Shilpa Shinde: Sunil Grover tried to take  over the entire show

The cold war between two comic stars Sunil Grover and Shilpa 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 the 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 he is Kapil Sharma.”

Shilpa was also alarmed at the post-Covid rules being flouted  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.”