Kapil Sharma talks about falling TRPs, alcoholism rumours and fall-out with Sunil Grover

Kapil Sharma has seen several highs and lows over the last few years. From hosting a show which had 7 million viewers to being featured on the Forbes India Celebrity 100 list, it seemed as though the comedian had it all — until his much spoken about fallout with Sunil Grover, a fellow comedian, who was an integral part of his show. In an interview to Mumbai Mirror, Kapil Sharma cleared the air about rumours concerning the short break that he had decided to take in mutual agreement with the channel Sony Entertainment Television. Rumours suggested that it was due to the falling TRPs of the show — a drastic decrease from 4.3 to 1.9 over the last year — that the channel wanted The Kapil Sharma Show to go off air. The comedian said that neither had the channel pressurised him, nor will he be ending the deal he has signed with them. He even went to the extent of saying that any other channel would not be as understanding of his predicament. [caption id=“attachment_3056258” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Kapil Sharma. Image courtesy News 18[/caption] While many people claimed that Sharma was battling alcoholism, he has said that after working for 10 years without a stop, he has now decided to undertake damage control for his body, to deal with his anxiety, blood pressure and blood sugar problems. He added that he is in Bengaluru, undergoing Ayurvedic treatment, and that he expects to be back in Mumbai by the end of September. Before making a return to his show, he will first promote his upcoming film Firangi. Sharma also spoke at length about the claims that he was not reporting for the shoots of his show since he was occupied with his film Firangi. He said that save for a promotional video and song which were to be shot in Mumbai, the film had been wrapped up in March, and that the cancellations had nothing to do with the director of his film, Rajiv Dhingra. Interestingly, Dhingra too spoke about this issue in an  interview to The Quint. He said, “We always shot when Kapil had completed shooting for the show. These are false allegations being spread by those very people in the team who would create a confusion about dates, so that Kapil ended up shooting neither for the show, nor for our film.” He asserted that he was being made the scapegoat of this situation, and that he was not the villain in this story. He seconded Sharma’s claims about his failing health, and how they are not related to alcoholism. Speaking about what is being called his fall from grace, Sharma said that unlike those TV stars and personalities who have PR people to protect their images in the public, he does not believe in holding back his emotions. He said that he still has not figured out “how it all works”. He does not attribute his downfall to the shoe-throwing incident involving Sunil Grover. He called it a one-off incident. “What happened between Sunil and me was not a fight, it was an accident. I was shooting with him seven days a week when that accident happened. I admit I was completely wrong. I was grappling with 50 things and could not handle things well. My best wishes are always with Sunil,” he said. He also mentioned that when Grover decided to quit The Kapil Sharma Show, he advised him against it, but was understanding of Grover’s motivation later, as he too sought to have his own show a few years ago.