Shaheen Parkar (MID-DAY; January 19, 2016)
Kapil Sharma’s sketch comedy show did not get a farewell on Sunday night as slated, as the television channel conveniently decided to skip the telecast of his finale act featuring Akshay Kumar and Nimrat Kaur. A lot of curiosity had surrounded the last episode of Comedy Nights With Kapil, which was shot earlier this month, but on missing its rendezvous with the small screen audience, tongues were set wagging.
Viewers were surprised to find the channel’s other show, Comedy Nights Bachao, which only airs on Saturday, being aired instead. Considering the recent bad blood between the channel and Kapil, many felt it was a deliberate ploy to humiliate the comedian. Channel sources, however, maintain it was a business decision. Strangely, during the telecast of Comedy Nights Bachao, a teaser that Comedy Nights With Kapil will air on Sunday at 10 pm, kept playing. It showed January 24 as the telecast date.
Says a source, “The channel advanced the January 23 episode of Comedy Nights Bachao and ran it on Sunday night itself. It was convenient for them since this weekend, they have the Bigg Boss 9 finale which will go on for a longer duration. So, they could do without Comedy Nights Bachao.” Adds the source, “The channel may make it appear as a programming strategy, but there is obviously more to it. In the past few months, relations between Kapil and the channel have gone from bad to worse. It has become an ego tussle and this could be the channel’s attempt to show him his place. The channel feels he has grown too big for his boots, while Kapil thinks his show was the channel’s main attraction.”
During the recent telecast of a film awards gala on the channel, its head honcho did not mention Comedy Nights With Kapil while mentioning their popular shows, clearly indicating that all was not well between them and the comedian. Asked why they decided to defer the telecast of Comedy Nights With Kapil’s last episode, the channel preferred not to comment.
Interestingly, on Sunday morning, Kapil tweeted, “I hope @ ColorsTV will air the last episode of cnwk with @ akshaykumar tonight since its our way to say a gracious thanks to our audience ( sic).” Perhaps, he saw it coming? Kapil refrains from talking about it and simply says, “It’s time to move on.”