Celebfie, a new-age platform that promises to bridge the gap between celebrities and their fans, is set to ship across international waters with celebrities on a cruise. The event ‘Celebfie – Cruise with the Stars’ will have Sonakshi Sinha and Nora Fatehi flagging off the cruise to its course after a fun meet and greet session. Kailash Kher, Sukhwinder Singh, Sunil Grover, Kiku Sharda, Sudhanshu Pandey and Mandira Bedi will be on board. Asim Riaz, Himanshi Khurana, Chunky Panday, Rahul Dev, Mugdha Godse, DJ Aqeel, Flora Saini and many other popular personalities will also be going on this cruise from Mumbai, on September 16.

With this, the brand aims to be one of the world’s first FX (fan experience) platforms that gives people an opportunity to directly interact with well-known personalities. For the upcoming event, the platform has partnered with Cordelia Cruises, with the luxurious ship ‘The Princess’ offering a plethora of entertainment options. You can spend the evening at the bars and lounges or even visit the casino. You will also get to watch Sukhwinder Singh and Kailash Kher’s live music show. Not just that, there will be an entertainment show by Kiku Sharda and Sunil Grover, who will come together after four years.

“We’ll be connecting fans and brands with their choicest celebrities to create unforgettable memories. With this experience, we aim to break the limits of the online space and enter the physical realm with its core message headstrong. Guests on board will experience the time of their lives, partying alongside their favourite celebrities. The cruise will follow all required COVID-19 protocols as per the government’s guidelines, and 100 per cent staff and cruise members will be vaccinated,” said Raminder Singh, Founder and CEO, Celebfie.

The brand has collaborated with BookMyShow as their exclusive ticketing partner for this and other upcoming events. They are also coming up with more staycation concepts that will take people to places at regular intervals. “We intend to offer many such opportunities for fans to experience different destinations and connect with celebrities and artists across platforms and spaces in the near future,” Singh added.

Whatever is happening off-screen between actor-comedian Krushna Abhishek and his actor uncle Govinda has created headlines. And what happens on-screen, therefore, leads to a lot of eyebrows being raised, too.

The latest instance of this are the reports that Abhishek was offended by one of the jokes cracked by his fellow actor Kiku Sharda, on Kapil Sharma’s comedy show, The Kapil Sharma Show,. There have been instances in the past when digs were taken at Govinda and Abhishek’s not-so-good equation, and the two have gone on record to be vocal about it.

This time, Abhishek said, ‘Chhee Chhee aise baat nahi karte’, to which Sharda replied, ‘Chi Chi (Govinda’s nickname) toh aapse baat nahi karte’. This was enough to set tongues wagging. Recently, Abhishek had even refused to perform in one of the episodes when Govinda had to make an appearance.

However, when we reached out to Abhishek and Sharda, they maintained that there wasn’t any bitterness between them. Sharda says, “There is no fight at all, it’s a part of the script, yaar.”

Does cracking jokes on something personal without crossing any lines get difficult sometimes? “No, because we are on the same page. Our final motive is to entertain the audience. Scripts are discussed internally before we go on stage. There’s nothing at all that both of us don’t know. We are aware, there’s no chance of anything like that happening,” maintains the 45-year-old.

Adding that “all is well” between him and Abhishek, Kiku shares, “He’s a dear friend, and a talented boy. I enjoy working with him.”

Abhishek, on his part, sums it up in one sentence: “There is no fight between me and Kiku. These are all just rumours. I love him, and I absolutely love working with him.” Guess all’s well that ends well!

From wishing your loved ones to telling your boss that you want to quit, online platforms are offering a host of celebrities to share personalised messages
Kunal Guha (MUMBAI MIRROR; August 30, 2020)

Every year, Melbourne-based twins Navdeep and Avdeep Munjal make it a point to visit their mother Rekha in Delhi on her birthday which falls on July 7. This year, when the  Coronavirus pandemic wreaked havoc on their travel plans, the twins chanced upon a unique birthday gift — getting their mother’s favourite TV star Rohit Roy to wish her on their behalf. The 60-year-old was deeply moved when she received a short video from the Swabhimaan star. The message, which landed in her inbox out of the blue, was not only about how much her sons missed her, but the actor even told her that she needs to take care of herself. The Munjals managed to make their mum’s special day unforgettable through Celebyte, an online platform, which offers many celebrity engagement packages.

And today, when most continue to remain self-isolated for fear of contracting the Coronavirus, this form of levity that comes with some semblance of connection with one’s idols, is really a pitch-perfect offering. For a predetermined rate (anything from Rs 500 to Rs 50,000), a fan can get a celebrity of his or her choice to send a personalised video message to a loved one (typically, birthday or anniversary wishes), get on a video call, reply to a text, or slide into their DMs on Instagram. “While our customers want access, the celebs want to monetise their time on social media. We help facilitate this in a way that the friction is eliminated,” says Sanjay Tripathy, co-founder and CEO, Celebyte. His firm has also developed celeb-interaction apps for actors Riya Sen and Minissha Lamba and has garnered over three million users cumulatively across 14 apps.

Similar platforms such as Wysh, Gonuts, Tring, Unlu and Simsim Rubaru, too, are cashing in. From an assortment of TV actors (like Delnaaz Irani, Hiten Tejwani, Kiku Sharda) and film veterans (like Prem Chopra, Madhu Shah, Shakti Kapoor) to a plethora of Bigg Boss contestants (like Arshi Khan, Shefali Jariwala), impersonators (of Nana Patekar, Donald Trump) and TikTokers, everyone is just a click away.

Dial a celeb
Producing personalised video messages usually takes little preparation. Most are shot on the phone and filmed at breakfast tables, while lying in bed, or on film sets — whenever a celeb can spare a few minutes. While the promised turnaround time is from five to seven days, most try to honour requests within 24-48 hours. “We have surely benefited from people’s apprehensions about exchanging physical gifts,” says Mahesh Gogineni, co-founder of Wysh, which has grown 15 times since its launch in January. “There has also been no innovation in the digital gifting space for long, and since people are crazy about celebs, it’s a perfect match,” he adds.

Beyond birthdays
While getting a celeb to wish someone is a popular choice, many are opting for more creative reasons. For instance, an entrepreneur got ghazal singer Talat Aziz to shoot a heartfelt video for his father, thanking him for his sacrifices and asking him to keep faith in his son, despite his start-up’s relatively poor performance over the last two years. And to sweeten the deal, Aziz signed off with the recipient’s favourite ghazal. “We also had a head priest who wanted Kailash Kher to send a message out to devotees,” says Joji George, founder of Gonuts. “In April, we heard from someone from Varanasi who wrote a poem in honour of frontline health workers and wanted it to be read out by Kailash Kher.”

A unique request came from someone who was trying to resign from a job he had held for eight years. “He wanted Delnaaz [Irani] to speak to his boss and get the ball rolling before he could follow it up with a one-on-one,” says Rahul Saini, co-founder, Tring, which launched this March and lists over 1,800 celebrities.

The kickbacks
These platforms work on a revenue-sharing model. Hence arriving at the ‘right’ price is tricky. Stars need to score enough bookings at a modest price and yet, if they underbid themselves, they won’t be able to keep up.

That said, the big earners can make over a lakh a month. And for most, it is easy money, given the effort and time spent. “If a celeb charges Rs 1,000 for a 30-second-video message and does 30 such requests, he’s earning Rs 30,000 in 15 minutes. A TV star may not be able to make that much money in such a short period of time,” says Gogineni, who feels the demand from users can be extremely price sensitive. He gives the example of a celebrity, who charges Rs 999 for short videos on his platform, but Rs 1,500 on another platform. “Despite the marginal price difference, the star received 54 requests from my platform and only four on the other,” he says.

But there’s no fixed rule. Rohit Roy, who features on several platforms, bumped his rates up, but remains one of the most requested talents.

Saini says that 98 per cent of users on such platforms are not willing to pay more than Rs 2,000. “Those who are popular and demand a high price fall in a niche segment, but those who are popular and yet affordable comprise our cash cows,” says Saini.

Going forward, the demand for such a service is surely likely to surge, especially given that today being a celebrity casts a wide net. “This segment is still evolving. You will see more celebrities being a part of their fans’ highs and lows,” says Tripathy. The stars don’t mind either. It’s helpful to have another revenue stream when their own industry is still limping back to normal.

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.

Himesh Mankad (MUMBAI MIRROR; July 6, 2020)

Even as re-runs of The Kapil Sharma Show continued to grab eyeballs on TV, the audience is beginning to miss their weekly dose of new celebs coming for a laughter ride. Now, Mirror has learnt that Sony TV’s weekend comedy show is all set to return to the sets while complying with the state government’s SOPs.

“The team has already started prep to resume shooting by mid-July. The scripts and gags for multiple episodes have been locked and the entire team of artistes, including Kapil, Krushna Abhishek, Bharti Singh, Chandan Prabhakar and Kiku Sharda, has been rehearsing through virtual conferencing. While Archana Puran Singh will be back as the judge, the gags, like always, will be situational with the current scenario becoming an integral part of the humour,” revealed a source close to the development, adding that sanitisation of the set has already begun at Mumbai’s Film City and the celebrity management team is in talks with several actors to make an appearance.

Sonu Sood, who has been in the limelight since the lockdown started, sending thousands of migrant workers back to their home states, will be one of the first guests, as the team wants to acknowledge the wonderful work he has been doing. “Sonu loves Kapil and is keen to be on the show. Talks are also on with other A-list actors,” the source informed.

However, there will be some changes in the format of the show, which, before the pandemic, was shot with a live audience, who added to the ambience. Now, since it’s essential to maintain social distancing norms, question-and-answer rounds between the celebs and the audience on the set will not be part of the narrative. There will be no live audience. Instead, they are exploring a new segment.

The source goes on to share that the team will be working with a limited crew, who will meticulously follow the guidelines laid down, including thermal screening, social distancing, sanitisation and will also ensure a medical team on the set. “The team is all geared up to bring laughter back, but with utmost safety,” the source signs off.

Comedian Kiku Sharda talks about the joy of working with Kapil Sharma; adds he is not ‘worried about his image’ as a comic actor
Kavita Awaasthi (HINDUSTAN TIMES; December 26, 2019)

It has been six years since he started working with comedian-actor Kapil Sharma on his comedy shows. After their first show in 2013, Comedy Nights With Kapil, led by Kapil and his team lasted for three years, they came together for The Kapil Sharma Show on another channel. While season one of the show ran for two years and aired 130 episodes, season two of the show recently completed 100 episodes. Kiku is thrilled about being associated with Kapil for six years in all.

Though he does sketches and portrays various characters while interacting with celebrities on the show, Kiku admits there is no feeling of saturation. “Though it has been six years, we try to juggle things in our format. We talk about different things on different topics. Sure, celebrities have been repeated often but we mix things by not appearing in every episode or by doing sketches or playing different characters. In fact, I remember, in season one, I played women characters often while in season two, I have played male characters — Baccha Yadav and Accha Yadav. It wasn’t a conscious decision not to play a woman but happened organically,” he states, adding that working with Krushna Abhishek and Bharti Singh is enjoyable.

Kiku has featured in many comedy shows including Hatim, F.I.R, Har Mushkil Ka Hal Akbar Birbal and Partners Trouble Ho Gayi Double. He has also been part of many movies. Ask him if he hopes to get acting opportunities away from comedy and he says, “I have done some web shows but even they were comedy centric. As for roles away from comedy, I haven’t got such parts. I am waiting for some non-comic stuff. I am not worried about my image and I have time to spare after shooting for my show, so I am looking for interesting scripts. Having said that, I love Kapil’s show, so I am not going to be leaving that for something else.”

Kapil recently had a baby girl and talking about that, Kiku says, “Earlier, we would shoot late nights but since Kapil’s marriage, we pack up on time and things have been smooth. Kapil bhai, too, has a desire to get back home to his wife and kid on time. I am very happy for him as the bond that a daughter and father share is amazing. I have two sons, and I always wanted a daughter.”

MUMBAI MIRROR (October 16, 2019)

Ever since Kapil Sharma’s comedy show, The Kapil Sharma Show, took off in December last year, the team has been reporting for work around noon every week to shoot for the weekend special episodes. However, in a first, the call-time has been moved to 4 am for the show’s latest guest.

According to a source close to the development, Akshay Kumar, who is gearing up for the release of Sajid Nadiadwala’s Housefull 4, requested the team to tape his episode earlier than usual. “He has promised to be on the set at 6 am and start rolling by 6.30 am to shoot for two episodes. The first one is with male co-stars, Bobby Deol, Riteish Deshmukh and Chunky Panday. Actresses Kriti Sanon, Kriti Kharbanda and Pooja Hegde join in the second episode,” the source informed.

While the Housefull 4 cast will turn up at 6 am, the show’s crew has been asked for report by 4 am to set up. The actors in Kapil’s team will be on set at 5 am, including Kiku Sharda who plays a bald character and Krushna Abhishek, a woman who owns a beauty parlour. “A lot of gags have been planned, but the highlight will be Krushna’s tribute to Akshay,” the source shared, adding that the team aims to wrap up by 11 am.

Duo chirps loud as they join Sharma to lend voice to Hindi version of The Angry Birds Movie 2
Sonil Dedhia (MID-DAY; July 26, 2019)

The makers of the Hollywood flick, The Angry Birds Movie 2 have decided to bank on the camaraderie that Kapil Sharma, Archana Puran Singh and Kiku Sharda share on the former’s sketch show, to promote the film’s Hindi version.

Following reports of Sharma lending his voice to the animated offering, mid-day has it that Singh will be the voice of Zeta, and Sharda, of Leonard in the upcoming movie. Even though comedian-actor Bill Hader has given the voice to Leonard’s character in the English version, Sharda isn’t perturbed about the comparisons that may crop up. “When you are dubbing for a film in Hindi, things change. But, before I began dubbing, I heard how he had lent his voice and built the character, and tried to match his energy. This character is interesting, and I tried to lend my style to it.”

Even though Sharda is always ebullient on set, he found it challenging to do justice to the energy of the character when lending his voice to it. Sharda promises abundant interesting banters between his character and that of Red, which has been voiced by Sharma. “[They have been taken from] our show, where we share a love-hate relation. We have tried to bring the same energy in the film.”

A lover of animated offerings, Singh was only too happy to go behind the mic for the film, which is being released in the country by Sony Pictures Entertainment India. “I am looking forward to my family and fans hearing me, and reuniting with my Kapil Sharma family,” she says.

The comedian-actor has roped in former colleagues Krushna Abhishek, Bharti Singh, Sumona Chakravarti, Chandan Prabhakar and Kiku Sharda, only Sunil Grover will be missing in action
Natasha Coutinho (MUMBAI MIRROR; November 19, 2018)

Kapil Sharma will be back on TV during the Christmas week. A source close to the development informed Mirror that the actor comedian has roped in former colleagues like Bharti Singh, Krushna Abhishek, Chandan Prabhakar, Kiku Sharda and Sumona Chakravarti for the new season of The Kapil Sharma Show which will start airing on Sony from December 23. His wedding reception in Mumbai is scheduled for the next day making it a double celebration of sorts.

The source adds that the format of this show will be somewhat similar to his earlier hit, Comedy Nights with Kapil. A new set is being built at Mumbai’s Film city studios for the shoot. “The set will have houses and a market place where the various characters will interact,” added the source.

With his actor-friend Salman Khan throwing his weight behind the project, Kapil has reason to be upbeat about his comeback venture. Salman is expected to make an appearance on the show later. Meanwhile Shah Rukh Khan has been approached to come on it as the first guest. Talks are also on with the leading ladies of his upcoming film, Zero, Katrina Kaif and Anushka Sharma, to accompany him.

In October, the channel had issued a statement confirming Kapil’s return with his successful weekend comedy show. The actor had tweeted, “Jald wapas aa raha hoon ‘The Kapil Sharma Show’ lekar aap ke liye sirf Sony TV par.” Remains to be seen if Kapil who should be happily married to Ginni Chatrath by then can keep the laughs coming without any lapses this time. It will be a big fat Punjabi wedding for the couple on December 12 and the groom-to-be seems confident that his better half will succeed in disciplining his errant lifestyle that has put him into rehab a couple of times in the recent past.

The Kapil Sharma Show had kicked off on April 23, 2016. After 130 episodes, the final episode aired on August 20, 2017. It had the actor-comedian interacting with celebrity guests on their latest films and was very popular for Kapil’s wit and the assorted skits.

Meanwhile, buzz is Salman has been trying to mediate a patch-up between his Bharat co-star Sunil Grover and Kapil after the duo had a fall-out last year, which led to Sunil storming out of The Kapil Sharma Show. However, for now, Sunil is not on board.

Unperturbed about being stereotyped, Shreyas Talpade on his love for the genre as he makes his web debut with acomedy
Letty Mariam Abraham (MID-DAY; August 21, 2018)

What about ALTBalaji’s show, Baby Come Naa, appealed to you?
I play a street-smart guy who gets lucky with two girls. He will do anything to keep them happy — from being their spot boy, cook and even their boyfriend. It is one of the naughtiest characters I have played. This is out of my comfort zone. The comedy has terrific writing and is helmed by one of the finest directors in the industry, Farhad Samji.

You’ve been stereotyped as a comic actor in Bollywood. Would it have made sense to break the image for your web debut?
While I would love to do serious roles, comedy comes naturally to me. People love watching me in comic roles, and as an entertainer, it’s my duty to give them what they want. However, I am working on some interesting scripts from other genres as well. Moreover, it would be foolish on my part to wait for a serious role to come my way, and leave a show that is entertaining and appeals to the masses. And let’s not forget, comedy is serious business.

Chunky Panday and you have worked together previously. How was the reunion?
I have grown up watching his films. While it is always fun to work with him — whether it is a film or an awards night or a web series — what I like about him is his childlike innocence. Before a shot, he will ask you, ‘Yeh main kaise karun?’; ‘Yeh punch yahan pe kaise lagega?’ He is like a student who is ever-willing to learn. He has been a star, but when we work together, he is a friend.

Between Kiku Sharda, Chunkey Pandey and you — who is the funniest?
Kiku, his comic timing is superb. I have a lot to learn from him.

Filmmakers fear that with the popularity of video-on-demand services, people will stop going to theatres.
The fear is unfounded. Despite Netflix being popular in the West, especially in the United States, people are still thronging cinemas. Cinemas have survived the advent of TV, VCR, and DVDs. Nothing can replace a film experience in theatres. Also, it’s great that actors are exploring every medium. Why stick to one medium when creativity can’t be bound?

You debuted as a director with Poster Boyz last year. Any plans of taking that further?
Being behind the camera excites me as much as being in front of it. I am planning to helm more projects, but the plan is at a nascent stage.

Natasha Coutinho (MUMBAI MIRROR; February 22, 2018)

Kapil Sharma is all set to return to the small screen by mid-March with his new show, Family Time With Kapil Sharma which will replace Shilpa Shetty, Anurag Basu and Geeta Kapur’s kids dance show Super Dancer in the weekend slot.

Unlike The Kapil Sharma Show which went off the air abruptly in last September, this one will be a mix of comedy and games. A source close to the development says that Kapil will start off with a stand-up comedy act, followed by a segment where he will invite families to play games with him. “The winning families will get to take home household items as well as cars. Kiku Sharda who was part of the earlier show will return in a woman’s avatar. Chandan Prabhakar comes back as Kapil’s aide to host the game segment. Contrary to rumours, Ali Asgar isn’t on board yet.”

The source adds that the channel is working on an innovative strategy to announce the comedian’s comeback with a big event. Kapil had been in talks with the channel since January and after several meetings they greenlit the new show.

In an interview with Mirror (September 7, 2017), speaking about his previous show and plans of a comeback, Kapil had said, “I have a wonderful relationship with the Sony team. Another channel would have put insane pressure on me to carry on, but the Sony bosses never issued any threats. I could not afford to cancel another episode so I called them and requested that I wanted to take a break. They readily agreed. They have been really supportive. I have no plans of leaving Sony.”

Tom Alter’s son on the 67-year-old actor’s ongoing battle with skin cancer
Natasha Coutinho (MUMBAI MIRROR; September 12, 2017)

News of thespian Tom Alter battling skin cancer sent shockwaves on Monday. When Mirror reached out to his son, Jamie, he informed that the 67-year-old veteran actor is admitted at a South Mumbai hospital for a stage 4 skin cancer called Squamous Cell Carcinoma. “He’s under the best care and is showing signs, physically and mentally, of recovery. The family requests some privacy at the moment. All his bodily functions are in order, there’s nothing wrong with the lungs or liver. He was admitted last Monday and the treatment has begun. We will have to see how he copes with the treatment for the next week and proceed from there. It relapsed from last year, when it went undetected. Unfortunately, his thumb had to be amputated,” Jamie informed.

Co-stars of Alter’s upcoming film, 2016 – The End, admit that they were unaware of his condition as he was perfectly fit and fine during the shoot last year. The actor plays a scientist in the film that was shot in Moradabad, Goa and Mumbai. Reminisced Divyendu Sharma, “We go back a long way as I studied at FTII (Film and television Institute of India) when he used to take classes there. Tom’s always been positive and encouraging. I got to know about his condition a couple of hours ago. We shot in February–March 2016. He was so energetic on set, completely involved in the shoot and improvising scenes.”

Kiku Sharda, another cast member from the same film, who has previously worked with Alter briefly on the TV show Hatim, added, “I’ve grown up watching his work. His enthusiasm has only grown with age. We had a lot of night shoots during which we would sit together and chat at length. He does all these British roles in films but we discovered while working with him on this film that his Urdu is excellent and so is his knowledge of Hindi and Urdu literature. I hope he gets back in action soon.”

Tanvi Trivedi (BOMBAY TIMES; September 1, 2017)

Post drunken fracas on a flight, insiders say Sunil Grover, mainstay of Kapil Sharma Show, likely to walk out
Bharati Dubey (MID-DAY; March 20, 2017)

Stand-up comic Sunil Grover has made up his mind to quit The Kapil Sharma Show following an alleged mid- air fight with Kapil recently, sources close to him said. Sunil, who is the mainstay of the comedy skit and talk show, plays several characters including Dr Mashoor Gulati and Rinku Devi. Sources say he will hold a discussion with the producers before taking the step. The show’s producer, incidentally, happens to be Kapil’s company, even as it currently airs on television channel, Sony.

A source says, “Sunil is numbed by the way Kapil assaulted him during a flight from Melbourne, where they did a stage show. He was merely trying to calm down Kapil, who was drunk and hurling abuses at another team member, Chandan [Prabhakar].”

Kapil allegedly also took a swipe at a comedy show that Sunil had launched after parting ways with him after their first fall-out in 2014. “A female passenger asked Kapil to keep quiet, so Sunil told him, ‘Paaji tussi gaali mat do’. But, he got provoked and started abusing him. Sunil also got angry and stood up, but the other members stopped him. He then walked to the economy class where Kapil chased and hit him,” adds the source.

Kapil even hurled abuses at colleagues Ali Asgar aka Naani and Kiku Sharda aka Bumper Lottery, calling them “per day artistes” or daily wage earners, the source claims. He even threatened to end their acts on his show. While Ali was not available for comment, Kiku denied any such abuse meted out to him. He labelled Kapil “a sweet guy”, but refused to comment on Sunil’s episode.

Meanwhile, industry insiders feel Kapil was expecting the alleged incident to be reported and decided to divert attention by posting a photo of his ‘girlfriend’ Ginni Chatrath on social media. “Will not say she is my better half; she completes me. Love u Ginni. Please welcome her. I love her so much (sic),” read his tweet.

With TV shows courting controversy, writers wonder how far they can go
Shaheen Parkar (MID-DAY; May 29, 2016)

Comedy is serious business  with only one purpose — to make people laugh. But it is no laughing matter that it is turning into a risky business. You never know when and where someone will be offended and file a complaint. Instead of whipping up a chuckle fest, comedy shows are courting controversy and writers are feeling the heat. Is it time to draw the line? And if not, should they prepare to face the onslaught and get mired in a legal wrangle.

Hard to digest
Recently, The Kapil Sharma Show has found a enemy in the nursing community. The funny man had to bear the brunt in his hometown, Amritsar, where his effigies were burnt. The Florence Nightingales feel the show is objectifying the profession in the form of a hot nurse (played by Rochelle Rao) and a fat nurse (essayed by Kiku Sharda, who is no stranger to controversy and was arrested for mimicking a godman earlier this year). Even the Bharti Singh and Krushna Abhishek-hosted show, Comedy Nights Bachao, roasts their guests brutally, but things often tend to go overboard in a bid to grab eyeballs.

Last week, the nurses marched to the office of Amritsar’s top cop demanding why no action has been taken against the makers of Kapil Sharma’s show. It may be true that small screen and film writers do not have an agenda against anyone, but disgruntled elements are in no mood to listen.

Just for jest
As Raaj Shaandilyaa, who has written for shows like Comedy Circus and Comedy Nights With Kapil, explains, “We try to make people laugh. We don’t try to make people ‘khi-laugh’. Writing double meaning dialogues or making fun of somebody are two different things.” Shaandilyaa adds, “I avoid making fun of something or someone because I do not consider it comedy. Comedy should be clean, funny and smart.”

Writer Bunty Rathore, who is currently working on the Hindi remake of the Marathi film Poshter Boyz, starring Sunny and Bobby Deol, agrees. “There must be a line between spice and vulgarity.” Rathore has written for Golmaal 3 (2010) and All The Best Fun Begins (2009) which made people crack up without going overboard on the sexual innuendos. He feels, “The audience should oppose vulgarity. They should not accept it and make these films successful.”


Insulting comedy
Paritosh Painter, who has written for films like Dhamaal (2007), Paying Guests (2009), as well as for TV and theatre sees a new trend rising in comedy. He says, “Lately, I have noticed that ‘insulting comedy’ has become popular. So, when I say I draw a line, I would go all out to get into an insulting comedy zone with reference to my characters, but not with real people. To make fun of people is easy, making fun with people is difficult.”

So are producers and channels setting guidelines? Or do they feel any publicity is good publicity? Writer Manoj Santoshi of shows like May I Come In, Madam? (pictured above) and Bhabhi Ji Ghar Par Hai, explains, “When writing a naughty comedy, you are treading a fine line. You drop a hint and the audience understands."

Adds Painter, “Usually producers don’t set guidelines as their motive is crystal clear. The audience needs to laugh and go crazy, do whatever it takes. But usually writers get stuck with the Stars Are Norm Practice (SNP) rules of the TV channels. It is like self-censorship. But I don’t think there should be any guidelines to evoke laughter. There are a lot of other things around us that need guidelines.”

Shaandilyaa adds, “Nobody says or pressurises us to write double meaning stuff. It’s a team call every time — some writers pen this kind of stuff because it’s the easiest mode to make people laugh and some time it depends on which show you are.”

In Bhabhi Ji Ghar Par Hai (pictured below), there is a character called Vibhuti whose hands have been rendered immobile. Explains Santoshi, “Everybody is moaning about the loss of mobility in his hands. But Vibhuti declares that he has many helping hands around him in form of his loved ones, till a neighbour tells him, “Apna haath Jagannath hota hai!” People may think it is double meaning, but to each is own. We are not implying that.”

As Painter concludes, “Laughter should have no boundaries. Boundaries are meant to protect our life, but not to limit our pleasures.”