Kapil Sharma has seen many ups and downs in life, but has also lit many lives with laughter: Kiku Sharda

Kiku Sharda has been entertaining fans for more than a decade now. The actor, who has given television viewers some hilarious characters like Gulgule from FIR, Palak, Bumper and Baccha Yadav recently turned a funny doctor for a show, Dr. Pran LeLe. In an exclusive interview with the TimesofIndia.com, Kiku spoke about his new show, bonding with Kapil Sharma and also revealed that he misses former co-star Sunil Grover.

The show revolves around the fictitious character of Dr. Pran LeLe played by me and my assistant nurse CPR (Chinni Prakash Rawal) played by my friend Gaurav Gera. The show is bound to leave viewers rolling with laughter. The doctor-nurse chemistry that our on-screen characters share is quite funny.

I started on The Kapil Sharma Show with female oriented roles. Thankfully I got Baccha Yadav in between, who has a typical dialect so he sounds different from my other characters. Whenever I play a character I don't emphasize too much on how the character looks. I concentrate more on the jokes, humour and how funny and natural it comes across. The way these characters speak is different from each other and that's how they sound and look different.

Gaurav and I have known each other for about 15/17 years and we have been friends along so the work becomes easy. Work becomes fun when he is around. We keep chatting about the kind of different work he is doing.

There was a time 10 years ago when he is used to talk about the digital/web world, but at that time I wanted to be seen more on TV. I did a lot of fiction shows during that time and I used to think and ask Gaurav why he is not doing TV. I always thought he is such a brilliant talent. He always told me that one day the digital world will become big, but I never understood what he was trying to say. But today I've seen it for myself. Today, web is totally a different world and I am happy he has done so well for himself. I am glad that his conviction came true. Also, I did so many shows and got comfortable in that zone so I never experimented.

We were a little apprehensive about the second season of The Kapil Sharma Show, but I feel people never lost heart in terms of Kapil Sharma. I am really thankful to the fans and the channel also they backed us all along. I was overwhelmed with the audience reactions as they waited for Kapil to return. The last six months have been so good and with the latest addition of Bharti Singh and Krushna Abhishek the show has only got bigger and better. The team of writers are fantastic and with Salman Khan producing the second season things are becoming better. We were a little skeptical and apprehensive at the beginning about the second season but now we have left all the negativity behind and only looking ahead.

When we meet people (fans of TKSS) we realise that it is not only us who missed the show (TKSS) when it was off-air, even they missed it. They tell us that the show brings their entire family together and puts a smile on their face. We realise that it has become a kind of liability to bring a smile on their face.

Oh, I really miss Grover yaar. Sunil and I have known each other for long even before we started working together on Comedy Nights With Kapil or TKSS and our bonding and chemistry reflected on-screen when we worked together. We have partied a lot together. We bonded really well even during the Live shows and he is such a happy person to be with. I have really enjoyed hanging out with him. On the show, yes, definitely I miss him, but then it is not in my hand. Things like this happen in life, but the show must go on. And now even he is busy with his work and I am caught up with mine, we hardly get time to meet each other. But there's no love lost as we stay in contact through messages.

I have been very lucky that I never got typecast while playing female characters. Years ago I played different female avatar roles in Grand Indian Comedy Show, but as it was not as popular show as TKSS and CNWK, it never got noticed. There was no apprehension from my side ever. I was only worried about my kids (my sons) getting harassed, but thankfully it never happened. In fact, they have always come home and said that teacher wants to watch the shoot and they were praising my performance. Also, I feel when you get appreciated for your work and nobody points fingers. I have never feared of being typecast as I tried to do different roles on television.

My bonding with Kapil has always been good and that's the reason I've always been around. I appreciate Kapil for making people laugh and applaud the amount of talent the person has. Whenever I am on the set with him, I feel the man is so talented and has a great knowledge about comedy. In the last 6 years I've learnt a lot from him. I've improved as a comic talent myself because of Kapil's company and because of being around with the bunch of writers. The whole setup of TKSS and CNWK has made a huge difference to my life.

He has gone through many ups and downs in his life, but no one can deny that he has lit so many lives with his comedy and we should respect that. People usually forget about this and there are people who can't see someone doing good in life, so they try to bring that person down. They forget that when the show was not on-air they missed it too. But I am happy that now things are back to good and love has taken over all the negativity. The love that people have in their heart for Kapil is visible with the kind of success he has achieved.