Kapil Sharma Got Rejected As ‘Jhalak Dikhlaa Jaa’ Host Because Of Being Fat

Actor-comedian Kapil Sharma has opened up about how he lost out hosting the dance reality show ‘Jhalak Dikhlaa Jaa’ because of his weight.

Outlook Web Bureau

Updated on: 28 September 2021 8:07 pm

‘The Kapil Sharma Show’, a comedy show hosted by actor-comedian Kapil Sharma, has aired over 500 episodes. Since its debut on Colors under the title ‘Comedy Nights With Kapil’, the show has been a fan favourite. Recently, the comic told the story of how his program came to be. He also talked about how he survived a terrible period in his life when he had to shut down the program that made him famous. When asked about the period when he was fired and his show was cancelled, Sharma stated he learned a lot from that experience.

“I decided to respond to naysayers through my show. I understood it was my show which got me the love of the audience and recognition. Till when will you keep fighting with people on Twitter? (laughs). But it was that time that taught me a lot,” he told RJ Nishant during an interview.

He also revealed how his show began initially. Sharma said he was called to the Colors office to host the celebrity dance reality show, ‘Jhalak Dikhlaa Jaa’. “I was called to the Colors office. They asked me if I will host ‘Jhalak Dikhlaa Jaa’. I asked them what will I have to do. They said you and Maniesh Paul will host it. I said fine and they asked me to meet BBC, the production house,” said Sharma.

He added, “I went there and there, after looking at me, she said, ‘Aap bahut mote hain. Aap thoda wazan kam karo (You are very fat. Lose some weight).’ I told Colors, ‘What is all this?’ Then the channel called her and told her, ‘the guy is good, let’s get him on board as host, will see about the weight later.’ So, I asked them, ‘Why don’t you make a comedy show?”

“I enjoyed doing standup, sketch comedy, costume comedy. So I planned to bring together all the elements I am good at, put them in one show. I made the pitch, they asked me how long it would be. I gave them the lowdown. After standup, gags, celebrity interviews and all, five minutes’ time still remained. But when the show was shot, it went up to 120 minutes. They wanted only 70 minutes of content. It became difficult for them to edit it.”

Sharma shared that they had planned only 25 episodes but because of the love the show received from the audiences, it went up to 500 episodes. Even to date, it is still on the air.