Kapil Sharma: Lesser known facts

Kapil Sharma is undoubtedly one of the most popular names in Indian households, with right from kids to homemakers swearing by his popularity. The king of comedy, who has been ruling the small screen for quite some time now, is currently on a sabbatical owing to his ill health. The stand-up comedian has been shuffling schedules between his TV show ‘The Kapil Sharma Show’ and his upcoming film ‘Firangi’ which took a toll on him. But how well do you know the comedy star who has been tickling your funny bones with his witty jokes and set-ups? Read on for some interesting info about him…

Kapil Sharma had joined theatre during his college days but it took him a decade to reach where he is today. The comedian-actor has come a long way since his struggling days and is now one of the biggest tax payers in the country. Kapil took part in a comedy show on a Punjabi channel in 2015 before he went on to participate and win the ‘The Great Indian Laughter Challenge’ in 2007. He then won six seasons of ‘Comedy Circus’ before launching his own show ‘Comedy Nights With Kapil’ and eventually ‘The Kapil Sharma Show’.

Kapil Sharma’s real name is Kapil Punj and he is very close to his mom Janak Rani, a homemaker. His father was a Head Constable in the police but passed away after his struggle with cancer. His brother Ashok Kumar Sharma is also a Police constable. He also has a sister Pooja Pawan Devgan who is now married. They hail from Amritsar and Kapil did his schooling and college from the city itself.

Kapil Sharma may have hit the bull’s eye in the world of comedy but he wanted to be a singer and came to Mumbai to fulfill his dream. He was a wild card entrant on reality show ‘Star Ya Rockstar’ and was noticed by none other than Lata Mangeshkar who had tweeted, "Kapil ne itne saare dialogues bolne ke baad itna accha gaya. Main usey bahut bahut badhai deti hoon." He was also praised by Sonu Nigam and Salim-Sulaiman. Though we get to see Kapil humming sometimes on his TV show, we are yet to see his singing talent in a big way as he aspires to come out with a music album one day.

Kapil Sharma has not just dominated the comedy scene since a few years but has also got himself noted and listed among the biggies. The comedian found his name on the 69th position in the Forbes India Celebrity list in 2012 and went on to be ranked 11th on their Celebrity 100 list in 2016. He also took the third slot in the Most Admired Indian Personality List released by The Economic Times in 2015. He was also invited to the Rashtrapati Bhavan by President Pranab Mukherjee in September 2015 to acknowledge his contribution to the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan.

Kapil Sharma and controversies have also been quite hand in hand since quite some time. The comedian had a brawl with Sunil Grover onboard a flight and is reported to have hurled a shoe at him. This turned into a huge controversy and led all from Grover, Ali Asgar, Sugandha Mishra to Chandan Prabhakar quit the show. While Chandan returned after some time, Ali Asgar and Sugandha joined Krishna Abhishek on his comedy show ‘The Drama Company’.