Kapil Sharma recalls he took odd jobs for pocket money; worked at STD booth and in a garment factory

Kapil Sharma is earning rave reviews for his performance as a delivery agent in Nandita Das’s Zwigato, which released in theatres on Friday. Many praised the comedian’s ability to morph into a serious role with such ease. In a recent interview, when Kapil was asked how did he prepare for the role, he opened up about his struggles early on in his career, when he used to take on odd jobs just to earn some extra cash for pocket money. (Also read: Kapil Sharma on co-stars’ exit from show: ‘Except Sunil Grover, can’t put everyone else in same category’)

Zwigato is about the struggles of a food-delivery boy and his family. The Hindustan Times review of the called it a “compelling tale that blends humour with honesty”. It read: “Watch Zwigato to enjoy a slice of life of people whom we don’t credit as much as we should. It might not be a perfect film, but definitely starts a conversation about the flawed system that this service class bears with but still there is very little being done to fix it.”

Kapil, wh hosts The Kapil Sharma Show, was asked in an interview with Aaj Tak what he did to prepare for this character. He said in response, “Mereko bade log puchte he ki aap iss character mein ghuse kaise? Main kahta hu ki main abhi tak nikla hi nahi hu! Seriously, kyunki maine bhi bade chote chote kaam kiye he… maine Coca-Cola mein kaam kiya he ma’am, fir maine STD, PCO… aaj kal toh hote nahi hai, har jagah mobile aa gaya hai waha pe kaam kiya he… kapde ki factory mein… chote chote kaam karta raha hu apne pocket money ke liye.. mereko accha lagta tha paise khud ke kamana. Toh maine jab ye kahaani maine suni toh maine connect kiya (A lot of people ask me how did I enter this character and I tell them that I haven’t got out of it yet! Seriously, because I too have done a lot of odd jobs in the past… I worked in Coca-Cola and then in the STD PCO, which is now defunct as everyone uses mobile phones.., in a garment factory… so I have worked here and there for pocket money. I liked earning for myself for my own pocket money. So when I heard this story I could connect to it).”

Kapil is currently hosting The Kapil Sharma Show, which is airing for its fourth season, since last year. It airs on Sony TV, every Saturday and Sunday, at 9:30pm.