Kapil Sharma

Kapil Sharma (real name Kapil Punj Singh) (born 2 April 1981) is an Indian stand-up comedian, television presenter, actor and producer. He hosted a television comedy show Comedy Nights with Kapil from June 2013 to January 2016. Currently, he is hosting another comedy show on Sony Entertainment Television named The Kapil Sharma Show. He first appeared in the Forbes India Celebrity list in 2012, ranked 96th.

Ormax Media rated Sharma the most popular Indian television personality in April 2016. Forbes India ranked him 27th on their Celebrity-100 list in 2015. Forbes India ranked him at 7th position in terms of fame and at 11th position in terms of income on their Celebrity - 100 list in 2016.

He was awarded the CNN-IBN Indian of the Year 2013, in the Entertainment category and was ranked third in the Most Admired Indian Personality List by The Economic Times in 2015. Sharma was nominated for the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan by the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and was invited to the Rashtrapati Bhavan by President Pranab Mukherjee in September 2015 to acknowledge his contribution for the same.

Sharma was born in Amritsar, Punjab. His father Jeethendra Kumar Punj was a head constable in the Punjab Police and his mother is a housewife. His father died of cancer in 2004 at Safdarjung Hospital in Delhi. His brother, Ashok Kumar is also a constable. He studied at the Khalsa college in Amritsar, Punjab.

He suffered a slipped disc in February 2015 while shooting for a song for his debut movie.He is dating his childhood love Ginni Chatrath and they are planning to get married soon.

Sharma rose to fame after winning the comedy reality television show The Great Indian Laughter Challenge in 2007, for which he won ₹10 lakh as the prize money. He had previously worked in the Punjabi show Hasde Hasande Ravo on MH One channel.

Sharma (second from left) on the sets of Comedy Nights with Kapil in 2013

He participated in Sony's Comedy Circus and went on to win six seasons of the show. He also hosted the dance reality show Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa Season 6 and another comedy show Chhote Miyan. Sharma was seen as a contestant in the show Ustaadon Ka Ustaad in 2008. In 2013, Sharma launched his own show, Comedy Nights with Kapil, under his banner K9 Productions on Colors.

At the CNN-IBN Indian of the Year awards 2013, Sharma was felicitated with the Indian of the Year award in the entertainment category by veteran actor Amol Palekar. During the 2014 Lok Sabha Elections, he was appointed the Brand Ambassador by the Delhi Election Commission.

Sharma was the co-host of the 60th Filmfare Awards in 2015 along with Karan Johar. He was the presenter for the fourth season of Celebrity Cricket League, 2014. He appeared as a guest on the opening episode of the eighth season of the Indian television game show Kaun Banega Crorepati and also as a celebrity guest on The Anupam Kher Show.

Sharma made his Bollywood debut as the male lead in the movie Kis Kisko Pyaar Karoon, a romantic-comedy directed by Abbas Mustan opposite four actresses, Elli Avram, Manjari Phadnis, Simran Kaur Mundi and Sai Lokur. The film was released on 25 September 2015 to mixed reviews from critics and did record breaking opening day business for a debutant.

After the end of Comedy Nights with Kapil, Sharma signed a contract with Sony TV for a new show called The Kapil Sharma Show. The Kapil Sharma Show started airing on 23 April 2016 & received a positive response from the viewers.

As of December 2016, he has signed two movies and is currently working on them. Also he has renewed his contract with Sony Entertainment Television for The Kapil Sharma Show.

Sharma has been known for his efforts in promoting animal rights. He and the cast of Comedy Nights with Kapil appeared in a PETA campaign to promote adoption of homeless cats and dogs. In July 2014, he adopted a homeless dog 'Zanjeer', a retired police dog from Mumbai. He has also campaigned to save tortured elephants across the country.

Sharma was nominated for the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan by the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi for which he campaigned and regularly promotes on his show.

Twitter Controversy

On 9th September 2016, Kapil Sharma tweeted and tagged the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, that he was asked to pay bribe to someone at the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) for making his office even though he was paying large amount in taxes. Kapil Sharma did not name anybody in this case, nor did he lodge a complaint with BMC. Responding to his tweet the Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, asked him to furnish all information to enable them to take strict action.

Thereafter, the BMC started gathering evidence against him related to illegal activities in his Oshiwara office and Goregaon apartment. The Oshiwara police also registered a case against Sharma and builder Dev Land and Housing Private Ltd (DLH). The FIR was registered by BMC’s P South Ward sub-engineer Abhay Jagtap. However, Sharma had claimed in the HC that the building was constructed as per the sanctioned plan.

Brawl with Sunil Grover

During their return from Melbourne, after performing a show there, it was allegedly reported that Kapil Sharma was hurling abuses at his team members because they started lunch before him. When Sunil Grover, his co-star, tried to intervene, a drunk Kapil hurled his shoe at him, physically assaulted him and even abused him on the flight. When the controversy gathered media attention, Kapil posted on his Facebook page to explain the events and later apologized to Sunil Grover for his actions on his twitter handle. Grover, however, took offense and posted a message advising Sharma to handle his fame better and respect his co-stars.

Apart from Sunil Grover, it was reported that comedians Ali Asgar and Chandan Prabhakar also boycotted the show, as they did not turn up for shooting for two consecutive days.