Post drunken fracas on a flight, insiders say Sunil Grover, mainstay of Kapil Sharma Show, likely to walk out
Bharati Dubey (MID-DAY; March 20, 2017)

Stand-up comic Sunil Grover has made up his mind to quit The Kapil Sharma Show following an alleged mid- air fight with Kapil recently, sources close to him said. Sunil, who is the mainstay of the comedy skit and talk show, plays several characters including Dr Mashoor Gulati and Rinku Devi. Sources say he will hold a discussion with the producers before taking the step. The show’s producer, incidentally, happens to be Kapil’s company, even as it currently airs on television channel, Sony.

A source says, “Sunil is numbed by the way Kapil assaulted him during a flight from Melbourne, where they did a stage show. He was merely trying to calm down Kapil, who was drunk and hurling abuses at another team member, Chandan [Prabhakar].”

Kapil allegedly also took a swipe at a comedy show that Sunil had launched after parting ways with him after their first fall-out in 2014. “A female passenger asked Kapil to keep quiet, so Sunil told him, ‘Paaji tussi gaali mat do’. But, he got provoked and started abusing him. Sunil also got angry and stood up, but the other members stopped him. He then walked to the economy class where Kapil chased and hit him,” adds the source.

Kapil even hurled abuses at colleagues Ali Asgar aka Naani and Kiku Sharda aka Bumper Lottery, calling them “per day artistes” or daily wage earners, the source claims. He even threatened to end their acts on his show. While Ali was not available for comment, Kiku denied any such abuse meted out to him. He labelled Kapil “a sweet guy”, but refused to comment on Sunil’s episode.

Meanwhile, industry insiders feel Kapil was expecting the alleged incident to be reported and decided to divert attention by posting a photo of his ‘girlfriend’ Ginni Chatrath on social media. “Will not say she is my better half; she completes me. Love u Ginni. Please welcome her. I love her so much (sic),” read his tweet.