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Yet another Gujarati family! Sony, currently in the throes of a revamp, will soon bring Thodi Khushi Thode Gham. The show is being produced by Shobhna Desai, the name behind the trendsetting Ek Mahal Ho Sapano Ka (which inspired the blockbuster Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi). The daily show goes on air from 24 April, at 9.30 pm.

TKTG, revolves around a typical Gujarati family. Shobhna Desai has managed to rope in many Gujarati stage actors who are well known in the tellydom, but were missing for a while.

Sejal Shah, who starred in Hasratein and Ek Mahal Ho Sapano Ka will be playing the character of Jyoti Shah. She did small time shows, and was not really satisfied and stayed away from TV for a year. "I was not getting meaty roles, so I thought of playing it cool. I have known Shobhna Desai for a very long time, so I took it up when she offered me this role." Sejal is married to Muni Jha, who plays Nimmo's father in Kyaa Hoga Nimmo Ka.

Kalpana Diwan, who can be recalled as the matriarch of Ek Mahal... will also be seen on this show. "I was doing only stage. I never plan, I just take up projects as and when they come my way. Shobhna's production is home to for me. She approached me about this, and I was more than happy to do it," says Kalpanaji.

A very well known face in the industry, Harish Patel makes a comeback with TKTG, after a long gap. "I was busy doing films and also was doing some work in Hollywood," says Patel, not a Gujarati himself, though he is often mistaken for one. About his character, he adds, "Well, I am an in between character. I play Bhagu Mama, the mediator between two generations. It's a central character filled with fun and thrill, I am certainly enjoying my comeback!"

Zankhana Sheth, Shobhna's sister, an actor herself, will too be seen as Dayaben. " Well, I was in the US, when Shobhna called me for this, and I took it up." This is not the first time she will be seen on television, she too was in Ek Mahal... playing Panna. " I have done around 40 plays and 35 Gujarati films," says Sheth. She is very excited to work with Kalpana Ben, as when she started her career, her first play was with her and before leaving for the US too, her last play was with her.

Arvind Rathod, big name in the world of Gujarati theatre, will also make his mark in the show. "He plays the strict, disciplinary and directorial patriarch of the family. He is very appreciative of his sons, but his attitude is different towards women," explains Sony's programming head Gursheel Walia.

Many other stage artistes will be a part of this huge Gujarati family. Nirmal Shah, who was visible in Sohail Khan's Maine Dil Tujhko Diya too will be seen here. "Well, I was into theatre and in the meantime did some 50 ads." He is a Gujarati too, and says that there is definitely a comfort level working with actors from the same community, "We all come from the same background and so we share a wavelength," he laughs.

Along with these veteran actors, the serial will witness Amit Jain who was last seen in Ye Meri Life Hain on Sony and Deepa Parab, who starred in Zee's Reth.

The sets for the show put up at Charkop in suburban Mumbai, are a feast by themselves. With beautiful colour combinations used all through, the house consists of a massive living room, a striking dinning table, an ethnic white marbled mandir, all the trappings of plush urban life, combined with an ethnic ethos!

With more than half the star cast culled from Ek Mahal Ho Sapano Ka, is TKTG too planning a similar journey? Time should tell.

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It's after a long while that fingers willingly turn to the button that denotes Sony on the remote control.Starting last Monday, the channel has launched (and vigorously promoted) its all new 9 to 10 block, and for once, the effort seems to have paid off.

Unlike its chest thumping relaunch of the Shukravaar effort, which has been a damp squib for all practical purposes.

But 9 se 10 in its first week at least, has been engaging, intriguing and appealing. Ace director Lekh Tandon's return to the small screen after a long gap should be worth the wait. The story of Rusty, a pucca

Londener who's plagued by feelings of being connected to India, and her eventual return to her roots, has all the ingredients of strong soap. The lather's just catching on. The first week's depiction of her life in London has been fair enough, although elements like Rusty's obvioulsy blonde wig and her contrived Brit accent jar on the nerves at times.

What holds one to the plot is the heart tugging, often just slipping out of the fingers recollections she has of her motherland, and her effort to try and understand their meaning. The supporting cast, made up to look like Brits, seem to try too hard to act like Brits too. The ensuing weeks, with the entry of veterans like Kanwaljeet entering the plot now, the story should pick up pace. But kudos to Indian television

for venturing out of the ordinary and experimenting with an offbeat theme. Perhaps it is filmmaker Tandon's experience with the canvas of the larger screen that has prompted him to wield similar strokes on television.

The latter half of 9 se 10 is no experimentation, but is enough to give loyal fans of the long dead Ek Mahal Ho Sapano Ka, reason to rejoice. For all practical

purposes, Thodi Khushi Thode Gham, is a sequel to Ek Mahal...with the patriarch replaced. But while Ek Mahal... dealt lovingly with the issues of each son and sibling lovingly, TKTG, one suspects will dwell more lovingly with protagonist Sneha and the changes she brings into the strongly patriarchal household.

Shobhna Desai doesn't have the talents of Aatish Kapadia and Vipul Shah, who made Ek Mahal... what it was in the 1990s, but her writers are making a competent job of creating characters that are believable, lovable. The actors, most of whom have been culled from the Ek Mahal... lot are veteran theatre people, to whom acting comes easy. But they could go easy on the Gujju accent...the telly is threatening to be flooded with the Ba, Bahoo, Baby kind of failies, which expect the viewer to understand the relationships between the Phai-ba and the Moti-ben with relative ease!

Of course, as realistic as Shobhna Desai may have tried to get, her bahus continue to be bedecked even in the kitchen, and made up even when they sit down for an afternoon of gossip. Though of course, she hasn't paid much attention to the one thing that was loved by millions about Ek Mahal... - its title track!

With a promising afternoon band in its kitty, Sony seems to have thought out its post Jassi Jaissi Koi Nahin strategy well. Later, too, we hear, will be the one hour daily late night slots that will herald even stronger programming.

If this is to be year of Sony's resurgence, 9 se 10 has set the pace well for it. We can't give it a complete 1o out of 10, but yes, 9 of 10 should fit quite well.