Kapil Sharma, who rose to superstardom with his comedy shows was ranked by Forbes as 11th and 18th in India's top 100 celebrity list in 2016 and 2017 respectively. He was in the top 10 celebrity advance tax list in India in 2017, having paid 23.9 crores as advance tax in 2017.
The 37-year-old won 'The Great Indian Laughter Challenge' in 2007 and from then on, there was no looking back for him. In 2013 he launched his own show 'Comedy with Kapil' on Colors TV which catapulted him to superstardom.
Then came 'The Kapil Sharma show' in 2016 on Sony TV. Over the years he has interviewed a host of celebrities from the world of entertainment and sports on his show, making him the highest-earning television star in India in 2017.
But things started turning for the popular comedian when it was reported in April 2017 that he had a mid-air brawl with his co-actor, Sunil Grover, who played the popular characters of Gutthi and Dr Mashoor Gulathi among others on 'Comedy Nights with Kapil' and 'The Kapil Sharma Show'. Subsequently, other actors from the show also left. 'The Kapil Sharma show' went off-air in August 2017, and in March 2018 his show 'Family Time with Kapil Sharma' aired on Sony TV - but even that show is currently off-air.
There has been widespread speculation in the Indian media over his health. SBS Hindi spoke to Delhi- based entertainment journalist Arnab Banerjee to know whether Kapil Sharma can ever achieve the same level of fame as he did before his slide began?
Arnab Banerjee told SBS Hindi that is speculated that allegedly Kapil Sharma got carried away with his success. "It is often seen that when an actor or an anchor of any show, if he starts thinking that he is above all, and this has happened before with other actors as well not just in India but even abroad, then problems start arising"
He said that while he cannot comment on Kapil Sharma's health, he has heard this about several people that "when they get into a controversy, it is often said that they are unwell".
Arnab Banerjee adds "Kapil Sharma was present at the right place at the right time. The second thing is that he is gifted, there is no doubt about that. Since he is from a small town he picks up issues of small towns very well because his language, his entire lingo connects with the common man whether he is in Mumbai or from UP or from any other state"
Kapil Sharma has received some support on Twitter but what's your take?
