From Shah Rukh Khan refusing to call her ‘ugly’ to requesting Kapil Sharma to work on her role; Upasana Singh on how things went downhill with the show

Upasana Singh opens up about her experience with The Kapil Sharma Show, sharing how Shah Rukh Khan refused to call her "ugly" and how she requested Kapil Sharma to develop her role. She also discusses the downfall of her character, the Kapil-Sunil controversy, and more, shedding light on behind-the-scenes challenges and the show's dynamics. In a candid conversation with Siddharth Kannan on a podcast, Upasana opened up about her reasons for stepping away from The Kapil Sharma Show.

I got to work with Shah Rukh Khan in Kapil Sharma Show. I have worked with many actors and only with SRK, I got an opportunity in Kapil’s show. Kapil had told him to insult me, because of the character I played. I was made to play and older, not good looking character. But prior to that, I have always played good looking roles. Shah Rukh refused to call me ‘badsoorat’. He was like, ‘Upasana, how do I call you ugly?’ He was so cute.

We would improvise many things on sets. We knew of our gags but we didn’t know how the actor will react. During my act with Shah Rukh, I was praising him and proposed to him saying, ‘Mujhse shaadi karoge?’ He said yes. Ulta hogaya. I told him, there’s a room, let’s go. He said, ‘chalo chalein’. Then he hugged me and kissed me in filmy style. Saara ulta hogaya. Everyone was shocked. Because according to the act, SRK was supposed to reject me. Main khud hairaan thi.

When Amitabh Bachchan was on the set, Chandan Prabhakar got teary eyed. We were given a lot of instructions regarding his presence and the acts. So Kapil was like that I can’t be there, because my character is always flirting. Kapil took 3 retakes to introduce Mr. Bachchan, despite rehearsing. Sab log dare huye the, haath paer thand par gaye the. I asked Kapil regarding what should I do. I remembered my mother’s saying to keep going no matter what happens. I thought, at max, I will have to get down from the stage. Main ‘Hari Om’ jaap karte karte chali gayi aur Amit ji ke paero me gir gayi. I said, ‘Itne ladkiyon ke saath flirt karte ho, mere saath nahi karoge?’ Andar se I was scared. He smiled and then the entire atmosphere changed. The entire act was improvised. He and Boman Irani called me a ‘good actress’.

Reflecting on her time with the show, Upasana shared, “For two and a half years, our show was always on top. But then came a time when I had nothing left to do. I told this to Kapil as well. We share a very good bond, and there was no fight as people assumed. I told him, ‘Kapil, the roles aren’t the same anymore; I don’t enjoy them as I used to. Please pay some attention to my character.’”

However, circumstances beyond her control, such as contractual obligations and channel rivalries, further complicated matters. “My contract was with the channel, not Kapil’s team. When they moved to another channel, I couldn’t go with them. There was tension between the teams, and I didn’t feel comfortable. When I joined another show with Krushna Abhishek, I had to stay until my contract ended,” she explained. Upasana also revealed the creative dissatisfaction she faced during this period. “They would cut my punchlines. Places where I knew the audience would laugh, I’d see those lines were removed. It felt like torture. Ali Asgar faced the same issue. We were not creatively satisfied.” While Kapil invited her to return later, by then Upasana had shifted focus. “I had started producing two Punjabi films, and Kapil even gave voiceovers for them. But I wasn’t satisfied.”

That time, I wasn’t with the show. But by then, tension was created. The atmosphere had changed around Kapil. Jab aadmi bada bann jaata hai toh unko samjhane wale log woh kayi baar dost nahi dushman hote hai. Things started happening, stardom hits you. But Kapil sasw that downfall and realised quickly what went wrong. And now things are going great. Aadmi thokar khaake seekhte hai.

I have a very good bond with Ali ji because we had maximum scenes. He is very cute. We shared a maa-beti connection. We also shared similar challenges as we had to go to different shoot in the morning. I met Sunil and Ali recently, and it was great.

The family feeling also had gone. We would all get together to create the punchlines and make the show a hit. But when things go wrong, nothing is right. We have no bad blood between us. We were a family. Even if now I call Kapil, he will receive. We have spent so much time together to stay awake during the show.