'The Kapil Sharma Show' controversies: Times when the comedy show made headlines for wrong reasons

During one of the recent segments on the show, when Varun Dhawan and Sara Ali Khan made an appearance to promote their film 'Coolie No 1', comedian Kiku Sharda and Krushna Abhishek were impersonating Dharmendra and Sunny Deol's characters from Dharam Veer and Jeet respectively. During the act, Krushna reprimanded Kiku for something he said as part of his sketch. Krushna said, "Chee chee aisi baat nahi karte (Don't talk like this)." To this, Kiku replied, "Chi Chi to aapse baat nahi karte (Govinda doesn't even talk to you)." For the unversed, Govinda is fondly called Chi Chi. Soon after this, there were reports that there was a rift between Krushna and Kiku after the latter took a dig at Krushna's personal equation with his uncle Govinda on 'The Kapil Sharma Show'.

However, Krushna and Kiku both dismissed such reports and stated that all was well between them. 

"There is no fight between me and Kiku. These are all just rumours. I love him, and I absolutely love working with him," Krushna averred in an interview with Hindustan Times.

Kiku too maintained that there wasn't any animosity between the two. "There is no fight at all, it's a part of the script yaar," Kiku said. 

The rift and cold war between actor Krushna Abhishek and his 'mama' Govinda are out in the open for a long now. And it only got uglier when Krushna refused to perform on 'The Kapil Sharma Show' with Govinda as a guest for Diwali special episode.

Opening up on the same and speaking his heart out as to why he chose to drop out of the episode, Krushna told SpotboyE in an exclusive chat, "Yes, I refused to do the episode featuring my Mama Govinda, as there are some differences between us, and I didn't want any of our issues to affect the show. For comedy to be effective you need to work in a warm friendly atmosphere. Laughter can only be generated in the midst of good relations."

He further added, "I love Govinda mama a lot. And I know he loves me as much. Which is why he has the right to be upset with me. And I love him too much to face him now when things are the way they are between us. I wouldn’t able to stop my tears. So, it’s best not to do the episode. I’ve been very close to him. I’ve stayed at his home with him and his family. Jitna hi pyaar hai, utni hi duree ho gayee hai (Despite our love, there is this distance between us).”

It was after their major fallout in 2018 over a social media post by Krushna's wife Kashmera talking about 'people who dance for money', which was apparently 'misunderstood' by Govinda's wife Sunita as being directed to her and the widely popular actor, that the two families never looked each other in the eye.

The animosity that actor Govinda and his nephew Krushna Abhishek share is by now known to one and all. And so, when Govinda was to make a special appearance on the popular 'The Kapil Sharma Show' in November 2020, it was evident that Krushna wasn't going to be a part of it. Consequently, after getting to know of his 'mama's' appearance on the show, Krushna refused to perform or be part of the episode in any manner. As a result of Krushna's action refusing to share the stage with his mama, when the show went on air on November 15, Govinda did not miss the chance to take an indirect dig at his nephew. Govinda, who was in a jolly mood throughout the show, took a sly dig at Krushna when 'Chandu Chaiwala' aka Chandan Prabhakar and Sumona Chakravarti aka 'Bhoori' were performing their act on the show. 

After host Kapil Sharma introduced the tow of them as 'kaamchor' artists, Chandu went on to tell Govinda that he pushed Kapil and brought him to Mumbai from Amritsar and it's amazing to see him have his own show now. While all of this was being said in a fun banter between all the artists present on stage, Govinda suddenly gave a witty response to Chandu. Reacting to Chandu's statement that he helped Kapil get work in a way, Govinda said, "Aur tujhe bhale hi yeh kaam de na de, tere bhaanje ko zarur dega (He might or might not give work to you, but he will certainly give work to your nephew.”

Although Govinda didn’t take Krushna’s name in any way, it was evident that he was talking about him.

Veteran actor Mukesh Khanna created quite a stir when he commented on the Mahabharat special of 'The Kapil Sharma Show'. The whole controversy started when Mukesh Khanna reacted to the special episode and took to Instagram to express his reaction on the same. He wrote, "This question has become viral, why Bhishma Pitamah was not there in the Mahabharata show? Some say he had not been invited. Somebody says he refused it himself. It is true that Mahabharata is incomplete without Bhishma. It is true that there is no question of not inviting. It is also true that I was the one to reject the invitation." 

He added, "The reason is that even though the Kapil Show is popular all over the country, I do not think there is a worse show than this. This show is full of fuhadpana, full of double meaning words, taking a turn towards vulgarity with every moment. In which the men wear women’s clothes, do cheap things and people laugh, holding their stomachs."

However, during an interaction with The Times of India, when Kapil was asked about the whole controversy, the comedian-actor stated, "My team and I are working hard to make people smile during this crucial stage of the pandemic. When the whole world is going through a tough time, it is important to bring a smile to people’s faces. It depends on each individual ki aapko kis baat main khushi dhoondhni hai, aur kis baat main kami. I have chosen happiness and prefer to focus on my work and continue to keep doing that in the future."

In October 2020, netizens called for the show's boycott as a segment of the popular show did not go down too well with the viewers. In a segment, comedian Kiku Sharda was seen as Bacha Yadav and Krushna Abhishek as Sapna. Both the characters hosted a segment titled "Raddi News", wherein Kiku copied an Indian journalist, known for extensively covering news related to Sushant Singh Rajput and the alleged drug nexus in Bollywood. Kiku poked fun at the journalist and the act also included him asking 'Mujhe Jug Do' desperately. He then went on to accuse others of trying to stop him from expressing himself and diminishing his freedom of speech. Even Kapil Sharma joined the act as Navjot Singh Sidhu. This apparent mocking of the coverage of SSR's demise made social media users very unhappy, subsequently leading to a trend calling for the boycott of the show. 

In an episode aired on March 28, 2020, comedian-host Kapil Sharma had cracked a joke on The Kapil Sharma Show' that mentioned the name of a religious deity of the Kayastha community. This did not go down well with the members of the community, who demanded an apology and called for the boycott the show.

Later, in order to make a truce, Kapil did issue an apology via his Twitter account. His tweet read, "Dear Kayastha community, I heard about The Kapil Sharma Show episode telecast on 28 March 2020. If the mention of Shri Chitragupta Ji has hurt your sentiments, then I and my entire team apologise to you. Our intention wasn't to hurt anyone. I pray to God that may you all be safe, happy and keep smiling. With love and respect."

प्यारे कायस्थ समाज के लिए  @kayasthasabha @SubodhKantSahai pic.twitter.com/sord7gTxba

— Kapil Sharma (@KapilSharmaK9) May 21, 2020