Finally, celebrity guests who land up to shoot for Kapil Sharma’s show will not be turned away, saying the host hadn’t turned up yet! The funnyman, who had successfully left a good many important people fuming, is apparently getting his act together. He has returned to Mumbai from Bengaluru after undergoing an anti-toxification treatment at an Ayurvedic centre.

Of course, Kapil being Kapil, not for him the entire 40-day recommended treatment programme – he fled after 12 days citing pressing work commitments. There’s the filming of Firangi that remains to be completed, and the promoting and marketing of the film in time for its November release. But those looking forward to his nightly visits via his popular talk show, will have to wait a little longer… actually, a lot longer. Apparently, talk of his show returning early next month is just that – talk. The star-comedian will only resume shooting his show when he has made a full recovery. Sources close to Kapil say that he had been pushing himself too hard over the past few years, ignoring the signals his mind and body were sending out. Now that he is on a break, it is doing him much good. He is off alcohol completely and is taking care of his health. Come 2018, he’ll be back on the small screen, hopefully, better than ever.

To his credit, Kapil has not avoided answering uncomfortable questions about his addiction and the issue of cancelled shoots, even if he does make light of the matter. “Main thoda phisal gaya tha. Ab sambhal gaya hoon. There are health issues. I’ve checked into an Ayurveda clinic for complete detoxification.” About the rumours that the stars were furious at being turned away from his sets, he explained, “Do you think I am stupid to turn away big stars like Shah Rukh Khan and Ajay Devgn? They all knew what my problem was. They were all very caring. Only a section of the media made me sound like this arrogant monster, who was using his health as an excuse to turn away celebrities, just to satisfy my ego.”

Well, so long as that ‘arrogant monster’ has been exorcised forever!