Comedian Kapil Sharma’s ugly spat with co-star Sunil Grover happened after Kapil abused his crew for starting to eat in the flight while he was still drinking.
Amid speculation about what happened between Kapil Sharma and Sunil Grover, here’s the blow-by-blow account of why the spat broke out, as told by an eye-witness.
Wishing to stay anonymous, the source who was on-board the 12-hour flight told us that Kapil had consumed an entire bottle of Glenfiddich whisky, and was visibly drunk. When the food was being served by the cabin crew, his team (the crew and cast of Kapil’s TV show, The Kapil Sharma Show, who had gone to Australia for a show) started to eat. This angered Kapil, who was still finishing his drink.
“Jab maine khaana shuru nahi kiya toh tum logo ne kaise le liya khaana?” he shouted, well within the ear shot of co-passengers. The eye-witness reveals that Kapil’s co-stars looked so startled that they started returning their half-finished food trays to the crew. At this point, Sunil Grover tried to calm Kapil down, who then started yelling at him.
“Kapil got up, took off his shoe, and hit Sunil,” says the source, adding, “He also pulled Sunil’s collar, and repeatedly slapped him.”
In the scuffle that broke out in the aisle, a female crew member of Kapil’s also got hit. “Grover tried to keep his calm and was trying to tell Kapil to not create a scene.
By this time, Kapil’s abuses were so loud that he could be heard also where the economy class passengers were sitting. When the cabin crew asked Kapil’s team to calm him down, they refused and said they were scared.
Kapil shouted at his team and said, “Tum logon ko maine banaya hai. Sabka career khatam kar dunga. Tum TV waale kya samajhte ho? Sabko nikaal dunga main,” says the source.
To Sunil Grover, he kept repeating, “Gaya tha na tu toh. Aaya na waapas mere hi paas” (in reference to Sunil quitting Kapil’s show, Comedy Nights with Kapil, earlier to start his own on a rival channel, and later returning to the show after failing to get enough TRPs) .
By this time, most passengers were rattled and several of them enquired from the crew if any emergency measure could be taken to diffuse the situation. “While yelling, Kapil also kept loudly abusing in Punjabi.
At some point, the cabin crew told Kapil that they would have to call security on landing, if he didn’t stop. He, however, kept repeating, “Arrey yeh log samajhte kya hai. In sab ka career meri wajah se hai,” says the source.
Interestingly, before the news of the fight hit headlines, Kapil Sharma made a sudden announcement on Twitter about his girlfriend Ginni (who he plans to marry next year), and that’s now being seen as a preventive measure to deflect negative attention. But the word got out and both Kapil and Sunil ended up tweeting about the incident.
At the time this story was filed, Sunil Grover had missed two days of shoot of the show, amid speculation that he has quit The Kapil Sharma Show, in protest. Co-actors Ali Asgar and Chandan Prabhakar also did not report for shoot, in an apparent solidarity with Grover.
WILL SUNIL GROVER QUIT THE KAPIL SHARMA SHOW? HERE’S WHAT HE HAS DECIDED TO DO
Speaking to The Times of India, the comedian said that “I can’t talk about it right now. I will need few days time only then I can talk about it.”
On March 21, Grover, in a long Twitter message spoke about the incident, saying that Sharma shouldn’t “act like God.”
This was in response to a message tweeted by Sharma a day prior, in which he seemingly apologised for his behaviour. “I love him.. I respect him.. yes I had an argument with him but are we not normal people..?I shouted at him first time in 5 years,” he wrote.
When asked about the reports of other actors like Chandan Prabhakar, Ali Asgar and Kiku Sharda also boycotting the show, Grover told TOI: “I don’t know who has quit and who is still part of the show. I have no idea about it.”
On March 20, it was reported that Kapil Sharma and Sunil Grover got into an heated altercation on a flight. An inebriated Sharma was said to have hurled abuses and physically assaulted his co-star on the flight.
