The cold war between two comic stars Sunil Grover and Shilpe Shinde intensifies as Ms Shinde, in a conversation with me, lashes out at Grover for trying to hog the limelight. “He is such a popular and fine comedian. But a very poor team player. He tries to take over the show. That’s not how comedy works, comedy is a matter of give and take. Sunilji cares about no co-artiste.He has only three concerns while shooting: I , me and myself. As far as he is concerned, the rest of the team is irrelevant. Why would I want to work with someone so self-obsessed?”
Shilpa says she had refused the show initially when she heard Sunil Grover was part of it. “When the producers approached me I told them I’d be no part of any show featuring Sunilji. You see, I have experienced his selfish work ethics. We did a live comedy show for the OTT platform Dan Dana Dan in 2018. There I got my first experience of Sunilji’s mode of working. He would take over all the gags and jokes and the rest of us would be left looking like junior artistes, Why would I want to work with him again?”
So why did she say yes to Gangs Of Filmistaan? “Because the producers told me I wouldn’t have to shoot with Sunil Grover. They lied to me. When I reached the sets there was only Grover everywhere. All of us became incidental. It was The Sunil Grover all the way. This is not what one expects from someone of his experience. He needs to learn some lessons in grace, dignity and team spirit.”
In contrast Shilpa says Kapil Sharma plays the game in the true team spirit. “Everyone on the Kapil Sharma Show is given a voice. Kapil gives every artiste space and respect. That’s why is he is Kapil Sharma.”
Shilpa was also alarmed at the post-Covid rules being floated on the sets of Gangs Of Filmistaan. “They were shooting unearthly hours. And when they brought on board two new writers one of them tested for Covid19. It was not what I’d call a very pleasant experience. I wouldn’t want to go through it again.”
