Nationality Indian Role Stand-up comedian Name Kapil Sharma | Religion Hindu Years active 2007–present Height 1.73 m | |
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Occupation Comedian, actor, singer, producer, television presenter Parents Janak Rani, Jeetendra Kumar Siblings Pooja Sharma, Ashok Kumar Sharma Education Apeejay College of Fine Arts, Jalandhar, Hindu College, Amritsar Movies and TV shows Comedy Nights with Kapil, Kis Kisko Pyaar Karoon, The Great Indian Laughter, Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa, It's My Life Similar People Elli Avram, Manjari Phadnis, Sumona Chakravarti, Salman Khan, Arbaaz Khan Profiles | ||
Kapil Sharma (born 2 April 1981) (birth name Kapil Punj) is an Indian stand-up comedian, television presenter, actor and producer. He hosted a television comedy show Comedy Nights with Kapil from June 2013 to January 2016. Currently, he is hosting another comedy show on Sony Entertainment Television named The Kapil Sharma Show. He first appeared in the Forbes India Celebrity list in 2012, ranked 69th.
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Ormax Media rated Sharma the most popular Indian television personality in April 2016. Forbes India ranked him at 11th position on their Celebrity 100 list in the year 2016. He was awarded the CNN-IBN Indian of the Year 2013, in the Entertainment category and was ranked third in the Most Admired Indian Personality List by The Economic Times in 2015. Sharma was nominated for the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan by the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and was invited to the Rashtrapati Bhavan by President Pranab Mukherjee in September 2015 to acknowledge his contribution for the same.
Early and personal life
Kapil was born in Amritsar, Punjab. His father Jeetendra Kumar Punj was a head constable in the Punjab Police while his mother Janak Rani is a homemaker. His father was diagnosed with cancer in 1997 and died in 2004 at AIIMS in Delhi. He studied at the Khalsa college in Amritsar, Punjab. Kapil Sharma has a brother named Ashok Kumar Sharma, who is a Police constable and a sister named Pooja Pawan Devgan.
Career
Kapil rose to fame after winning the comedy reality television show The Great Indian Laughter Challenge in 2007, for which he won a cash prize of INR ₹10 lakh. He had previously worked in the Punjabi show Hasde Hasande Ravo on MH One channel.
He participated in Sony's Comedy Circus and went on to win six seasons of the show. He also hosted the dance reality show Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa Season 6 and another comedy show Chhote Miyan. Kapil was seen as a contestant in the show Ustaadon Ka Ustaad in 2008. In 2013, Kapil launched his own show, Comedy Nights with Kapil, under his banner K9 Productions on Colors.
At the CNN-IBN Indian of the Year awards 2013, Kapil was felicitated with the Indian of the Year award in the entertainment category by veteran actor Amol Palekar. During the 2014 Lok Sabha Elections, he was appointed the Brand Ambassador by the Delhi Election Commission.
Kapil was the co-host of the 60th Filmfare Awards in 2015 along with Karan Johar. He was the presenter for the fourth season of Celebrity Cricket League, 2014. He appeared as a guest on the opening episode of the eighth season of the Indian television game show Kaun Banega Crorepati and also as a celebrity guest on The Anupam Kher Show. He also appeared as a guest in Koffee With Karan in 2017.
Kapil made his Bollywood debut as the male lead in the movie Kis Kisko Pyaar Karoon, a romantic-comedy directed by Abbas Mustan opposite four actresses, Elli Avram, Manjari Phadnis, Simran Kaur Mundi and Sai Lokur. The film was released on 25 September 2015 to mixed reviews from critics and did record breaking opening day business for a debutant.
After the end of Comedy Nights with Kapil, Kapil signed a contract with Sony TV for a new show called The Kapil Sharma Show. The Kapil Sharma Show started airing on 23 April 2016 & received a positive response from the viewers. Its last episode was aired on 24 January 2016. After that he started working on Sony Entertainment Television for The Kapil Sharma Show under his K9 Productions.
As of December 2016, he has signed two movies and is currently working on them. Also he has renewed his contract with Sony Entertainment Television for The Kapil Sharma Show.
Activism
Kapil has been known for his efforts in promoting animal rights. He and the cast of Comedy Nights with Kapil appeared in a PETA campaign to promote adoption of homeless cats and dogs. In July 2014, he adopted a homeless dog 'Zanjeer', a retired police dog from Mumbai. He has also campaigned to save tortured elephants across the country. Sharma was nominated for the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan by the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi for which he campaigned and regularly promotes on his show.
Twitter controversy
On 9 September 2016, Sharma tweeted and tagged the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, that he was asked to pay a bribe to someone at the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) for making his office even though he was paying large amount in taxes. Sharma did not name anybody in this case, nor did he lodge a complaint with BMC. Responding to his tweet the Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, asked him to furnish all information to enable them to take strict action.
Thereafter, the BMC started gathering evidence against him related to illegal activities in his Oshiwara office and Goregaon apartment. The Oshiwara police also registered a case against Sharma and builder Dev Land and Housing Private Ltd (DLH). The FIR was registered by BMC’s P South Ward sub-engineer Abhay Jagtap. However, Sharma had claimed in the HC that the building was constructed as per the sanctioned plan.
Brawl with Sunil Grover
In March 2017, during their return flight from Melbourne after performing there, it was reported that Sharma, after having too much alcohol, hurled abuses at his team members because they started lunch before him. When Sunil Grover, his co-actor, tried to intervene, Sharma allegedly hurled his shoe at him. When the controversy gathered media attention, he posted on his Facebook page to explain the events also apologizing to Grover for his actions on his Twitter handle. Grover, however, took offense and posted a message advising Sharma to handle his fame better and respect his co-actors. Subsequently, Grover, along with Ali Asgar, Chandan Prabhakar, Sugandha Mishra quit The Kapil Sharma Show. However, Chandan Prabhakar returned after few weeks.