4 min readMumbaiAug 5, 2026 06:31 PM IST
Chandan Prabhakar may never have been the central face of Kapil Sharma’s comedy shows, but his impeccable comic timing and effortless screen presence always made him a fan favourite. In a recent interview, the comedian recalled an incident from the early days of their careers when he was selected for The Great Indian Laughter Challenge, while Kapil Sharma was initially rejected. Chandan revealed that he and fellow comedian Rajeev Thakur repeatedly urged the show’s makers to give Kapil a chance, convinced that they were overlooking exceptional talent.
‘Kapil Sharma got rejected’
Speaking on the LPU DSW YouTube channel, Chandan said, “We were selected for The Great Indian Laughter Challenge. We auditioned, and I got selected. Both Rajiv Thakur and I had made it. Kapil Sharma, however, wasn’t selected initially. Rajeev got the first call, and then I received mine.” He added, “We were all friends back then, and we still are. We were genuinely upset. We kept wondering how someone as talented as him hadn’t been selected.”
Recalling the auditions, Chandan said Kapil had failed to make it through the Punjab round and decided to try again in Delhi. Although Chandan already had a shoot scheduled, Kapil insisted that he accompany him for the audition. “Kapil said, ‘I have to go to Delhi for the audition.’ I told him, ‘But my selection is already done, and we have a shoot.’ He said, ‘Come with me.’ I asked, ‘Shouldn’t I shoot first?’ Kapil replied, ‘Forget the shoot. I’m going for the audition. You come with me.’ I said, ‘Alright.’ We literally disappeared without telling anyone where we were going.”
Chandan recalled waiting outside while Kapil auditioned. “We reached there and sat outside in the queue for a very long time. Eventually, Kapil went inside while I waited outside, chatting with different people. After he came out, I asked him, ‘How was the audition?’ He said, ‘Great.’ I said, ‘Very good.’ But even after that, he still didn’t get the call.”
‘I packed my bags’
Once he and Rajeev joined The Great Indian Laughter Challenge, they continued to lobby for Kapil’s inclusion. “When we reached, Rajeev and I kept telling the assistant directors, ‘You’re making a mistake. The truly talented guy is the one you’ve left out.’ They’d tell us, ‘Just focus on your own work.’ But every time we went for rehearsals, we’d remind them, ‘That guy is incredibly talented. You’re making a mistake. Please call him.’ We kept saying it over and over again.”
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Their persistence eventually paid off, but not without a personal cost for Chandan. “Finally, they told us, ‘We’ve called Kapil Sharma. He’s coming.’ I said, ‘Very good. Thank you so much.’ Then they added, ‘But you’re going back.’ I asked, ‘Why?’ They said, ‘No… you can go back now. Kapil Sharma has arrived.’ After that, Rajeev Thakur and Kapil Sharma stayed there, while I packed my bags.”
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After leaving the show, Chandan returned to his engineering career before deciding to pursue entertainment once again. “Very few people know this, but I’m actually a mechanical engineer. I used to work at a software engineering company. Then I realised this wasn’t what I wanted to do. So I came back immediately. And later quit it to start looking for something else.”
Chandan was recently seen in one the episodes of India’s Got Latent 2.
