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I want to say, just take Kapil to a rehab and give the poor man a chance to live: Preeti

- Monika Rawal Kukreja monika.rawal@htlive.com

That actor-comedian Kapil Sharma is going through a bad phase is now largely known. The latest drama is that Kapil has gone to the police with accusation­s against Preeti Simoes, his ex-girlfriend and TV producer, and two others; and this came just after his abusive tweets against an online journalist.

THE DRAMA

On Friday afternoon, Kapil’s tweets abused the editor of the entertainm­ent website SpotboyE. Soon after, he deleted them and apologised saying that his account was hacked. Later in the evening, he tweeted that it was indeed him who had tweeted, and his team had taken the posts off.

In response, the web portal editor shared an audio file that he claimed was a recording of a phone call with Kapil. On the call, a person identifyin­g himself as Kapil is heard abusing perhaps the editor.

Then, Saturday morning, Kapil tweeted again, posting a copy of a police complaint that he has filed against Preeti, her sister Neeti Simoes, and the editor of the said website.

THE EX SPEAKS

We contacted Preeti, who was also the creative producer of his previous shows, Comedy Nights with Kapil and The Kapil Sharma Show. Sounding disturbed, she says, “I am hoping it’s not Kapil who has posted these tweets. The Kapil I know is a very intelligen­t, bright, dynamic man. It’s most certainly his girlfriend, Ginni Chatrath, or maybe some friend who’s using his phone.”

Preeti adds, “If it is [indeed] him, my biggest concern is his mental health, which has deteriorat­ed drasticall­y in the past few months. It’s not just depression... could be bipolar disorder or schizophre­nia. He’s getting suicidal thoughts. I’ve seen a very different him. His face has changed, his eyes have changed. He switches topics when he is talking. He repeats the same things 10 times when he speaks to me. To whoever is doing this to him, I want to say, ‘just take him to a rehab and give the poor man a chance to live.’”

THE ACCUSATION­S

In the tweeted complaint, Kapil has accused Preeti and others of “instigatin­g negative stories” against him . Preeti says she hasn’t received any legal notice. “It’s childish and immature to even respond,” she says. And what about Kapil’s extortion accusation­s against the three? Preeti says, “He’s crazy. I have my production house. Why would I extort from him a petty sum of ₹25 lakh, which will be divided among three people?”

Trade analyst Atul Mohan says, “My sympathies are with Kapil. He needs to be patient and analyse things that are happening. I’m sure he can handle success and popularity with much more maturity.”

We tried contacting Kapil multiple times, but his number was not reachable.

 ?? PHOTO: SHIVAM SAXENA /HT ?? Kapil Sharma and one of his abusive tweets
PHOTO: SHIVAM SAXENA /HT Kapil Sharma and one of his abusive tweets
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