Kapil Sharma: I'm Not Done Yet

Kapil Sharma takes the stage, greeting the audience and commenting on safety precautions and COVID-19 tests. He explains his transition to Netflix, recounting that friends asked why he would move from television when his work there was going well. He answered, "Because I feel I'm not done yet!" He recalls repeating the phrase in front of a mirror at home, prompting his wife to throw a pillow and ask, latestnetflix.com contends, "What do you mean by 'I'm not done yet'?"

Reflecting on his background, Sharma speaks about growing up in 1981 watching Doordarshan and *Krishi Darshan*, his limited grasp of English, and watching subtitled English movies twice. He pivots to a period when his smile disappeared and he experienced depression, noting that articles circulated reporting, "Kapil Sharma is in depression" and "He's done, he's finished…"

During this period, Sharma locked himself in his room with his dog, Zanjeer, drinking alcohol at night and watching the show *Narcos*. He describes speaking to friends who dismissed mental illness, before locating a therapist. When she asked what was wrong, he replied, "Ma'am, I don't feel like doing anything." She remarked that he made the world laugh, leading him to state that he was not enjoying sitting across from her either.

Addressing his late-night habits, Sharma recounts the loneliness of returning to an empty home after public appearances. One evening, after drinking and arguing with his cook about eggplant, he posted a late-night message on Twitter addressed directly to the Prime Minister: "ARE THESE YOUR GOOD DAYS? @NARENDRAMODI".

In the morning, Sharma saw OB vans parked outside his building and mistook them for fire trucks. When he asked his cook what had happened, the cook answered, "It's your doing. You set Twitter on fire last night." Sharma left for the Maldives, requesting a hotel room without internet access, and stayed for eight or nine days at an expense of nine lakh rupees.

Sharma recalls his childhood in Amritsar, where he grew up as the son of a police officer and endured physical discipline at a boys' school. Unable to study music in college because the institution did not offer it as a subject, he turned to theatre, winning prizes while failing his first year.

After graduation, Sharma travelled to Mumbai with 1,200 rupees hidden in his underwear. Alongside friends, he encountered *poha* and high-rise elevators, drank toddy, and stood on Juhu beach hoping to encounter film directors. After three months with no money left, he returned to Amritsar anticipating humiliation from his family and neighbors.

Instead of an angry confrontation, his father stocked the refrigerator with beer and invited Sharma's friends over to drink. Sharma drank alongside his father for the first time. Shortly thereafter, his father was diagnosed with cancer and passed away, leaving Sharma with responsibilities regarding his sister's marriage and securing a house.

Sharma describes courting his college classmate Ginni while riding a second-hand scooter. One evening, after drinking Officer's Choice, he telephoned her and asked, "Do you love me?" In the auditorium, Ginni speaks into a microphone, stating, "Let me do some charity for this poor guy."

He recounts working as a backup singer for Amrinder Gill, singing vocal fillers such as "aye haye" and "I'm dying!" At an early wedding gig where the headliner was delayed, armed hosts locked the room, with the village host telling him, "Son, I can shoot you if I wished to." The hosts released them once the singer arrived, after which celebratory gunfire drove Sharma to take cover behind a loudspeaker.

In 2007, Sharma joined *The Great Indian Laughter Challenge* in Mumbai. He won the competition and received a ten-lakh-rupee check, from which 310,000 rupees were deducted for taxes. Following his victory, cricketer Harbhajan Singh invited him to perform for the Mumbai Indians team, where Sharma's jokes failed to connect with an audience that included Nita Ambani and Sachin Tendulkar.

After launching *Comedy Nights*, Sharma achieved wider recognition. Late one night, while showing his visiting cousin Shah Rukh Khan's house, he drove through the open gates, entered the residence in shorts and shoes while chewing *paan*, and found himself invited inside to dance with Khan, who asked him, "If my bedroom door is open, would you enter there too?"

On his therapist's advice to take a break, Sharma travelled to Amsterdam. While feeding ducks, he spoke with a British bystander who verified his identity through an Indian friend living in the United States; the friend texted back, "He just fucked up his show, he's done."

Returning home, Sharma restarted his career, married Ginni, and had a daughter, Anayra. He presents photographs to the audience, including an image discovered after his father's death that revealed his father had performed in theatre as a young man.

To conclude the performance, Sharma dedicates an English song to his late father, singing about working, staying composed, and honoring his father's memory with the refrain, "And I'm not done yet, yaara / I'm just a star / But you are my brightest Sitaara".