Chaya Unnikrishnan (DNA; April 5, 2018)

Kapil Sharma returned to TV after a hiatus of seven months with his new show Family Time With Kapil. It was touted as the revamped version of The Kapil Sharma Show with a fresh approach, new gigs and a couple of new entrants. Kiku Sharda, Navjot Singh Siddhu and Chandan Prabhakar, who were part of his earlier show, are back in almost the same avatars. Chandan is still dressed as Chandu ‘Chai Wala’ and Kiku Sharda cross-dresses and is seen as ‘Bumper’. Neha Pendse provides the glamour element for the show. This time, Kapil has introduced a lot of games and prizes.

While the ratings of the show are yet to come, it got adverse reactions on social media, with most people panning it. Also, last week, Kapil cancelled a shoot with Rani Mukerji, which hasn’t gone down well with the makers. Combined with the negative reactions and the shoot’s cancellation, the channel, we hear, is at their wit’s end and trying to figure out the future course. “They wanted Kapil to hold a press conference, but he asked them for time. He told them he will address the media after a couple of episodes are aired. Now, there is an internal dispute going on about how many episodes should be aired. The show has been slated for 26 episodes, but the channel is thinking of cutting it to 15-20 if the reactions are not good and ratings are not as expected,” says a source.

In the meantime, the makers have approached Sumona Chakravarti, who has been part of Kapil’s earlier show to join the new series, but she is yet to take a call. Sources also tell us that Kapil is going through a low phase due to the happenings in the last one year, on his personal and professional front.

An insider reveals, “After his fight with Sunil Grover that led to a chain of incidents, with the former quitting the show along with Ali Asgar, Kapil’s show suffered, his health went downhill leading to him cancelling shoots. Kapil announced his engagement to Ginny Chitrarth last year and now, his family wants him to get married sooner than later. All these things are affecting him. In fact, his old colleagues Sunil, Preeti and Neeti Simoes, who were part of his creative team, have tried to reach out to him in their own way. Sunil tweeted that he hadn’t been approached for the new show. If you read between the lines, you will know what he was hinting at. He even wished Kapil on his birthday. Even his ex, Preeti, wished him just before his new show went on air. The channel, till early this year, also tried its best to get all of them together as they were a formidable comedy team and even extended The Drama Company in the hope it will happen. But unfortunately, every time something or someone from Kapil’s close circle has prevented this from happening. Even Kapil has become inaccessible to the makers and therefore they are unable to decide on the shoot dates, so how will they decide on the number of episodes?” We got in touch with the channel, but they hadn’t reverted till the time of going to press.