As he prepared for his stand-up routine, comedian Kapil Sharma stood in front of the mirror and kept repeating, “I’m not done yet.” The singing infuriated his wife, she threw a pillow at him and asked, “We had two kids in a year and a half. What is your plan?” His cook was no better than his wife. He would never ask Sharma what he wanted to eat. He would just say, “I cooked eggplant.

Sharma’s Netflix debut, I’m Not Done Yet, is peppered with confessions, anecdotes, and interesting observations. The 54-minute stand-up special draws heavily from his own life. He says his infamous drunken tweet to Prime Minister Narendra Modi cost him 09 lakh, when he fled to the Maldives after getting into trouble. In his tweet tagging Modi, he claimed he was asked to pay a 05 lakh bribe by an employee of Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation “for doing his office”.

A man who doesn’t ask for extra chili flakes on his pizza just to avoid speaking English, Sharma says his relationship with the language is complicated. “It’s like a husband-wife relationship,” he says. “I love her, but I don’t really understand her.” He watches every movie twice. The first time he reads the subtitles. The second time, he will see the actors deliver the dialogues.

Sharma is known for his slapstick comedy. His jokes are relatable and they make you laugh, think and feel better. He recounts his own battles with depression and alcoholism, and how he struggled to get help. During her Netflix debut, Sharma couldn’t help but reminisce about the good old days of Doordarshan. He grew up watching Krishi Darshan. This gave him ideas on how to protect cotton crops from pests, despite having no land. Speaking of India’s population explosion, he says, “We birth the entire population of Australia every year and send them to Canada.” In his trademark style, he rubs shoulders with Manmohan Singh, Rahul Gandhi and Vijay Mallya. “You have to learn from Vijay Mallya. You don’t have to go to a bank to loot it,” he says.

During a 15-year career, the 40-year-old has often found himself embroiled in controversy. His spat in the air with Sunil Grover made headlines. He has been accused of sexism, misogyny, racism and body shaming. Her comment that driving on a road full of potholes can help a poor pregnant woman deliver a baby offended the sensibilities of many.

In I’m Not Done Yet, Sharma seems to be aiming for a metamorphosis of the image. Aside from the cringe-inducing Covid joke at the start, Sharma delights us with a humor of her own. As a stand-up comedian, Sharma has had a checkered past. He looks back on his wrestling days in Mumbai, shares his romance with college sweetheart Ginni Chatrath and pays a glowing tribute to his late father who never saw him as a comedian. Her story is sure to strike a chord with anyone who regrets not spending enough time with their parents.

Sharma, who aspired to be a singer, ends the show with a song in English dedicated to her father. His English is good enough to order an extra pizza!