Mumbai: Headlining some of the biggest shows, hosting awards and turning producer for his film was a "step-by-step" climb for Kapil Sharma, who plays the role of an underdog in his second movie.
Kapil has turned producer with "Firangi", which is directed by childhood friend, Rajiev Dhingra.
The film, he says, is not an in-your-face comedy like his debut "Kis Kisko Pyaar Karoon", which someone told him played like a "2-hour long episode of my show because I was in every scene!"
"Initially, there was no proper story. It was an idea which fascinated both of us. We wanted to set the film in a particular era. We gradually developed the story of an underdog."
Production is considered a risky proposition but Kapil says there was no pressure.
"Even when I didn't have money, I was content with what I had. Today, when I am a producer, I feel no pressure. In fact, as a producer I have spent more than what was required. We shot the film in five schedules and the process was smooth. There was nothing to stress about," he says.
The actor-comedian rose to fame after winning "The Great Indian Laughter Challenge" a decade ago. The win led to several others shows for him, finally landing him "Comedy Nights with Kapil".
"The journey (of ten years) was good. I climbed one step at a time. To do 'Laughter Challenge' was a huge task. There were artistes from all over India and even Pakistan! The response I got from there was so good, I gained more confidence and started doing more shows.
"But I used to play only characters on these shows and lacked confidence to be 'Kapil Sharma'. I thought let me be myself in 'Comedy Nights'. So I started interviewing celebrities wearing suits but keeping the humour intact... I am glad my journey happened this way," he says.
Not that Kapil's journey has been without ups and downs. One of the most formidable comedy duos on television, Kapil and Sunil Grover, had a fallout earlier this year in March, following which the latter quit the show.
While Sunil maintained silence over the incident, Kapil addressed it several times and also issued a public apology to his former co-star.
Kapil says he realised his love for comedy while doing theatre in Amritsar.
"In school, I used to sing a lot. In college, I first started with serious plays but took part in comedy skits in festivals. I loved when people enjoyed comedy and slowly started gravitating towards comedy because the reaction was instant."
The 36-year-old actor says he "found" his way once he won the third season of "Laughter Challenge" in 2007 and never imagined he would end up producing "Firangi".
The film is scheduled to be released on December 1.
