Tuesday, 8th July 2014, 05:30 PM IST

There was a lot of speculation as to why comedian Kapil Sharma exited his feature film debut‘Bank Chor’. Recently, it was revealed that the comedian was forced into a corner by the channel which airs the show ‘Comedy Nights With Kapil’ and this was the reason he discontinued his plans to do the movie.

 

"Kapil was very clear that the only way he could accommodate a movie offer into his television commitments was if the channel agreed to convert the show from a bi-weekly to a weekly. In their defence, the channel was also very clear on their part that they were not agreeable to cutting Kapil's show down by half,under any circumstance," says a source.

 

About a month back, the channel informed Kapil that they would introduce a new show on a week-night to supplement Kapil’s show if he wanted the bi-weekly to be turned into a weekly.

 

"There was tremendous tension between Kapil and the channel, with Kapil contemplating pulling out of the show completely if another comedy show was brought in,"says the source.

 

There was already tension between Kapil and the channel due to the issue of late telecast of episodes from the show. The show, which was earlier slotted for 10 pm was pushed by as much as 30-35 minutes to accommodate shows like ‘Jhalak DikhlaaJaa’ and ‘Fear Factor’.

 

"Kapil was understandably peeved by the delay in telecast. When Kapil brought these delays to the Channel's notice, nothing was done to control the scheduled timing for ‘Comedy Nights With Kapil’. On top of that came the channel's decision to bring in another comedy show to supplement Kapil's show if he reduced its air-time by half. Relations between Kapil and the channel worsened," says the source.

 

The channel's CEO Raj Nayak had to eventually intervene to sort out the differences between Kapil and the channel.   

 

"It's fine now. But Kapil cannot run off to do a film at the cost of his television show.He cannot cut down on the show's frequency. And if he can't take time off from ‘Comedy Nights With Kapil’ he can't do his film right now,"informs the source. 

 

Kapil says that the show is his priority. "And my mother. She is here with me in Mumbai because I couldn't go to Punjab to be with her. I have to leave for London soon, so I am rushing through my episodes of ‘Comedy Nights’. Mom is here but I've no time for her. In the morning I get to speak to her for two minutes before I rush off. By the time I return home she's asleep."