Kapil (Sharma) and I have grown up together: Chandan Prabhakar

Chandan Prabhakar, best known as Kapil Sharma’s house help Raju in Colors’ Comedy Nights With Kapil (K9/SOL Productions), is an extremely talented man apart from being Kapil’s best buddy. It may sound filmy but it’s true that Kapil and Chandan are chaddi-buddies. Hailing from the same village, the two have grown up together; have studied in the same school and have also made their presence felt on Hindi television industry with the same show-The Great Indian Laughter Challenge- though in their individual capacities. “Yes, we’ve grown-up together. While Kapil was the winner of The Great Indian Laughter Challenge, I was the first runner-up,” confirms Chandan. So, where was he all this while? “Since I am more attached to the Punjabi film industry, I have been producing and directing films there in the state. I’ve also produced a Punjabi show Laughter Da Master for ETC Punjabi. I also paint; in fact I used to exhibit my paintings in foreign countries, but due to time constraint, haven’t been able to continue that for a while now,” observes the comedian. When asked why he wasn’t the first choice for Kapil’s show, he surprised us when he avers, “I was obviously the first choice to play this role but then I was too busy with one of my films; hence couldn’t take it up. And that is when Naseem Vicky was roped in. Later, when some issues cropped up, Naseem had to move out of the show. The makers did search for a few options but when no one could fit the role, they got back to me again. Since I was busy even then, I agreed to shoot for six to seven episodes so that they could get some more time to get a replacement. And now here I am. The channel loves my performance and even I have fallen in love with the show.” Chandan has also started essaying multiple characters in the show these days. “Yes, they have opened more avenues for me. I am now also seen as Chiranjilal an old man, Raju Srivastav’s wife Rajni and Pappu. Till now I’ve shot for 50 episodes of Comedy Nights,” maintains the performing artiste. The actor has not just limited himself to acting in this show; he has also worked on the scripts with Kapil. “Script writing is nothing new for me. Earlier, when I had come down to Mumbai to be a part of Laughter Challenge, we wrote our own scripts as we did not have a script writer then. Now I am a content director for my own Punjabi films,” he informs. Where do you get the funny lines from? “It’s all about observation. If you observe things carefully all around, you will find several funny things happening. I simply bring them on-screen,” Chandan justifies. What’s next for the talented man? “I am working on a Hindi film script and if all goes well, I’ll be directing it too,” admits the actors. Way to go Chandan. Keep up the good work!