mona on the bird flu and KKD#43 offair

March 3 is goodbye

"Yes, we are pulling it off the air. Fear Factor replaces the Kudkudiyas from March 10," confirms Anupama Mandloi, vice-president (programming), Sony.

The show, which began in its previous avatar (with the Batliwallas) in February last year, faced trouble in July (when it disappeared for a short while and MTV VJ Cyrus Sahukar was under consideration as the new host). Later, new incumbents (the Kudkudiyas) were brought in.

The final episode will air on March 3, without any goodbyes.

Something lacking

"We tried everything, yet the show lacked something," admits producer J D Majethia, of Hats Off Production. Along with writer Aatish Kapadia, J D had many brainstorming sessions to spruce up the show. "We realised that something was definitely amiss and it was better to take it off-air."

Considering the duo's other shows — Khichdi, Instant Khichdi, Sarabhai vs Sarabhai, Baa Bahoo aur Baby — managed to strike a chord with the viewers, what went wrong with this one?

"Batliwallas had a Parsi setting and it was said that not many people across the country are familiar with Parsi mannerisms. So we replaced it with a Gujarati family," points out J D. But still, the viewership ratings did not budge, sespite the line-up of celebs as guests.

JD claims the show, based on the popular UK series, The Kumars At No 42, was never a big hit when adapted elsewhere.

"It has been done in the US and several European countries, but nothing compares to the original.

Also, the show's format — a cross between a chat show and a sitcom — was a bit confusing for viewers here. And we could not, like the Kumars, have dialogues laced with sexual connotations. Plus it was a half hour show, so in those minutes, we had to squeeze in everything.

Kudkudiyas has a talented cast from the Gujarati theatre scene (Nimisha Vakharia, Dilip Joshi, Dimple Shah and Siddharth Randeria), yet it did not work," rues J D, who has now begin work on his next show, for Star One.

shaheen@mid-day.com