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As the Kapil Sharma's Netflix talk show returns for another season this month, one of the key members of The Great Indian Kapil Show, Kiku Sharda tells fans what to expect. The Angrezi Medium actor shared how the team had “gone a notch up” this season, with new characters and guests in new episodes that will premiere every Saturday at 8 pm on Netflix. Kiku also revealed the one character from his comedy career that he still has a soft spot for.
Kiku Sharda on The Great Indian Kapil Show Season 2
Ahead of the premiere episode of Season 2, Kiku Sharda shared in an interview with Zoom that the difference between seasons was “double the fun.” He explained, “When I say double the fun, it largely means that in terms of writing, experimenting with characters, we’ve done some very new characters that you’ve not seen ever before on our show. We’ve done some really whacked out characters, which were not a part of season 1. And you’ve probably seen that side or that kind of character done by any of these actors who are performing like all of us.”
He went on to add that none of the new characters were repeated in any of the six episodes that they've done so far. Teasing some exciting moments ahead on Season 2, the actor shared that he had a lot of fun playing a jinn (genie) in an upcoming episode because the look was “so cool” and “children-friendly”.
He and co-star Krushna Abhishek dressed up as Alia Bhatt's famous characters in episode 1 of Season 2. Kiku stated, "We were also discussing that a lot of times you've seen people copying male actors, and you've seen mimicry of male actors. Not really mimicry, but we've tried to do the character, like the Gangubai character. It was very exciting, and I'm sure it was exciting for Alia also to watch her characters being copied or done in front of her eyes."
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Kiku Sharda on the craft of comedy
When asked about how much the script is tweaked or improvised for the show, Kiku said that most people like to think that they, as actors, aren't really prepared. It's due to their years of hard work that they make it look so effortless. He added, "But obviously we have a great team of writers and with due respect to them, the writing is excellent on the show and these guys do a brilliant job. Our job is to execute what has been written. The process is such where we sit with them, where they understand our flavour."
The actors and writers all jam on sketches on which they aren't a part of as well and work hard to make sure the joke lands, and well. But Kiku did say that even with a script on hand, improvisations were inevitable. The show works like a play he shared, "Ek baar stagepe chud gaye, koi rokhta toh nahin hai. Even if you’ve gone off the script, then everything goes off the script. Then something else happens, which is almost like magic. Woh bus banta hai,apne aap hi banta hai, aur apne aap hi ho jaate hai. But I will say that 20% or 25%, you might be improvising. We have a script on hand and a wonderful script on hand.”
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The comedian also felt that comedy is inborn. According to him, acting can be learnt. However, he said, "Comedy ek cheez hai jo aap seekh nahin sakte. Koi aapko sikha nahin sakta. Aapke undar hai toh hai, it’s that kind of a thing.” Kiku is mindful though that his comedy routines are responsible. He doesn’t like crossing the line and doesn’t believe in pulling someone down to make a joke.
Kiku Sharda on his dream guest
In the last season of The Great Indian Kapil Show, the team welcomed cricketers Rohit Sharma, Shreyas Iyer and Olympians Mary Kom, Sania Mirza and Saina Nehwal. Kiku is hoping that a former cricket captain drops by one day. He revealed, “Personally, I’m a big fan of Mahendra Singh Dhoni. I love the way he conducts himself. He’s so chilled out. I like his personality. I love the way he carries himself, and the way he lives his life. And plus, obviously, with so much cricket behind him, I’m sure he has wonderful stories to tell.”
The actor-comedian has been worked on and off with Kapil, Krushna, and Sunil Grover for the past 11 years. They all have almost a telepathic connection when performing together as they know each other's next moves so well. Looking back at his career, Kiku shared that he enjoyed played milkman Bacha Yadav a lot. He said of the simple character, "He has really silly jokes, but he is the most kicked about his jokes and he laughs himself. It doesn't matter if the guest enjoys the joke or not, but he enjoys his joke the most. So I loved the way the character was and the way it was done. So that is close to my heart."