Posted:
18 years ago
Story so far -
Hotel Kingston, one of the premier old world hotels and once the stopover for royalty and the riches, is now a fading institution.
The series takes us behind the scenes of a once world-class institution and introduces vividly drawn out characters. For the bellboys, waiters, musicians, chefs, bartenders, and the never-ending stream of clients, Hotel Kingston is like second home. Besides espousing values and lifestyles of the upper echelons of society we also juxtapose this with middle class aspirations and interests.
But primarily it is the love story of Vish, the assistant general manager of the hotel and Shelly Sahai, the daughter of the owner of Hotel Kingston.
Kingston is the lifeblood of an ageing business tycoon Govind Sahai, who has invested his entire savings into his dream venture.
The activities inside the hotel continue along with a parallel track of cameos coming in and out of the hotel against the backdrop of Vish and Shelly's turbulent love story.
Shelley Sahai, a photojournalist by profession, comes down from the USA with her fianc, Nick, to spend some time with her father in India. Govind Sahai's sudden ill-health just before a crisis meeting of the Board of Directors, forces Shelly Sahai to take over the reigns of Hotel Kingston.
The story opens with Govind Sahai asking Vish the assistant general manager to receive his daughter at the airport. Vish, because of some faux paux, misses Shelley and her fianc.
Vish & Shelly's relationship, though begins on a bitter note, takes a better shape as a grudging respect develops for each other when situations arise in which they have no other option but to work together.
Being very different by nature - Shelly an NRI with little knowledge of the hotel industry and bad people skills, whereas Vish, a down-to-earth and street smart guy, tend to have a complete love-hate relationship with constant bickering and differences of opinion on practically all issues. On the other hand, Shelley's fianc Nick finds it difficult to adapt to the changing nature of Shelley, with her getting more and more involved in managing the hotel. A culmination point is reached when Shelly and Vish go for a business trip to Pune. The trip brings Vish and Shelly closer and Nick, the jealous and possessive fianc, takes a final call of returning back to the USA.
The incidents that take place during the trip force Shelly and Vish to acknowledge the fact that both of them love Hotel Kingston and would be willing to go to any lengths to make it the best hotel ever. It also becomes obvious to the viewers that Cupid has struck and the two just don't want to acknowledge it… yet!
A regular arrival of colorful guests, strange instances and various problems keep Shelly & Vish on their toes and often brings to the fore-front the different viewpoints the two have on each of these incidents. Vish and Shelly also realize that though their viewpoints might differ, the end goal is the same - to make Hotel Kingston sail through any of the problematic situations that each episode throws up.
Different guests like an old world Nawab, a modern day Love Guru, a prostitute, and a fake doctor continue to make Hotel Kingston a very colorful place to be in. Every episode throws new problems at Vish and Shelly and the two, sometimes together and sometimes with differences, face the challenges along with the staff of the hotel. And amidst all this, the two have to come to terms with their ever-increasing attraction for each other.