No, it wasn’t Kapil Sharma or Sunil Grover who stole the spotlight in the 9th episode of The Great Indian Kapil Show—it was Archana Puran Singh. Why, you ask? Because she single-handedly added some cacophony, if not humour, to the episode by laughing out loud at the comedian and his team’s abysmal, unfunny jokes throughout its 40-minute runtime. What’s worse, the show’s guests, Anil Kapoor and Farah Khan, soon realised that they too had to join Archana and attempt at making the episode palatable for the audience.
The episode began with a promising skit where Anil, known for his versatility, tries to take over Kapil’s show. Meanwhile, Farah expresses her intention to overthrow Archana from her throne. One would expect this interesting scenario to lead to a fun banter between the host and his guests, but it was abruptly cut short, leaving a sour taste like a poorly mixed cocktail.
This was followed by some predictable jokes about Anil Kapoor refusing to age and his constant need for praise. The guests shared personal experiences from working together on various films and how they both ended up referring to each other as ‘Papaji,’ inspired by filmmaker Vidhu Vinod Chopra’s self-affirming term. During the conversation, Chunky Panday made an appearance as the ‘most stingy person’ in the film industry. Farah called him to ask if he could lend her Rs 500, but he craftily dodged the request.
While this chatter between the guests and Kapil had the potential to be humorous, the novelty wore off quickly since the best parts of these conversations had already been revealed in the trailer, leaving nothing new for the episode. After this chit-chat, which lasted about 12 minutes, it was up to Kapil and his team to carry the baton—and boy, did they fall short.
Sunil Grover, usually the lifeline of every episode, appeared as Engineer Chumbak with his usual quest to find a bride, this time eyeing Rashmika Mandanna and Triptii Dimri. Obviously, he left without a bride, but sadly, he also left without delivering any laughs. Following this dull segment, Rajeev Thakur took the stage, only to become the butt of jokes for the guests and audience. Instead of performing a sketch, he stood there to be ridiculed. At one point, Anil Kapoor even mildly reprimanded him for a sexist joke about Archana, saying, “This joke has been done 150 times. Crack a new one.” This comment might as well have been directed at the entire show.
Krushna Abhishek and Kiku Sharda also attempted to elicit laughs with their sketch on Farah Khan’s iconic choreography for “Chaiyya Chaiyya”. But by this point, the mind was so disengaged from this out-of-touch comedy that it failed to register anything, even when Kapil Sharma sang the Italian folk song “Bella Ciao” on his Indian comedy show. Why? What?
You can watch The Great Indian Kapil Show on Netflix.
Click for more updates and latest Bollywood news along with Entertainment updates. Also get latest news and top headlines from India and around the world at The Indian Express.
