Media painted me an arrogant monster, was shocked about reports on me: Kapil

Mumbai: While careers in Bollywood are created and shattered every Friday, the fall from grace of Kapil Sharma followed a different trajectory.

Once the darling of the masses and also of Bollywood stars, for whom promoting their films on his show was a must, Kapil became a villain within no time.

It started with reports of the actor-comedian reportedly throwing a shoe on his co-star Sunil Grover on a flight, following which the latter quit the show. This led to some of the other actors also leaving him in the lurch, affecting the TRPs to a great extent, sparking rumours of the channel pulling the plug on the show.

Then his health deteriorated, and reports swirled that the falling TRPs was the cause.

Then a series of celebrities like Shah Rukh Khan, Ajay Devgn, among others couldn’t shoot for scheduled episodes on the show when Kapil couldn’t turn up for the shoot. While most reports claimed it was because of his bad health, his ‘arrogance’, ‘late night parties’ were also cited as reasons.

With his show finally being pulled off air temporarily, Kapil Sharma, in an interview to Hindustan Times, has finally cleared the air surrounding the reports.

About the Sunil Grover mid-air flight 'fight', he said, “I admit there was a problem. And I’ve paid a heavy price for it. But what was reported was grossly exaggerated and almost entirely fabricated. It was said that I asked that food be served to me first on the flight and that I got angry and I threw a shoe at Sunil. You’ve known me for some years. Do you think I am capable of such behaviour?"

He added, “It affected me deeply. I started drinking heavily. It was so unnecessary. And so painful to me. Sunil Grover, Chandan (Prabhakar), Ali Asgar are all my friends. How could this happen?”

While Sunil had earlier taken digs at Kapil, he had recently wished Kapil’s new film ‘Firangi’ luck during a Twitter chat. Kapil reveals he did try to get Sunil back on the show. “But I think he has other commitments now, like live performances, etc. But he knows the show is as much his as mine and open to him any time he wants.”

Regarding cancelling shoots with stars, Kapil said, “Do you think I am so stupid as to turn away big stars like Shah Rukh Khan and Ajay Devgn? They all knew what my problem was. They all saw how I was suffering. They were all very caring. None of them minded. Only a section of the media made me sound like this arrogant monster who was using his health as an excuse to turn away stars just to satisfy my ego.”

He further said, “All the stars have been very supportive. Arjun Rampal had to go without recording. But he came back because he knew what I was going through. When Anil Kapoorji came, and I couldn’t shoot, I decided that I will stay on the set and just sit there quietly. But when he saw my condition, he refused to shoot and told me to take it easy. The stars have been wonderful.”

While Kapil took to Facebook and Twitter to apologise to Sunil following the much talked-about incident, he hadn’t presented his stand when his ‘erratic’ behaviour in keeping stars waiting was the talk of the town. He said, “When I am misunderstood, I clam up. But now, I realize it was a mistake to not put forward the truth. A section of the media took advantage of my silence and painted me as an arrogant brat. All these stories of shoe-throwing and tantrums were started in a section of the digital media."

He further revealed, “I’ve never bothered to market myself. I never had a PR. Maybe that’s why some sections of the media took it on themselves to write whatever they wanted. I was shocked to hear about the things being written about me. Most of them were untrue.”

Kapil has stated that his deteriorating health has been the reason for the cancellation of shoots. About his health, he said, “Nothing serious. Main thoda phisal gaya tha. Abb sambhal gaya hoon (I had slipped, now I’ve regained composure). Health issues hain. I’ve checked into an ayurveda clinic for complete detoxification. They’re saying I have to stay here for 40 days. But I won’t be able to stay that long. I have a film coming up in November.”

He also believes that his show going off air doesn’t spell doom for his career. To fans, his message is, “I am not done yet. My show is far from over. We will be coming back stronger than ever as soon I’ve recovered. Please bear with me. Please pray for me.”

We also hope he recovers soon and redeems himself soon.