"I don't want to be known as just a stand-up comedian" Kapil Sharma

Kapil Sharma was the first contestant to grace the stage of The Great Indian Laughter Challenge 3 (TGILC 3) and he ended as its rightful winner. The newly crowned champion talks about his TGILC journey and more in an exclusive chat with Mayur Lookhar. How does it feel to win The Great Indian Laughter Challenge 3? Obviously it does feel nice. However, what is exciting is that I got the opportunity to compete with a legend like Amanullah Khan along with some other fine artists. At what stage did you think that you can win this contest? I scored the maximum marks in the first final. Fortunately, others didn't score that many. So, I was confident that from hereon I'll be hard to beat. Who did you consider as your toughest opponent? It had to be the legend - Amanullah Khan. From the onset, I had this in my mind that I'll have to finish second best to him. That itself would have been a privilege for me. So, I was targeting the second spot. However, he scored less in the first final and so I knew I could pull it off in the grand final. The judges stroked out Amanullah Khan saying that he was too big to be rated. Did that tilt the scales in your favour? I aspired to finish second best to him. As it is, you can't compare him with any one of us. He's far superior to everyone. He's performed for the last 30 years, thus there's a vast difference between his style of humour and mine. Umer Sherif was on a short visit to India. That meant that you didn't have much time between the semis and the final. How much time did you take to prepare? The semis and the finals were shot back-to-back. So, I just had a night to prepare for the finals. In fact, I got a bit too creative while performing on the stage. How do you rate yourself as compared to the previous TGILC winners? I don't like to compare. All of us differ in our styles. Sunil Pal buzzed me yesterday and heaped praises on me. I too returned the favour. We respect each other. How did you create this character Shamsher Singh? Well, I'm just highlighting the mannerisms of our Punjab police. Not all of them are like Shamsher. I don't like to crack jokes as most of them are old. I create my characters and this can only be done by observing people around you. In the semis, your gag on Rajat Sharma nearly brought the house down. Did you ever worry as to how Rajat Sharma might react? It wasn't me but the character (Shamsher Singh) who is to be blamed (laughs). Also, Shamsher never openly referred to Rajat Sharma. It was Navjot Sidhu who uttered his name. Prior to the show, I disclosed my intentions to the director and asked him whether it will be nice to him. Pankaj (director) too told me that it's not you but the character that will be doing it. Who are the other people that you will like to spoof? There's never any particular individual on my mind. I picked on Rajat Sharma after watching him interview Raju Srivastav. That's when it struck me as to how will Shamsher Singh react to Rajat's queries. Similary, I saw Rauf Lala performing and I didn't like the fact that he regularly shows his toap (butt) as I found it very obscene. So, in the finals, I picked on him for this. Who do you consider as the best comic artist in the country? I'm averse to rating people. As stated before, each of them is good in their own right. I am quite impressed by the likes of Raju Srivastav and Sunil Pal. However, one person who I'd like to follow is Rajpal Yadav. I just don't want to be known as a stand-up comedian. Like Rajpal, I want to enact various characters. So, you're more an actor than a stand-up comedian? Yes. In fact, I've never even thought of taking up stand-up comedy. I have been a theatre person for the past ten years. Have you made your first appearance on TV with TGILC 3? No. In 2005, I won a similar contest on a Punjabi channel. It was called Haste Hasate Raho. This victory boosted my confidence and I felt that I could perform on any stage. Your late father worked for Punjab police. Your brother has followed suit. However you seem to derive great pleasure by mocking at Punjab police? Laughs! They aren't that bad as one thinks. I'm merely enacting a character. It requires a big heart to laugh at oneself. Similarly, I laud Navjot Singh Sidhu for it. Most of us pull his leg but he's never shown any anger on his face. He's wonderful human being who always presents a smile on his face. I'm sure our Punjab police too will be smiling at my jokes. One of the criticisms of TGILC is that the winners kill themselves by reciting the same jokes innumerable times on various channels. Sunil Pal was a victim of it too. How do you plan to guard yourself against this? I have always stressed on quality and never on quantity. At the moment, I've been invited by various channels. However, I'd like to limit my appearance to just a few days of the month. Even there, I'll see to it I don't repeat anything. I would never like my admirers to say that I'm beginning to bore them. What's next for you? Well, today I received a call from two anonymous persons who want to cast me in their film. I am yet to respond to them. Offers for films are expected, but I was taken aback by one caller requesting me to write scripts. At the moment, I'm basking in the glory of winning TGILC 3. Have you set any major goal for yourself? Throughout my life, I've never planned anything. I've taken things as they come. I never expected to be a stand-up comedian and nor did I dream of performing on TGILC. As I like singing, I had earlier set my sights on becoming a singer. My friends too persuaded me to take singing. However, destiny had other ideas for me. Here, I stand before you as the winner of The Great Indian Laughter Challenge.