SRK ke ghar ki baat!

King Khan's Red Chillies production is geared up to give a classic sitcom tadka to their small screen audience with comedy show Ghar Ki Baat Hai. Parmita Uniyal tells more...

Their motto is to bring 'Ghar Ki Baat to your ghar' and that too in classic style. Yes, Shah Rukh Khan's Red Chillies production is geared up to give a classic sitcom tadka to their small screen audience with their comedy show Ghar Ki Baat Hai.

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All set to begin today on NDTV Imagine, the comedy serial would be telecast every Friday, Saturday and Sunday. It will star Sumeet Raghavan, Juhi Babbar, Swapnil Joshi, Ali Asgar as the lead characters.

Director of the serial Anant Mahadevan, who has been a veteran actor in film industry before turning a filmmaker, is quite upbeat about his association with Red Chillies and is attempting to bring back the magic of classic sitcoms that enthralled the audience 25 years back.

"We intend to bring back the same class of the comedy that people of all generation admired. Ghar Ki Baat Hai is a tribute to Ye Jo Hai Zindagi that made the characters household names," says Mahadevan.

Anant rues the fact that small screen has been deprived of good comedy serials since 10 years. "Dailies hogged all the limelight for a considerable period of time and there has been a paucity of good comedy shows on screen. Ghar Ki Baat is the first comedy show on NDTV Imagine and we do expect jis comedy ko log sarahate the, wo comedy waapas aayegi (we expect that the kind of comedy that we all admired will make a comeback).

Juhi Babbar who is making her small screen debut with the serial was "terrified" when she signed the serial. "I was very nervous about working with veterans like Anant Mahadevan, Sumeet Raghavan, Swapnil Joshi and Ali Asgar. But when I got to know these people, it was really wonderful working with them. Their affection warded off all my fears."

"I would like to add here that television industry needs freshest and finest talent. Juhi's entry to small screen is a boon to the industry. I am sure people will welcome Juhi with open arms," says Anant Mahadevan.

The director further adds that the serial is not a remake of Ye Jo Hai Zindagi rather a tribute to it. "The characters have been translated to the contemporary situation. Every sitcom revolves around certain premises and we would be doing the same, avers Mahadevan.

Ali Asgar and Swapnil Joshi have also attempted stand-up comedy with Comedy Circus recently. But the actors feel that they are two different genres and there are no comparisons.

On being asked how he bagged the role in the serial since he cracked a lot of jokes on SRK on Comedy Circus, Ali Asgar replies wittily, "Unki khichai ki tabhi to liya. Socha hoga jab ye mera mazaak uda sakta hai to kuch bhi kar sakta hai." (I bagged the role because of making fun of SRK because he must have thought that if he can ridicule me, he can do anything)

Swapnil Joshi feels that both the genres need hard work and nothing is easy. "While you have to enact the nuances of a character in a serial, stand-up act is much spontaneous."

E-mail author: parmita.uniyal@hindustantimes.com