Review: Kapil Sharma's I'm Not Done Yet Has Some Sparks, But is Largely Unfunny

After creating a huge fan base with his TV shows, Comedy Nights With Kapil and The Kapil Sharma Show, the comedian has ventured into the digital space (Netflix) with his first comedy special, I’m Not Done Yet. The trailer prepares us - Sharma, in his trademark style, will open his heart out by regaling the audience with stories from his life. Till now, we’ve seen Sharma interact with celebrities and crack jokes about their lives, but now the camera is on him. Does he succeed in holding our attention for the one odd hour?

The sparks are definitely there. For instance, Sharma scores a point by refreshing our memory about his tweet to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Taking a dig at ‘acche din’, Sharma had spoken about how he had to pay a hefty bribe to set up his office despite religiously paying taxes over the years. He gives us a little background about how drunk he was when he wrote the tweet, and the abuses that followed. “If you have to settle something, do it at night because my ideology would have changed by morning” - a smart remark about the state of affairs in the country, and one that left the audience in splits.

Witty references to the Prime Minister are sprinkled throughout the show. Sharma recalls the 2014 elections, when Narendra Modi had spoken about him while joking about Rahul Gandhi’s humour. That reminds us of a clip that was doing the rounds on Twitter a while back, where Sharma suppresses a laugh while talking to Akshay Kumar about his interview with the Prime Minister. The comedian earned praise on social media, and he should be lauded here too.

Most of the special is about Sharma dwelling on his struggles, trying to come to terms with his father’s death, meeting Ginni in college and marrying her, his first trip to Mumbai, his failures and the eventual success.

Some of the stories are indeed amusing - his astonishment at being offered poha as a full meal, getting a job as a background singer for Amrinder Gill and blowing his performance for the Mumbai Indians.

The rest of the jokes don’t land. Most stand-up specials sound like a broken tape-recorder while speaking about the issues plaguing our country, and this one is no exception. In talking about how woefully unaware we are about depression, Sharma digs up all the stereotypes that most are fighting to bury.

Secondly, the snobbish attitude that people throw at those struggling with English. Sharma says, “My relationship with English is similar to the one a husband has with his wife. She is lovely, but very difficult to understand”. Do we really need this? Do we always have to laugh at the pronunciations of our drivers and domestic help? Sure, Kapil Sharma himself admitted that he is not very comfortable with the language, but that doesn’t absolve him of the jokes he is cracking at others’ expenses.

I’m Not Done Yet is personal, but Sharma should have delved a bit deeper and chosen some more anecdotes that we haven’t heard before. He speaks in detail about how he had gatecrashed one of Shah Rukh Khan’s parties, only to be taken aback by the superstar’s behaviour. The tale has become too stale.

There’s always a fear of comedy specials becoming preachy, and Sharma’s walks into that trap as it progresses. The hearty laughs turn into forced smiles, and when Sharma breaks into a cringeworthy song in the end, you start counting the minutes. It’s a special skill to criticise the society around you without fat-shaming or punching down, and Kapil Sharma isn’t done yet - he still has a long way to go.

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