Krushna Abhishek and Kapil Sharma
Krushna Abhishek and Kapil SharmaInstagram

 While Kapil Sharma's "Comedy Nights with Kapil" (CNWK) has been replaced by Krushna Abhishek's "Comedy Nights Live", the latter said that Kapil just ran away as he felt insecure.
In an interview with Spotboye, Krushna said that Kapil was upset that big stars started appearing on "Comedy Nights Bachao" (CNB) as well and criticised him for leaving Colors TV.

 "Kapil had a problem when big stars started coming to my show (Comedy Nights Bachao) as well. He shouldn't have left Colors, who made him into a big brand. He forgot that when Shah Rukh visited his show for the first time, it was due to Colors and not him. Why couldn't he have had a healthy competition with me? Why did he run away? Why did he feel so insecure? He is such a talented artiste. I thought he will fight back," said the "Comedy Nights Live" host.

 Talking about Kapil reaching his flashpoint, Krushna said, "I think it happened when SRK came to my show. It would have been better if Kapil had concentrated on bettering his content, it had become monotonous."

 The stand-up comedian further said that he and Kapil are not in good terms now and he is happy that Kapil has quit the show. "Who toh maidan chhod ke chala gaya (He left the field). I can eat the entire cake now," he added. Well, looks like Kapil and Krushna's reported rivalry has just got more evident. The first episode of "Comedy Nights Live" will be aired on 31 January on Colors at the same time that "Comedy Nights with Kapil" used to be aired and it will be hosted by Krushna.
                                                                                                                                                  

Why 'Comedy Nights Live' can never be pitted against 'Comedy Nights with Kapil'



While the viewers are open to new shows, new artists, new concepts – all to ensure they get a dedicated slot where they can laugh non-stop, ‘Comedy Nights Live’ came across as a failed recreation of ‘Comedy Nights with Kapil’.
Actor Krushna Abhishek's ‘Comedy Nights Live’ that bragged about offering better gaffes and new experience failed to deliver what they had promised. While the viewers are open to new shows, new artists, new concepts – all to ensure they get a dedicated slot where they can laugh non-stop, ‘Comedy Nights Live’ came across as a failed recreation of ‘Comedy Nights with Kapil’.
As any ardent fan of Kapil Sharma’s popular show, I too had mixed feelings as I sat down to watch the first episode of ‘Comedy Nights Live’. Obviously, my expectations were new and I wanted to be surprised. The show opened with Mika Singh crooning ‘Aaj ki party meri taraf se..’ and soon something unexpected happened. Mika replaced Navjot Singh SIddhu with his ultimate swag and asked the guests to say, ‘Thoko taali’ (Siddhu’s favourite dialogue). Sad!


CNL-2And then Krushna’s opening act as Pappu Singh was just the preview of what the show had in store for the viewers. “Aakhir mai iss ghar mei aa hi gaya; kisi ka ghar bik gaya aur tumhe dance ki padi hai,” Krushna said as he tried to replace Bittoo Sharma.

As the show progressed, clarifications in the form of japes started pouring in. Like he said, if you find Rs 100 note on the road you don’t ask ‘kiska hai’, you just take it. “Kya humne kuch galat kiya?” Point noted. With Krushna’s digs at Kapil and constant attempt at nagging about show’s TRP, humour took a backseat. Dialogues such as “Superhit show jawan ladki ki tarah hota hai, tumne chhoda doosra pakad hi leta hai” and “Aaj ke show ki TRP aane waali hai, jo log ye ghar chhod ke gaye hai wo sab baithke dekhenge” couldn’t succeed at impressing anyone.

CNL
Next Madhuri Dixit turned up as the first guest of the show. Even as the jokes started flooding in, humour lost its authenticity. And before we could laugh at the any of the jokes made, Krushna/Bharti would make references to Kapil. From his favourite punchline ‘Baba ji ka thullu’ to Bharti roped in as his daughter and Krushna’s remarks such as “Acche log kaha tik paate hai” and “puraana waala” - the show’s first episode was all about Kapil. At one moment, we almost lost the count of the mentions made and actually started missing him.

 And then the worst happened. Kapil’s mimicry! Another TRP strategy? Or another jab at Kapil? While that remains to be answered, we definitely know who had the last laugh after watching the show.
kapil-123
We don’t doubt ‘Comedy Nights Live’ team’s potential but honestly the viewers are bored of this done-to-death idea. Since television is one of the most powerful mediums - why don’t we make a good use of it and give this platform to stand-up comedians who not only have something new to offer but actually do justice to the term ‘comedy’? After all, our country has no dearth of brilliant performers. If given the right platform, all of them would make the right impact. 

                                                                                                                                                  

Old wine in old bottle: Krushna and Bharti fail to pull off Comedy Nights Live

Call me biased if you want, but the premiere episode of Comedy Nights Live scored a zero. First things first; the new version of Comedy Nights With Kapil is stale on concept and poor on performances. Plus, Mika Singh in place of Navjot Singh Sidhu! What were the producers thinking? 

 Not that I was too hopeful that the new version featuring comedians Krushna Abhishek and Bharti Singh would win over the audience instantly, but what was served last night can be called below average. Given the fact that Krushna has taken a colossal risk by stepping into the shoes of Kapil Sharma, he should have been better prepared for the first episode. As the new tenant of the house, Pappu Singh, Krushna had nothing new to offer--the same brand of humour, the same drag act and the same dance moves--nothing we haven't seen earlier.

 Bharti Singh as Kapil Sharma's son Chintu Sharma was nothing more than the male version of 'Lalli', the character of a little girl which made her famous. After watching Bharti play Lalli in her first show Laughter Challenge, Comedy Circus, Comedy Nights Bachao, India's Got Talent, multiple stage shows and award functions, it really wasn't entertaining on Comedy Nights Live. Moreover, even to get a handful of punches right, they invoked Bittoo Sharma and his family throughout the episode.

 While Bharti and Krushna grabbed the maximum screen time, two other characters were nothing to write home about. Pappu Singh's father played by Sudesh Lahiri and 'padosan' Mangla Mafatlal played by Siddharth Sagar. Incidentally, Siddharth plays a woman in Comedy Classes too.

As for Sudesh playing an old man high on hormones, he is no patch on Chaddhaji played by Chandan Prabhakar in Kapil's show. Siddharth as the irritating padosan was actually irritating, not funny.

 Even the star guest Madhuri Dixit looked rather uninterested in the proceedings but she had no choice but to fake her laughter. At one point in time she looked rather uncomfortable with Krushna's caricature of her Bollywood dance guru Saroj Khan. She went on to mention that she wonders what Saroj Khan must be thinking if she was watching the show.

In all, the new version of Comedy Nights is pretty stale. With the same faces, the same jokes and the same puns, watching Comedy Nights Live on Sunday is no different from watching Comedy Nights Bachao on Saturday. The least we expected was new segments, new sets, new circumstances and new jokes.

 The very fact that Bittoo Sharma was present in almost all the jokes clearly indicates that Colors knows it has played a huge gamble and it won't be easy to pull it off. However, they should have been better prepared for it.