Delhi Based Stand Up Comedian Accuses The Kapil Sharma Show of Plagiarising His Joke

Looks like more trouble is brewing for the people involved with The Kapil Sharma Show. After the unfortunate exit of its popular actors, Sunil Grover and Ali Asgar, from the show, it is again in the limelight due to another controversy. A Delhi- based stand-up comedian Abijit Ganguly has accused the show of plagiarising his joke. On Monday, Ganguly, a well-known stand-up comic in the Delhi circuit, posted a long status on his Facebook profile, with proofs of plagiarism.

In the post, Ganguly wrote, "I had released a stand-up bit on Youtube and FB on ‘having an elder brother’ around two weeks back. One of the jokes in the routine is an observational joke on how from Kapil Dev to Zaheer Khan (citing some other names, such as Harbhajan Singh, Srinath, Kumble) all successful Indian bowlers have been co-incidentally younger brothers. Yesterday, at around 10:30 PM, I suddenly got a message from a friend on FB who said that my younger brother bowler joke had been lifted in The Kapil Sharma Show."

He further added, "Having checked online, I am disappointed and gutted to see that they have indeed done that. There I saw Kiku Sharda trying to use my joke (and honestly making a mess of it) while Sidhu and others laughed out in their usual hysterical manner."

When News18.com contacted the comedian, he sounded disappointed by the whole event. He said, "We comedians make a living from our self-written jokes. No one gives you the right to just pick up our jokes and plagiarise it for a national TV show."

When asked if he's planning any legal action against the channel, he said, "It is a big conglomerate. I neither have the time and/or resource to fight a legal battle with such a big house. I, however, want the show to at least give me credit for my joke."

Ganguly further clarified that he is not accusing show's host, Kapil Sharma or Kiku Sharda of anything, but being the face of the show they should ensure no such thing happens on their show.

The Kapil Sharma Show has often been accused of carrying distasteful, sexist, even common popular jokes but this is the first time a comedian has come upfront claiming creative plagarism. Looks like, the writers of the show has a lot to answer to.

No official statement from Sony Television or the show's producers has been issued on the matter so far.