Kapil Sharma

Kapil Sharma
Sharma at a press conference for The Great Indian Kapil Show
Born	Kapil Punj (1981-04-02) 2 April 1981 Amritsar, Punjab, India
Education	Apeejay College of Fine Arts, Jalandhar
Occupation	Stand-up comedian television presenter actor producer singer
Years active	2006–present
Spouse(s)	Ginni Chatrath ( m. 2018)
Children	2
Comedy career
Medium	Stand-up Television Film
Genres	Insult comedy Heritage comedy Character comedy
Subject(s)	Punjab Indian women Indian men Bollywood Fellow performers Class divide
Notable works and roles	The Great Indian Laughter Challenge (season 3) Comedy Circus Comedy Nights with Kapil The Kapil Sharma Show The Great Indian Kapil Show

Kapil Sharma (born Kapil Punj; 2 April 1981) is an Indian stand-up comedian, television host, actor, dubbing artist, producer, and singer who primarily works in Hindi cinema. He is best known for hosting popular stand-up comedy and talk shows such as The Great Indian Kapil Show and The Kapil Sharma Show, and has received five Indian Television Academy Awards.

Sharma rose to prominence after winning the stand-up comedy reality show, The Great Indian Laughter Challenge season 3 in 2007. He has hosted and produced several successful television comedy shows including Comedy Nights with Kapil and Family Time with Kapil. Sharma has also won multiple seasons of the comedy competition show Comedy Circus alongside various co-performers. In 2011, he participated in the singing reality show Star Ya Rockstar, finishing as the second runner-up.

Sharma made his film debut with Kis Kisko Pyaar Karoon (2015), which was commercially successful, and its sequel Kis Kisko Pyaar Karoon 2 in 2025. He subsequently appeared in films such as Firangi (2017) and Zwigato (2023). He also lent his voice for the Hindi dub of The Angry Birds Movie 2 (2019).

Apart from television and film, Kapil Sharma is also known for performing live stand-up comedy shows both in India and internationally.

Early and personal life

Sharma was born in a Punjabi family in the city of Amritsar in Punjab, India as Kapil Punj. His father Jeetendra Kumar Punj was a head constable in the Punjab Police, while his mother Janak Rani is a homemaker. His father was diagnosed with cancer in 1997 and died in 2004 at AIIMS in Delhi. He studied at the Shri Ram Ashram Senior Secondary School and Hindu College in Amritsar. He is featured in the list of prominent alumni of the Apeejay College of Fine Arts, Jalandhar. Sharma has a brother named Ashok Kumar Sharma who is a police constable, and a sister named Pooja Pawan Devgan.

Sharma with wife, Ginni Chatrath in 2018

Sharma married Ginni Chatrath in Jalandhar on 12 December 2018. They have two children – a daughter and a son.

Career

Rise to prominence (2007-2012)

Sharma rose to fame after winning the comedy reality television show The Great Indian Laughter Challenge's third season in 2007, for which he won a cash prize of ₹10 lakh (equivalent to ₹24 lakh or US$34,000 in 2019). He had previously worked in the Punjabi show Hasde Hasaande Ravo on MH One channel. Sharma has stated he initially moved to Mumbai to become a singer.

He participated in Sony's Comedy Circus, and went on to win six seasons of the show. Sharma was seen as a contestant in the show Ustaadon Ka Ustaad in 2008. In 2011, he participated as a contestant in Zee TV's singing reality show Star Ya Rockstar, and finished as a runner up.

Established comedian and film career (2013-present)

In 2013, Kapil launched his own show, Comedy Nights with Kapil, under his banner K9 Productions on Colors TV. He played Bittu Sharma, the host of a fictional family show. He also hosted the dance reality show Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa Season 6, and another comedy show Chhote Miyan.

At the CNN-IBN Indian of the Year awards 2013, Sharma was felicitated with the Indian of the Year award in the entertainment category by veteran actor Amol Palekar. In the same year he did live stage shows in Oman. During the 2014 Lok Sabha Elections, he was appointed the Brand Ambassador by the Delhi Election Commission.

Sharma was the co-host of the 60th Filmfare Awards in 2015 along with Karan Johar. He was the presenter for the fourth season of Celebrity Cricket League in 2014. He appeared as a guest on the opening episode of the eighth season of the Indian television game show Kaun Banega Crorepati, and also as a celebrity guest on The Anupam Kher Show. He also appeared as a guest on Koffee With Karan in 2017.

Sharma made his Bollywood debut as the male lead in the movie Kis Kisko Pyaar Karoon, a romantic-comedy directed by Abbas Mustan opposite four actresses, Elli AvrRam, Manjari Phadnis, Simran Kaur Mundi and Sai Lokur. The film was released on 25 September 2015 to mixed reviews from critics but did record-breaking opening day business for a debut. In the same year he signed and was paid to do six live shows in North America but the event organiser Amit Jaitly alleged Sharma did not show up in one city and thus filed a court case for breach of contract against Sharma in a New York court. Jaitly also accused Sharma of not taking his phone calls, and the case is pending in the New York court.

His show Comedy Nights with Kapil on Colors aired its last episode on 24 January 2016.

Sharma began a new show titled The Kapil Sharma Show on Sony Entertainment Television under his K9 Productions. The Kapil Sharma Show debuted on 23 April 2016 to a positive response from the viewers.

In 2017, he did not record his TV show multiple times and cancelled shootings, due to several actors like Ajay Devgn, Shah Rukh Khan and their crew having to return from the sets when Kapil Sharma did not show up. Later Kapil Sharma was admitted into an Ayurvedic ashram in Karnataka to leave his alcohol addiction but he left the ashram before attending the full treatment of 40 days, in 12 days. He told DNA in an interview he suffered from high blood pressure and other health issues. Prior to this, Sharma assaulted his employee and fellow comedian on the show, Sunil Grover, after consuming alcohol and abusing other fellow comedians. Post this altercation, Grover quit Sharma's TV show.

His second movie, Firangi, was released on 1 December 2017. Directed by Rajiev Dhingra and produced by Sharma himself, Firangi was a period drama film set in the year 1920. Sharma played the role of Manga. Renuka Vyavahare of The Times of India in a review wrote, 'Firangi is a boring film', gave 2.0/5 stars and other critics, panned it for a bad story and slow speed. It emerged as a big flop at the box-office. The 25 crore film managed to earn 10 crores and Sharma suffered losses.

His next show was launched on 25 March 2018 stating as Family Time With Kapil Sharma which ended on 1 April after only 3 episodes. In 2018, he produced a Punjabi movie named Son of Manjeet Singh which was released on 12 October 2018. His show The Kapil Sharma Show was renewed with a new season, which started airing on 29 December 2018, produced by Salman Khan.

In 2020, it was announced he will star in a kids comedy show, titled The Honey Bunny Show With Kapil Sharma on Sony Yay. In January 2020, Kapil Sharma, Krushna Abhishek and other members of his Sony TV show performed a live show in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates.

In January 2022, it was announced a biopic on his life is under development. Titled Funkaar, the film will be directed by Mrighdeep Singh Lamba.

The Kapil Sharma Show initiated airing its fifth and final season on Sony on 10 September 2022. The show's main actor Krushna Abhishek left the show due to monetary differences. Before the start of shooting in June–July, Sharma did live shows in North America. In 2023, Kapil Sharma was the lead actor in the movie Zwigato, directed by Nandita Das.

Netflix announced The Great Indian Kapil Show on 14 November 2023. From the previous show on Sony TV, Archana Puran Singh, Krushna Abhishek, Kiku Sharda and Rajeev Thakur joined the cast. The Great Indian Kapil Show started streaming on Netflix from 30 March 2024. In the first season, Sunil Grover returned to the show as a recurring cast member, and Navjot Singh Sidhu returned as the permanent guest in the third season.

In 2025, the sequel to his debut film, Kis Kisko Pyaar Karoon 2, starring him alongside Parul Gulati, Hira Warina, Tridha Choudhury, and Ayesha Khan released on 12 December.

Singing career

Sharma sang his first song "Alone" with Guru Randhawa with a video published by T-Series featuring Sharma and Yogita Bihani in the leading roles. The song was aired on YouTube on 9 February 2023.

Controversies

In 2016, Sharma tagged Indian prime minister Narendra Modi in a tweet and alleged the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) took a 5,00,000-rupee bribe from him for the construction of his office. “I am paying 15 crores income tax from last five years and still I have to pay 5 lacs to bribe to BMC office for making my office, Narendra Modi, Yeh hain aapke achhe din?", he tweeted. In response, The Chief of BMC's vigilance department asked him the names of the people who took bribes and assured him stringent action against them. It was later revealed Sharma himself was doing illegal activities involving construction work being done on his properties. The BMC issued a stop work notice to him regarding illegal extensions on two of his bungalows in Andheri and told him to demolish illegal work within 24 hours. On 4 August 2016, BMC demolished parts of the extensions and their officials alleged Kapil Sharma made internal changes on his properties and office buildings without legal permission from the BMC.

In 2018, Sharma did a show for the Pakistan Super League in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, angering many people in India who were hostile to the idea of collaboration with the country. Right-wing politicians and Maharashtra political party Shiv Sena slammed Sharma and said, "Kapil Sharma is making a mockery of India's honour. He just wants to earn money and doesn't care about the country, we strongly condemn Sharma for performing during PSL".

In 2018, Kapil Sharma had an argument with journalist Vicky Lalwani of SpotboyE in a recorded telephone conversation, later leaked by Lalwani. Sharma used foul language and asked the journalist his reason for writing negative and biased articles about him (Sharma). After the conversation went viral on social media, Sharma filed a police complaint against Lalwani and his ex-managers Preeti Simoes and Neeti Simoes, for trying to extort INR 25 lakhs from him. He also alleged in a police complaint that both sisters used to take money from the people who arrived in Film City, Mumbai to see his show and orchestrated misunderstandings between him and fellow comedians of his show and arriving guests. Simoes condemned all of these allegations as false and made-up stories. Preeti Simoes also claimed she was Sharma's girlfriend for 8 years until his engagement. She and her sister Neeti Simoes worked in Kapil Sharma's production with him for eight years until 2017. She claimed trouble erupted between Preeti and Kapil after he announced his engagement with Ginni Chatrath in March 2017. Sharma also abused SpotboyE and its editor Vicky Lalwani through a series of tweets, which his employees tried to cover up by saying his account was hacked until Sharma later confessed the abusive tweets were written by himself. On 8 April 2018, SpotboyE filed a counter police report against Sharma for intimidation, abuse and threats.

On 23 January 2025, Kapil Sharma received death threats from Pakistan along with three other Bollywood celebrities.

List of shooting incidents

On 10 July 2025, a group opened fire on Sharma’s restaurant Kap's Café, located in Surrey in Canada's British Columbia province, that had opened three days ago, part of his "The Great Indian Kapil Sharma" chain. According to reports, an unidentified gunman, in a video recorded and later uploaded on social media, fired shots at the establishment. The bullets not only hit the cafe, but also nearby buildings, causing panic among locals, but no injuries.

Harjeet Singh Laddi, a Khalistani terrorist and member of the banned militant outfit, Babbar Khalsa International (BKI), claimed responsibility for the attack, linking it to ongoing tensions involving the Indian diaspora in Canada, but being prompted mostly by comments allegedly made by Sharma in the past. Laddi is wanted by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) for the murder of Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) leader Vikas Prabhakar alias Vikas Bagga, who was shot dead at his shop in the Rupnagar district of Punjab, India in April 2024. Laddi hails from Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar district in India's Punjab and is listed among India’s most wanted by the NIA.

The incident drew condemnation from Indian officials, who reiterated concerns over Sikh extremist activities targeting Indian businesses abroad. Sharma, who was not present during the shooting, issued a statement urging authorities to take action against such violence. Canadian police launched an investigation, though no arrests were immediately reported.

On 7 August 2025, at 4:40 a.m., shots were fired at Kap's Café for a second time. Police responded to a call around 4:40 a.m. of shots fired outside the Scott Road business.

On 15 October 2025, shots were fired at comedian Kapil Sharma's Kap's Café for the third time in the past four months. Gangsters Goldy Dhillon and Kuldeep Sidhu, both part of mob boss Lawrence Bishnoi's operations, claimed credit for the attack on social media.

Activism

Sharma is known for his efforts in promoting animal rights. He and the cast of Comedy Nights with Kapil appeared in a PETA campaign to promote the adoption of homeless cats and dogs. In July 2014, he adopted a homeless retired police dog from Mumbai. He has also campaigned to save tortured elephants across the country.

Sharma was nominated in 2014 for the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan by the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to spread awareness among the public for cleanliness and other hygiene-related social issues. For his contribution towards the mission through his show, he was invited to the Rashtrapati Bhavan by President Pranab Mukherjee in September 2015.

Filmography

Key

Denotes films that have not yet been released

Films

Year	Title	Role	Language	Notes	Ref.
2010	Bhavnao Ko Samjho	Thakur's son	Hindi	Special appearance
2015	ABCD 2	Himself
	Kis Kisko Pyaar Karoon	Kumar Shiv Ram Kishan Punj
2017	Firangi	Mangatram "Manga"		Also producer
2018	Son of Manjeet Singh	N/A	Punjabi	Special appearance; also producer
2020	It's My Life	Pyaare	Hindi	Filmed in 2007; Released after 13 years
2022	Zwigato	Manas Singh Mahto
2024	Crew	Arun Sethi		Special appearance
2025	Kis Kisko Pyaar Karoon 2	Mohan Sharma
2026	Dadi Ki Shaadi	Template:TableTBA		Filming

Television

List of television shows and roles

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref.
2006	Hasde Hasande Ravo	Contestant	Punjabi, Runner-Up
2007	The Great Indian Laughter Challenge (season 3)		Winner
2008	Chhote Miyan	Host
2008–2009	Laughter Knights	Contestant
2009	Ustaadon Ka Ustaad
	Hans Baliye
2010–2013	Comedy Circus		Winner
2010	Comedy Ka Daily Soap	Performer
2011	Star Ya Rockstar	Contestant	Runner-up
2013	Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa (season 6)	Host
2013–2016	Comedy Nights with Kapil	Host/performer	Also co-producer
2015	60th Filmfare Awards	Host
	Star Guild Awards
2016	22nd Star Screen Awards
	61st Filmfare Awards
2016–2023	The Kapil Sharma Show
2017	62nd Filmfare Awards
	Aadat Se Majboor	Himself	Guest
2018	Family Time With Kapil Sharma	Host
2020–2021	The Honey Bunny Show With Kapil Sharma	Himself
2022	Kapil Sharma: I'm Not Done Yet	Himself also producer
2024–present	The Great Indian Kapil Show	Host	also producer

Music videos

Year	Title	Singer(s)	Ref.
2023	Alone	Himself, Guru Randhawa

Awards and nominations

List of awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Work	Result	Ref.
2012	Indian Television Academy Awards	Best Actor – Comedy	Kahani Comedy Circus Ki	Won
2013			Comedy Nights with Kapil
		Funniest Serial – Comedy	Comedy Nights with Kapil
	CNN-IBN Indian of the Year	Entertainer of the Year	Kapil Sharma
	BIG Star Entertainment Awards	Most Entertaining Comedy Show	Comedy Nights with Kapil
2014	Star Guild Awards	Best Comedy Show
2015	Indian Television Academy Awards	Best Actor (Comedy)	Comedy Nights with Kapil
2019	Gold Awards	Best Comedy Show	The Kapil Sharma Show
	Indian Television Academy Awards	Best Comedy Show
2024	NDTV Indian of the Year	Global Entertainer of the Year	Kapil Sharma

See also

• History of stand-up comedy
• Comedy
• Humour
• Humor styles
• Humorist

External links

• Kapil Sharma on IMDb
• Kapil Sharma at Bollywood Hungama