Encouraged by wife Ginni, Kapil Sharma resumed shoot after four months
Himesh Mankad (MUMBAI MIRROR; August 1, 2020)

After 120 days, Kapil Sharma is back on the sets of Sony TV’s laughathon. After resuming work, the comedian-actor shot the first episode of The Kapil Sharma Show with Sonu Sood, who has emerged as a real-life hero during the Coronavirus pandemic, sending the migrant workers home and offering others jobs. “The episode with Sonu paaji was different from other shoots as it’s more like our tribute to him and with a dose of laughter. There is also an emotional live video chat with some of the migrants he helped,” informs Kapil, adding that Sonu was accompanied by his entire team working with him on-ground.

He shares that the video chats will be a regular part of the show now, since they cannot have live audiences in the studio. They will be interacting with people from Gurgaon to Kolkata to the US in an attempt to bring a little bit of sunshine to people’s lives in these tough times. They have shot a special episode with the families of all the comic artistes on the show. “Films are not releasing theatrically right now, so actors won’t come often. But, we have done an episode with Archana ji’s (judge Puran Singh) husband, Parmeet Sethi, Kiku’s (Sharda) wife Priyanka and Krushna’s (Abhishek) wife, Kashmera. “It was a homely feeling,” he smiles, admitting his better half Ginny won’t be stepping out for the next six months, till their baby starts walking. “In fact, I’ve heard that parents get even busier when the child starts walking. But sometime in the future, we’d like to do an episode with Ginny too.”

Their daughter, Anayra, was born in December and Kapil sees the forced break as a blessing in disguise as he got to spend a lot of time with her. “I canned back-to-back episodes in December as a result of which I didn’t get much time with her. Anayra was three months old when the lockdown was imposed. One needs to find happiness in all situations,” he philosophises, admitting that while he was at peace with his family, he was disturbed by what was happening across the globe. “I was feeling a little low, which is why my wife insisted I get back to shooting to take my mind off all this.”

Kapil and his gang have shot multiple episodes so far and the host insists that discussing gags with his team can be an escape from reality. “We are on the set for eight to 10 hours a day, it feels good to be amongst friends. The producers have made good arrangements to ensure our safety,” he avers, promising they will try to give a comic touch to current affairs. “We will talk of Covid too, but on a lighter note. As an artiste, it’s my responsibility to spread positivity.”

The show will be aired every weekend from now. Will producer Salman Khan come as a guest on any episode? “Salman bhai has isolated himself at the farm and isn’t shooting for anything now. But Nadeem bhai from his team is always on the set,” he says.

Ask him about his journey from being a participant on the stand-up comedy show, The Great Indian Laughter Challenge, to having a show with his name and he says, “It’s the love of people that has got me so much work. Whenever you think, you have learnt it all, life teaches you something new. I am learning every day and this love gives me the energy to push the envelope.”

After Kis Kisko Pyaar Karoon and Firangi, is there another film in the pipeline? “I am listening to a lot of scripts,” he shoots back.