| | | | LOSING FLAVOUR: Mahabanoo Mody Kotwal, Sanjeev Vatsa, Bakhtyar Irani, Delnaz Paul in Batliwalla House No 43 | All's not well at Batliwalla House No 43. This Sony weekly — a take-off on the much-acclaimed British comedy series, The Kumars At No 42 — is facing a domestic crisis.
A cross between a chat show and a sitcom, Batliwalla House No 43 delves into the idiosyncrasies of the guest and the family members. The problems
The youngest member of the Batliwallas, Shahrukh, played by debutant Bakhtyar Irani, seems to be losing favour and is likely to be replaced.
Second, the show, which is set in a Parsi household, does not exactly enjoy mass popularity.
Third, the Batliwallas did "not attract eyeballs" despite the fact that it had top Bollywood stars like Priyanka Chopra and Saif Ali Khan as well as well-known television actors as guests on the show.
It is learnt that Sony is looking at various options to put the Batliwalla house back in order. A few days ago, an episode was shot with MTV VJ Cyrus Sahukar (as host) with Jassi characters Pari (Maninee De) and Nandu (Gaurav Ghera) as guests.
The channel has yet to take a call on whether to revamp, change the cast or axe the show. Or, perhaps, set it in a more familiar Punjabi or Gujarati family.
Replacement
When asked about his replacement, Bakhtyar Irani said he was still shooting for the show.
"I have shot with Farah Khan and Shivaji Satam and the rest of the CID team which has yet to be aired." He further admitted that at present he was not shooting for Batliwalla. "I have yet to be informed about my next shoot schedule," he says.
Meanwhile, Irani is gymming to the hilt. "There are certain film offers happening so I am preparing for it. I am into a protein-rich diet and pumping iron." He has also rid himself off his coloured hair streaks and now sports long hair. "I am changing my look," says Irani as he looks forward to new offers. Tightlipped
So, is all this part of the moving out of Batliwalla plan? Irani is tight-lipped. The channel does not want to comment till a final decision is taken. Nor will the producers.
A Hats Off production, Batliwalla House No 43 has Jamnadas Majethia (better know as JD) and Aatish Kapadia, as producers and creative directors.
The same duo are also behind the Star One shows Instant Khichdi and Sarabhai v/s Sarabhai. Interestingly, Irani's sister Delnaz Paul plays his mother on the show.
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| What is Batliwalla House No 43? | | | The original: A scene from The Kumars At No 42, on which Batliwalla House No 43 is based | It is a show about a quirky Parsi family called the Batliwallas, who host a chat show with a difference.
The family, that runs a bakery by day, has converted their worker's toilet area into a wacky makeshift studio. The protagonist of the show is the son Shahrukh Batliwalla (Bakhtyar Irani) who is convinced that his chat show is his ticket to stardom.
He is aided by his family, comprising father, Jamshed Batliwalla (Sanjeev Vatsa), mother Gulshan (Delnaz Paul) and grandmother Meherbanoo (Mahabanoo Mody Kotwal).
The original version, The Kumars At No 42, is about a typical Indian-British family living in London. They have bulldozed their back yard and built a state-of-the-art TV studio from where they host their very own talk show.
Son Sanjeev Kumar (Sanjeev Bhaskar) asks the questions, while his mother Madhuri (Indira Joshi), father Ashwin (Vincent Ebrahim) and mischievous grandmother Sushila (Meera Syal) keep on butting in. | |
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