunil, who is hurt over the way he behaved on the flight. So, an apology won’t be enough for Grover to go back to the set,” says a source close to Sunil, who is the mainstay and, arguably, the most popular act on the sketch comedy show. He plays a variety of characters, most prominent of them being Dr Mashoor Gulati and Rinku Devi.

In a Facebook post yesterday morning, Kapil wrote, “I was celebrating my best time [he revealed photos of his girlfriend, Ginni Chatrath, on Twitter] and suddenly I heard a news about me and Sunil paaji fighting. If I fought with him in the flight, who saw it and informed you? Is he trustworthy? I spend almost every day with my team, especially Sunil. I love him, respect him… Yes I had an argument with him, but are we not normal people? I shouted at him for the first time in 5 years. Itna to chalta hai bhai. It’s our family matter and we will sort this out (sic).”

At the time of going to press, Kapil was about to begin shooting for his show and despite the channel officials’ requests, Sunil wad adamant on staying away from the set. A source close to the channel said he is yet to officially quit the show. There is also buzz that Navjot Singh Sidhu may have to leave the show, owing to political compulsions.