In my review of The Great Indian Kapil Show’s first episode, I defended its stale humour by calling it a community experience —you know, the one you could watch with friends and family, and their laughter makes the mindless puns and cringe moments seem bearable. Well, after diving into every episode of Season 1 and writing about it weekly, let’s just say I’m eating my own words. There was considerable buzz around Kapil Sharma bringing his “gharelu” desi humour to Netflix’s young and ‘woke’ audience, who routinely crack up at jokes by Dave Chapelle, Trevor Noah, Vir Das, and Ali Wong on the same platform. But after surviving Season 1, it hit me like a poorly timed punchline—this isn’t about the platform at all. It’s about the content, which often landed as flat as a WhatsApp joke shared by the neighbourhood uncle.
Now, don’t get me wrong, Season 1 did have its moments. Episodes featuring the Amar Singh Chamkila cast, women athletes, Ed Sheeran, and the Grand Finale showcased glimpses of the writers’ potential. But those flashes of brilliance weren’t enough to keep up with the expectations of the show’s fans, let alone bring in hordes of new, die-hard fans. Despite the efforts of the talented cast—Kiku Sharma, Krushna Abhishek, Sunil Grover, and even Archana Puran Singh, who amplified the weakest jokes with the loudest laughter — the show was handicapped by stale writing and tired humour.
While I was getting over the mediocrity of Season 1, the comedians announced their comeback in Season 2. However, before diving into the new season, here are the shortcomings of Kapil’s debut on Netflix that need to be addressed:
Weak writing and forgettable characters
Weak writing was the most glaring shortcomings of Season 1 of The Great Indian Kapil Show. It failed to give any of its characters the spunk and charm that had made the comedians famous in the previous Kapil Sharma’s shows. For example, Sunil Grover’s character ‘Dufli,’ an alter-ego of ‘Gutthi,’ appeared briefly but was soon forgotten. His new character, Engineer Chambak Mittal, made recurrent appearances but lacked the charisma of his iconic role as Dr. Gulati. Even Krushna Abhishek’s character of a desperate air hostess and Kiku Sharda’s Chef Dhaniya Lal did not stick.
Recycled content devoid of innovation
Despite bringing in new characters, the show’s writing kept going back to the old ways. Many segments of the show involved poking fun at fellow cast members like Rajiv Thakur being inconsequential, Kiku Sharda’s physique, Archana Puran Singh’s boisterous nature, and the infamous spat between Sunil Grover and Kapil Sharma. However, recognizing its global reach, the show toned down on sexist and condescending humour that was once a hallmark of Kapil’s shows. Yet, cringe remained a persistent feature in Season 1 as well, with episodes frequently featuring Sunil Grover and Krushna Abhishek cross-dressing and flirting with male guests and leaving the audience with second-hand embarrassment.
Remember the good old days when Kapil Sharma kicked off every episode with his sharp wit and humour in those stand-up routines? They were like the appetizer that set the comedic feast on fire in shows like The Kapil Sharma Show and Comedy Nights With Kapil. But in the new season of The Great Indian Kapil Show, it’s as if Kapil decided to let others handle the funny stuff and focused more on the talk-show side of things. It feels like the show’s creators dialed up the quirky characters and crazy situations, but forgot to give solid writing its due. Now we’ve got these outlandish, gimmicky characters running amok, while the real star of the show—good writing—seems to have taken a holiday.
Editing woes plagued Season 1
Editing issues plagued Season 1 from the word go. Initially, episodes felt overly condensed, a misstep the makers attempted to correct in later episodes. However, due to the short episode length, sketches often felt rushed and lacked adequate setup. This led to several half-baked sketches that were abruptly cut short.
Reserved celebrities
Navigating reserved stars is a real tightrope for Kapil Sharma’s show. As Karan Johar said in a recent interview with Sucharita Tyagi, “People are scared to open up. They don’t say things like they used to,” lamenting the challenge of getting celebs to dish out the juicy details. Kapil, too, must feel the
