Fans pay Rs 8,000 to watch Comedy Nights with Kapil live

Kapil Sharma was shocked to learn that some fans had paid Rs 1,000 to Rs 8,000 to certain "coordinators" to be part of the show. To avoid such a situation, he plans to make an announcement on the show, urging people to not make any such payments.

There’s no denying the popularity of Kapil Sharma’s show

. But when you hear that his fans don’t mind shelling out thousands to be part of his audience, you know it’s reached a whole new level.

Kapil, on his part, was shocked when he recently learnt that some members of his audience — that usually consists of friends and relatives of unit members — had paid amounts ranging from Rs 1,000 to Rs 8,000 to certain "coordinators" to be part of the show.

The news came out when the makers were shooting an episode with actors Jeetendra and Tusshar Kapoor. The show’s creative director, Preeti Simoes, explains, "We don’t have a paid audience…so (during the shoot) we were shocked when an NRI lady told a crew member that she had paid Rs 8,000 to be on the show, and that she would like to sit in the front row. When I asked her who she had paid, she said, 'A coordinator'."

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After Preeti informed

of this development, he stalled the shoot and asked the audience members whether they have indeed been paying money to be on the show. "Shockingly, over 15 to 20 people claimed to have paid amounts ranging from Rs 1,000 to Rs 8,000. After questioning them, we learnt some security guys and freelance coordinators were at fault, as our show doesn’t have official audience coordinators," Simoes says.

To avoid such a situation in the future, Kapil now plans to make an announcement on the show, urging people to not make any such payments.

Although he remained unavailable for comment, on Twitter, he posted a related message, saying, "If anybody ask you for money to attend d live shoot of comedy nights..he is a fraud.. Its a free entry fr fans..1/2 v invite randomly via twitter n facebook.. anyone caught buying or selling passes.. Will face legal action…. (sic)"