Star is pushing hard the premise that a good way to hook Indian audiences onto its foreign channels is to offer them
content that they can easily relate to. Star Movies
started a series of films like Bend It Like Beckham
under the Made in India branding. Now as part of its revamp Star World is devoting the Sunday 8-10 pm slot for English serials with an Indian connection. One such that launches from 11 May is British sitcom The Kumar's at No.42 that will air every Sunday at 8 pm.
The laugh riot has Sanjeev Bhaskar playing namesake
Sanjeev Kumar who harbours dreams of making it big in
the talk show world. He invites celebrities to his
house where a studio has been constructed. The running
joke here is that during the show his family members
including a standout Meera Syal as his grandmother
keep butting in with inane comments and questions thus
in a way robbing him of the limelight.

The first episode saw a hilarious guest appearance from British actor Richard E Grant who without batting an eyelid calls Spiceworld an intellectual classic. Also making an appearance is a veteran of the UK talk show circuit since 1971 Michael Parkinson. Sanjeev is unable to curb his enthusiasm. The first question that pops out from his mouth is when Parkinson is going to retire so that he can fill in his shoes. The cast also includes a comically worried Indira Joshi as Sanjeev's mother who tells Parkinson, "Tell him when he asks a good question. That is the only way he will learn."

Adding to the mix is the fact that while the cast roles are written in advance the responses of the guests are always spontaneous. Syal keeps the guests amused throughout. For instance after calling Sanjeev a "bevkoof" she sweetly tells Grant, "Bevkoof is a nice word for mentally defective idiot." His father played
by Vincent Abraham points out that while both he and Grant are immigrants contributing to the government's
coffers the average Brit in the pub thinks of them as
blacks.

Cutely sweet and sensitive at the same time, the droll humour should appeal to the family. Future episodes will see appearances from Brit actors Ray Winstone and Minnie Driver as well as pop singer Boy George.

Interestingly Bhaskar will also feature in another Star World sitcom Goodness Gracious Me. Bhaskar wrote the script for that."
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