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Actor-comedian Kiku Sharda appeals to people to stay at home amid lockdown 3.0
Kiku Sharda says that India is fighting a war, and the least we can do is follow the guidelines and stay at home during the coronavirus lockdown.
In India’s fight against coronavirus pandemic, the lockdown has been extended and actor-comedian Kiku Sharda has urged people to stay at home to stop the spread of the virus. He, along with his family, had participated in the #ThaaliBajaao event to thank the medical staff and other frontline workers. “It is almost like a war, and all you are asked of is to stay home. You can be a warrior by sitting at home. It is a very small thing to do and it would be wrong if you can’t even do this. You are not just risking your life, but also putting others at risk by going out,” he appeals. It was earlier speculated that The Kapil Sharma Show, of which Sharda is a part, would be recorded from Kapil Sharma’s house, but he dismissed the reports. With production coming to a halt, he urges people to obey guidelines so that we can solve the crisis at the earliest.
A fixture on primetime Indian television for almost two decades, be it on stand-up shows or fiction series, Sharda has seen the scene change dramatically. “Earlier, there was only Doordarshan and the scope was limited. As far as stand-up comedy is concerned, it’s something which didn’t exist with us for the longest time. The stand-up culture has spread and shows like The Great Indian Laughter Challenge (2005) opened the doors for Hindi comics. It’s great to see the market open up so much,” he says.
As far as genres go, Sharda says the only difference is the presence, or absence of an audience. “I have enjoyed all mediums; in fiction you are performing in front of a camera, there is no live audience. In a live show, the reaction to our jokes is instant. You know immediately whether the joke is working or not,” says Sharda, noted for his roles on TV shows like FIR and Akbar Birbal.
With content shifting on digital platforms, Sharda only hopes that these different worlds merge. “Web will have space for comedy just as films and TV. The interesting thing is that the audience [for web] is different. It is yet to be seen ki TV aur web ki duniya ek kab hogi; the content for web is smarter and sharper. Everything is changing and comedy has its own place,” he observes.
Read: Kiku Sharda: It’s nostalgic to see my old shows back on TV during this lockdown
Be it taking jokes on himself or coming up with perfectly-timed comebacks, Sharda has perfected his craft. No wonder that the producers trust him with multiple characters in television skits and live shows. But the actor himself is not very tech-savvy and refrains from posting videos on his social media. “Many people have made videos and dubbings of Baccha Yadav (one of his characters) jokes, but I am not very excited to do that. I put a lot of effort in my characters and I like to see that on the show and don’t want multiple mediums for those characters. I am not very tech-savvy either; if I have ever done something of this sort, it’s with my son,” he say.
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