The first episode of The Kapil Sharma Show was a letdown; here's why

First things first. The first episode of The Kapil Sharma Show was more like an extended trailer of the show, rather than the actual picture. Quoting SRK  from the film Main Hoon Naa-Picture abhi baaki hai mere dost.

To make it clear, the premiere episode of the most-awaited show of the year, was actually the telecast of the live show in Delhi that also had Shah Rukh Khan. In the past few months, in an attempt to keep in touch with their fan base, Kapil Sharma and his team have been promoting their new show via live events in several cities such as Amritasar, Bhopal, Lucknow and Delhi. But, it would have been better if the Delhi live show was also treated as part of promotional tour and not the actual episode. Though Kapil announced at the outset that the actual show would begin from April 24 (today), there were certain expectations from the premiere episode. Unfortunately, Saturday's episode couldn't meet all of those.

Too many fans, so much chaos

The first episode was more about telling the whole world that they're still as popular, and that after their show was shut down on Colors, the excitement to see them hasn't waned. Hence, the stadium was full of die-hard fans of both Kapil Sharma and Shah Rukh Khan, which meant there was a lot of interaction with the crowd. While a young teenager fan of Kapil broke into tears (of joy) upon meeting her idol for the first time, SRK's fans swooned over him. It looked more like a competition between the two stars about who has more fans. There was so much chaos and no real gags to entertain.

We still don't know who's playing what

Though Kapil introduced the core cast-and Navjyot Singh Sidhu-to the audience, clarifying that Ali Asgar (who played Dadi) is indeed a man, there's still no clarity about who will play which character. Later, Ali Asgar appeared as a Begum, Kiku Sharda as a Nawab and Sunil Grover as a female cop. But whether this is any indication of the roles they'll play, we can't say.

Unimpressive jokes bored viewers, but SRK saved the day

Kapil did try to crack some Delhi jokes alright and CM Arvind Kejriwal featured pretty prominently in references, the rest of the jokes on typical Delhi-isms were harried and done to death. From the lame 'tote tadna' (checking out girls) to pulling Kejriwal's leg over his muffler and the Odd-Even plan, the gags lacked intensity and an edge. In fact, at one point Kapil's monologue got so difficult to bear that one was actually waiting for a commerical break (there was no ad break for the first 30 minutes). However, once SRK entered, there were some terrific entertainment moments. Sample this: Kapil: "SRK, Delhi mein aapka swaagat hai"; SRK: "Delhiwala main hoon, Delhi mein mera swaagat mat kar." And when Kapil wanted to shoot a selfie with SRK and asked how much he would charge, SRK retorted: "Tujhe abhi abhi pichchle show se nikala gaya hai, tere se paise kya loonga."

In fact, Ali Asgar and Sunil Grover along with SRK, saved the day. SRK wooing Asgar who was dressed as a Lakhnawi Begum with the Tere Aankhon Ki Namkeen Mastiyan dialogue from Jab Tak Hai Jaan, or him putting sindoor in Sunil Grover's maang--who was dressed as a female Haryanvi cop-were hilarious. Kiku Sharda as the Nawab was decent. Sumona Chakravarti and Chandan Prabhakar also appeared on stage for a brief while did not impress. Sidhu, who generally entertains with his one-liners and shero-shayari was not in his element. This is what he said he told his wife when they got married-"Tu mera mandir hai, main teri pooja; tu meri sherni hai, aur main tera chooza"

Tonight's episode-featuring Tiger Shroff and Shraddha Kapoor who will promote their upcoming film Baaghi--will prove to be the real test for Kapil Sharma and his fans. If we form any opinion on the show based on the first episode, it would be like judging a book by its cover. Let's wait for tonight instead.