MUMBAI: Friday will be a day of reckoning for Star Plus as it unveils two new shows -Karishma Kaa Karishma at 8:00 pm and Shararath Thoda Jadu, Thodi Nazakat at 9:00 pm respectively.
Karishma Kaa Karishma ( KKK)the latest sitcom has a cute girl in a red polka dotted frock who speaks like an android as protagonist. Does that ring a bell?
Fortunately, the channel confesses that the concept has been 'inspired' by Small Wonder ,the Metromedia Producers Corp and 20th Century Fox Television production of 1980s and insists that the similarity ends there.
KKK , a maiden television venture of Alliance Media & Entertainment, is about an urban, educated Punjabi family of Vikram and Sheetal (Ted and Joan Lawson ) and their young son Rahul (Jamie). Vikram, a computer engineer who invents a robot called Karishma who is programmed for good and positive values of life. An epitome of a well-bred child, the sitcom goes on to show how the robot helps the family from major crises. The comic situations centre around the family's attempts to keep Karishma's real identity a secret from the rest of the world especially their nosey neighbours.
"We realized that there is nothing for 'young adults' on television. We wanted to cater to this neglected bracket. Though the concept is the same as Small Wonder , the treatment of characters and the context in which they will be shown is different and very much Indian," says Alliance Media & Entertainment CEO, Sunil Doshi, when questioned about what prompted them to opt for a show which has not only had its usual run in English but Hindi dubbed version as well.
The programme is not slated to be a slapstick or rib tickling comedy but an emotional sitcom with stand alone episodes, confirms Doshi. " We want the audience to enjoy the show the same way they would relish reading a Tin Tin , an Asterix or perhaps a PG Woodhouse," he asserts. The special effects of the show has been done by Ketan Mehta's Maya Entertainment.
With this show , Doshi hopes to enhance viewership penetration and present contemporary situations which the Indian audience would be able to relate to. " Every show is in its original context," he asserts.
"The soul and nerve centers of the programme are its writers " says Doshi. It has been entirely their endeavour to give a whole new perspective to the serial and etch out the characters to perfection, such that they identify with the Indian audience, ethos and characteristics of Indian culture. The episodes have been penned by three writers - Mukesh Ramani, Mukesh Agarwal and Rajiv Agarwal .
Interestingly,the show also boasts of having many 'guest directors' to ensure that each director brings in a new perspective to an already done to death series on television .Rahul Kapoor and Lilliput have directed the first few episodes.
Karishma, the protagonist is being played by six year old Jhanak Shukla who is best remembered for ICICI , D-Cold and Tata Salt commercials. "I act the way I am asked to", says the young girl who rote learns the dialogues read out to her by her father and staff.
"Her cute endearing innocent looks made her the obvious choice for the role," says Doshi. The little girl has been signed by Karan Johar for his next film Kal Ho Na Ho.
Rahul, Karishma's brother, played by Mayank Tandon, is not a new face on television. He has acted in serials like Kittie Party, Hu Bahu and Khushiyaan.
Sanjeev Seth of Campus and Mehndi Tere Naam Ki fame plays Karishma's father and Eva Grover who has acted in serials like Hum Saath Aath Hain ,her mother.
Jamnadas Majedhia a well known theatre artist and producer of Kchihdi plays the incorrigible Mr Brindle and popular sitcom actress Bhavana Balsaver of Zabaan Sambhal Ke and Dekh Bhai Dekh fame plays the nosy parker , Mrs Brindle. However to give it an Indian connotation the two have been shown as a Gujarati couple.Sweta Prasad (of Makdee and Kahanni Ghar Ghar Kii plays the role of Harriet.
