The Great Indian Kapil Show: Kiku Sharda Says 'Not Right To Crack A Joke On Religion Or God'

Actor-comedian Kiku Sharda says there are moral lines that shouldn't be crossed in the pursuit of humour, especially when it comes to religion.

In 2016, the actor was arrested by the Haryana Police for mimicking Dera Sacha Sauda chief, Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh and hurting the sentiments of the followers of the self-proclaimed Godman.

Sharda declined to talk about the incident when prodded by Sunil Grover, fellow comedian on "The Great Indian Kapil Show" on Netflix during an interview the cast.

He, however, said he does not like to comment on religious matters in his comedy.

“Personally, I don’t like (to do comedy on) religious (things) or on god because since childhood we all believe in something. I think we should not touch that and the religious beliefs. I don’t think that is right to do, and I don’t do it as well,” Sharda told PTI in an interview.

Sharda said he loves comedies and is happy to continue being a part of comedy shows.

“I'm happy I've been typecast (in comedy), I'm having fun doing this work, I don't have interest in doing anything else,” the actor-comedian, who is best known for his role as Constable Mulayam Singh Gulgule in Sony SAB's comedy series “FIR” and Akbar in the comedy show “Akbar Birbal”, said.

Sharda said his favourite artists are Vir Das, Zakir Khan, Ashish Solanki, Anubhav Singh Bassi and George Carlin.

“The kind of stand-up (comedy) that is happening today is different. Earlier, it was happening in English, then it started in Hindi and other regional languages. It's great to have so many ways of entertaining people. Everyone is happy and making people laugh, which people are enjoying,” he said.

“I remember watching stand-up artist George Carlin many years ago; he does stand-up but also speaks something wise, he will speak about life with a dash of comedy and a bit of bad language, but he will teach you a lot about life. He is an old guy, but he is brilliant,” Sharda added.

The comedian is ecstatic about the second season of “The Great Indian Kapil Show”, which was released on Netflix on September 21.

His co-artist, Rajiv Thakur said he is just happy that the show has found resonance across the globe with a platform like Netflix.

"What I find interesting is that people of every society, religion and country like us. Our show is being watched by people from Pakistan , Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Sweden, sometimes we also get surprised thinking, ‘Are people watching our show?’. We are blessed.” Thakur's recent role as a terrorist in the Netflix series “IC 814: The Kandahar Hijack” has garnered a lot of acclaim for the actor.

“I've got a positive response (for the show). It has been a brilliantly made show, especially the VFX. We shot for the show last year in June-July, and it's looking brilliant, I think it is Hollywood-level.

"We were all afraid because if we had to do a scene with Naseer sahab (Naseeruddin Shah) or Pankaj sahab (Kapoor), then we would think 'zameen aasman ka farak naa dikhe'. But people are praising all of us." He feels blessed by the genuine love he received without resorting to any marketing gimmicks.

“I'm often told you've to give interviews to the media, and do PR. But I got a lot of love without doing any PR. A lot of my friends sent me articles written about my work; I was shocked to see that they (the media) came to my house to take my interview. I'm very grateful,” Thakur concluded. 

---PTI---