|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Rajeev Mehra, maker of the
award-winning serial Office Office, is ready with his next
directorial venture LOC. A comedy, this show takes a dig at the
hostility between Indians and Pakistanis. Gitanjali
Sharma reports
The new serial LOC — to be telecast by Star Plus at primetime — stands for Life out of Control, says Rajeev Mehra, the director of the show as well as the man behind the popular satire Office Office, which bagged 34 awards over the four years that it ran from 2000 to 2003 on Sabe TV. Can the audience expect the same wit and parody in LOC too, which will be on air from February 25? "Well, we don’t promise anything but the underlying theme is the same — learning to laugh at the situation you are caught up in." As the name suggests, the new soap is a take-off on the love-hate ties between India and Pakistan. Set in London, LOC pivots around an Indian cook, Gurpreet Singh Malik, and a Muslim headwaiter Chand Mohammad Malik working in a restaurant owned by a British. The two, carrying the baggage of the talks-resistant rivalry between the two countries, are constantly at loggerheads. The fun begins, says Mehra, when their families join them from Bathinda and Rawalpindi. Both of them land up in the same house, as the estate agent has bungled up with their surnames, which are the same. Finally, for the two men to find some peace in the house, an LOC has to be drawn, dividing the house into two portions. Both the men, who obsessively resent each other, represent the politicians of the two countries, while their families which are quite comfortable and friendly with one another signify the public of the two countries. The script of the new serial is written by Ashwini Dhir, who also wielded the pen for Office Office. The cast too seems familiar. With the exception of Pankaj Kapoor, who played the lead role in Office Office, the rest of the cast is more or less the same. The main roles are essayed by Manoj Bawa (Gurpreet), Sanjay Mishra (Chand Mohammad), Kavita Kapoor and Iva Grover, spouses of Gurpreet and Chand, respectively. Veteran Kamini Kaushal plays the Indian matriarch. A witness to the Partition, she is the binding force between the two families. There’s also the hint of a romance between Gurpreet’s son Veeru and Chand’s daughter Reshma. Rajeev Mehra, who made a foray into showbiz way back in 1982 with his first film Ek Jaan Hain Hum, has churned out a number of movies since then like Pyar ke do Pal, Aakhri Adaalat, Chamatkaar and Ram Jaane. His television ventures include Zabaan Sambhaal ke and the much-acclaimed Office Office. Though Mehra finds both the big and small screen satisfying and creative, he declares that working on a serial can be tedious, for the story can stretch for years. "But my serials have been episodic, that is each episode has its sub-plot." To let the creative juices flow week after week for Office Office wasn’t an easy job, admits Mehra. But once they had got the concept in place — which was to identify with the common man’s problems and treat them in a lighter vein — the rest was easy to deliver. With LOC too they
want to send across a message — that it doesn’t pay to prolong
enmity — and draw a few laughs in the bargain. |
||
|
|
||
