Despite featuring new guests Janhvi Kapoor and Rajkummar Rao, The Great Indian Kapil Show’s content remained jarring, repetitive, and simply boring.
In every episode of The Great Indian Kapil Show, comedian Kapil Sharma never misses a chance to remind his audience that his show is streaming in 192 countries on Netflix. He even sang the Italian song “Bella Ciao” to conclude the previous episode, which left many fans puzzled. As the show reaches its 10th episode, it’s hard not to wonder if it’s too late to remind Kapil that he is competing with a plethora of quality content from those same 192 countries he boasts about.
By the 10th episode, I risk sounding repetitive myself, but the blame falls squarely on the comedian. Despite featuring new guests Janhvi Kapoor and Rajkummar Rao, the content remained unchanged. The episode began with Kapil’s mediocre stand-up routine, followed by a brief sketch with Janhvi and Rajkummar portraying characters from their latest film, Mr. and Mrs. Mahi. However, Kapil interrupted the sketch midway to invite them to the stage, as if he had no patience for good acting and just wanted to quickly wrap up the segment.
Editing woes have plagued The Great Indian Kapil Show from the start. Unlike the traditional television format, where the show enjoyed a full 60 minutes or more, Netflix’s time constraints force the makers to condense their sketches. Unfortunately, this often results in rushed and half-baked segments that leave a bad taste.
After Janhvi Kapoor and Rajkummar Rao’s lackluster introduction, the talk show segment began. Rajkummar shared anecdotes about his middle-class life in Gurgaon and a scam he fell for. Janhvi discussed how her mother, Sridevi, had wanted her to become a doctor. Following this, Krushna Abhishek and Kiku Sharda took the stage, presenting an unexpected love story between their characters, Mona and Chef Dhaniya Lal. They were given ample time for this sketch and did a respectable job with their roles, considering the dated material. However, Janhvi appeared unimpressed by the sexist jokes that permeated the segment.
Stars play a crucial role in making Kapil Sharma’s shows successful, and this episode was no different. Kapil relied on Janhvi and Rajkummar to keep the episode engaging. It included a game of dumb charades with the actors, followed by Kapil inviting boys from the audience to try and woo Janhvi, only for him to poke fun at them. What might have been funny a few years ago now came across as impolite, leaving both Janhvi and the audience embarrassed.
As the episode (thankfully) neared its end, Sunil Grover appeared as Navjot Singh Sidhu for a spirited death-over cameo to help Kapil and his team. However, even he seemed aware that the show was beyond saving. The poor script, which should ideally be a meaty bat, felt like a stick in his hand — and he was clean-bowled on the first ball.
You can watch The Great Indian Kapil Show on Netflix.