New Delhi: In the era of standup and OTT where family comedy and the concept of family-friendly content have become a rarity if not completely obsolete, Kapil Sharma has managed to maintain a niche where he definitely is the King of Comedy. A show to your name where everything from the format, to the guests, is a representation of your personality was a concept that didn’t really exist in India before Kapil. The late-night shows which are quite prominent on US Networks were a very fresh format in India that Kapil Sharma broke into. And no one has emerged in the same way or stature since.
After his elaborate controversies from his conflict with Sunil Grover to his altercations with journalists or his active Twitter history. Kapil did lose a lot of the audience that was religiously following his shows. The vacuum created by the traditional comedy shows was filled by sketches and standup comedy on Youtube and OTT. People related more to that kind of humour that looked less polished. Despite that Sharma has maintained a niche that loves consuming his shows and even sharing them with their friends.
But this gap, it seems has not escaped him. The New Year episode of The Kapil Sharma show starred some new Gen favorites, Zakir Khan, Abhishek Upmanyu, Anubhav Singh Bassi and Kusha Kapila. These comedians brought a whole new audience with them, some of them too young to remember the initial popularity of Kapil Sharma and the era of comedy before Youtube existed.
While looking at the trailer one would have thought how do these two worlds meet? On what ground do these two very conflicting styles of comedy intersect? To our surprise, they did meet. A little like young girls and boys stuck at the parent’s table at weddings, the new age of comedians despite their don’t care repute were respectful and open-minded in their demeanor. Zakir with his Shayari, Kusha with her candid personality and feminist voice, Upmanyu sporting his offbeat style and Bassi being Bassi, the show was a treat to watch.
Though there were a few cringy moments, this episode was like the best of both worlds. Kapil stood out with his individuality and talent, while our GenZ favourites did not disappoint either. Singing of Richa Sharma, Jasbir Jassi and Kapil himself added the Kapil touch to the evening. Available now on SonyLiv if you wish to stream, the New Year episode of The Kapil Sharma Show symbolized a sense of unity in diverse strengths and capabilities.