The public feud between warring comedians Sunil Grover and Kapil Sharma seems to have affected the fate of Mr Sharma's show worse than was expected. The Kapil Sharma Show is reportedly scheduled for renewal for another season in April, which will reportedly be a deal of Rs 107 crores, as reported by DNA. A week after Kapil Sharma was accused of allegedly assaulting his colleague Mr Grover on a flight back from Melbourne, a source close to the show told DNA, that a fresh season of The Kapil Sharma Show seems "unlikely". "Their contract ends in April and Kapil was being paid Rs 107 crore for a renewal. Now, that seems unlikely," the source told DNA. The makers also reportedly fear a dip in the ratings of the show following Mr Sharma's showdown with Mr Grover.
The Kapil Sharma Show is also well known for featuring Bollywood celebs, including superstars Shah Rukh Khan, Salman Khan, Hrithik Roshan and Akshay Kumar. The source also told DNA that now, stars are allegedly unwilling to make appearances on the show. "Despite it being the flag-runner of a show on the channel, the makers might have to take a tough decision as they fear that post this, they will lose out on the TRPs. Even celebrities aren't really willing to turn up for the episodes," the source told DNA.
The Kapil Sharma Show regulars Ali Asgar, Chandan Prabhakar and Sugandha Mishra were not present at the shooting of an episode on Monday, allegedly in support of Sunil Grover, who is reported to have quit the show. However, there is no official confirmation from Mr Grover yet. Subsequently, a recording
scheduled for Wednesday was cancelled, a rep for Sony, the channel that airs the comedy show, told NDTV. Several actors of the show allegedly did not turn up and celebrity guests were also unavailable for the new episodes.
Meanwhile, comedian Raju Srivastava is reported to be the one being considered as the new comic for the series after he shot for an episode of The Kapil Sharma Show and shared pictures from the sets on social media. The makers reveal that Mr Srivastava was one of the guest stars included for Monday's recording. Talking to NDTV, Mr Srivastava said that he has not been asked to join yet and that if he is, he will not be a replacement for either Mr Grover or anyone else.
Now, here's a little backstory about Kapil Sharma vs Sunil Grover. Kapil Sharma allegedly verbally abused and assaulted Sunil Grover with a shoe while Team The Kapil Sharma Show were flying out of Australia. Several eyewitnesses revealed that a drunken Mr Sharma lost his calm after his teammates began their meal without him. Mr Sharma was particularly offensive towards Sunil Grover after he tried to pacify the show headliner.
While Mr Sharma has not officially admitted to the alleged assault, he did mention an "argument" in a Facebook post of his, which was shared as an apology (of sorts) to Sunil Grover. Mr Grover responded in a tweet saying "Yes, you hurt me deeply."
Sunil Grover features as the characters Rinku Bhabhi and Dr Mashoor Gulati on The Kapil Sharma Show. Mr Grover had also quit Kapil's previous show Comedy Nights With Kapil over payment issues.