Story: One of the most sought after comedians on TV, Kapil Sharma is out with his web debut on Netflix called ‘I’m Not Done Yet’.
Review: Through his first solo stand-up special in over a decade, Kapil narrates his personal and financial struggles, battle with depression and alcoholism, Twitter fiasco and professional failures. Barring a hilarious Covid joke right in the beginning; Kapil stays away from that brand of humor throughout. Stepping out of his comfort zone, he even sings in English in the end. You wonder if it’s an attempt to please the English speaking OTT crowd who might consider themselves elitist and not subscribe to his idea of humour. Whatever the reason, Kapil doesn’t seem in his element. He views the Netflix opportunity as more of an emotional self-help exercise that also manages to make you smile on the side. Comedy isn’t the priority here so if you are in the mood to laugh out loud, switch to his ‘The Kapil Sharma Show’ instead.
The act that goes on for around 50 minutes, shows us a side of Kapil that’s yet to get over his father’s loss and his own lost 20s. The narration is a concoction of bittersweet memories. The loss of his supportive father to cancer also ended Kapil’s chance at being a carefree youngster. Like most middle class families, their 20s was riddled with meeting financial responsibilities. You wonder if the comedian allows himself to let loose in his late 30s. It is perhaps an attempt to rewind the clock a bit and live it up a little now that money isnt the issue. His father didn’t have much but never failed to stand by his son and his thoughts on his father leave you teary-eyed.
While the mood is more emotional than funny, it never exudes self-pity. Life struggles are narrated light-heartedly and mental health gets prominence. Kapil’s conversation with his therapist, acceptance of depression, drunken rant on Twitter and jibes at PM Narendra Modi and political bots on social media, form other highlights of the act. He recalling a failed performance at an IPL (Mumbai Indians) event, where none of his punches worked, is perhaps the most interesting anecdote of the lot.
Though emotionally satiating, one expects Kapil’s stand-up special to be funny and this does not live up to its name. Kapil, who thrives on interactive spontaneous humour, seems constricted with the change of setting. You feel like you have gate-crashed a family get-together instead of being an audience to a celebrated comic.
Kapil is Not Done Yet for sure because he can do better than this.
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