Sonil Dedhia (MID-DAY; November 9, 2017)

After seeing a downfall, India’s favourite funny man Kapil Sharma is now on the road to reformation. He agrees that it will be a tough ride to regain his lost glory, but one that he is determined to make.

Sharma has already taken the first step — the comedian reveals that he has buried the hatchet with his long-time friend and The Kapil Sharma Show co-star, Sunil Grover. The two had a bitter fallout in March this year amidst rumours that the comedian had hurled a shoe at Grover on a flight. But it’s all in the past now.

Sharma hints at a reunion as he says, “Sunil and I haven’t met in a long time, but we chat over messages. He is currently in Canada. As soon as he returns, we will meet up and discuss the possibility of a new show. Hopefully, we should be back together. The rest of the cast members are also ready to come on board.”

Sharma agrees that the past incidents took a toll on their friendship. “When he had left the show earlier [to pursue his own show, Mad In India], I had dissuaded him from leaving us. This time too, I was sad that our issue had become so big that it had started affecting our friendship. I tried explaining to him that everyone makes mistakes and I too had committed one. But he wouldn’t have any of it.”

Probe him on the abrupt decision to pull The Kapil Sharma Show off air and he reasons, “The channel [officials] didn’t ask me to go off air. It was a mutual decision between us as I thought we needed to take a break. Also, I felt a lot was written on the controversy that happened.”

While a new show is on the cards, Sharma, at the moment, is looking forward to his Bollywood project, Firangi. He hopes the audience showers as much love on him in his big screen endeavour too. “We have usually seen emotional dramas on Partition. But Firangi is a satire on it. It is a situational humour which I hope people will appreciate.”