Sunil Grover’s Mad In India shuts shop; is Kapil Sharma smiling?

Sunil Grover, hitherto a regular stand-up comedian, shot to immense fame playing the obnoxious frothing, frowning and giggling lady character Gutthi in Comedy Nights with Kapil, airing on Colors.

The character Gutthi became larger than life, which as per source information and media reports pumped Sunil’s ego who by then had already given wind and wings to his ambitions.

His decision to move out of the show that made him a household name came as a shocker to many. It was we who first wrote about it, then the world followed up.

So what did Sunil do after exiting Comedy Nights? Well, he went on to spearhead his own show on rival channel Star Plus, Mad In India.

Thus, became the game of comparisons. Who’s better Comedy or Mad? Sunil or Kapil?

Yes, Sunil did come as a threat to the channel and the makers of Comedy (K9 and SOL), or else why would they resort to legal means against
Sunil. Colors made all efforts to stop Sunil from using or mimicking the Gutthi avatar in other platforms. After all, it was their creation and it was close to their heart.

But a resilient Sunil went on with his plans and started entertaining viewers as Chutki, a character very similar to Gutthi, on Mad In India.

Yes, people did switch on to Star Plus to check out Sunil’s act. But alas, soon they had to reach for their remote to find comic solace in some other offering, in some other channel.

Mad In India tanked. The show initially looked like a big circus on stage, with a script that was more horrendous than hilarious. With low TRPs, the channel creatives made frantic conceptual changes. Manish Paul was sent out thus bringing in Chunkey Pandey and Krushna Abhishek. Chutki aka Sunil was seen more on screen, making desperate attempts to connect with the masses.

But nothing worked. The series which was meant to air 26 episodes is set to wrap up after airing13 episodes. Three more episodes to go before it breathes its last on 4 May (2014).

With Sunil’s show shutting shop, is his professional rival Kapil having a hearty laugh? It’s true Kapil has always maintained that he has no bones against Sunil, but on and off on the sets of Comedy, creatives have been heard discussing the progression of Sunil’s show, which is quite natural as competitors. With Mad In India gone, Kapil will surely breathe easy and thump his authority more in the comic genre.

So why did Sunil fail? It could be a creative miss but what could have also choked Sunil and his intelligence was the burden to outperform Kapil and his histrionics.

Comedy and any form of art should flow like a cascade, serenading the senses of the viewers. Anything under pressure, that too negative, could prove to be fatal.
There are reports that Sunil might return to Comedy Nights. If at all that happens, it would be a visual treat for viewers. Now it would depend on Sunil and Kapil looking at the larger picture, letting go minor differences and connecting creatively to gift viewers a comic orgasm, together.

We texted Sunil to learn about his future plans but he kept busy shooting.

Kapil as usual remained out of reach.