Siblings play Batliwalla mother-son duo

Batliwalla House No. 43, the mad house is all set to offer loads of laughter from Friday. We all know it's based on Kumars at No 42, but did you know that Gulshan Batliwalla and Shahrukh Batliwalla, the mother and son of the Batliwalla family are siblings in real life? "Batliwalla is not very different from real life. Bhaktiar is six years younger to me. I have been like a mother to him on many occasions," laughs Delnaz Paul. "I am lucky to have two mothers," remarks Bhaktiar Irani with reverence. Bhaktiar, who has done music videos and a few commercials earlier, is excited about his first noticeable presence on the small screen. "I am glad I got this opportunity to do a show like this and happier to work with my sister," he chuckles. Of course, his family is his biggest critic, he offers, adding that he is delighted to be sharing the screen for the first time with his sister. "I was skeptical playing a mother to a grown up. But since I liked the format of the show, and considering the fact that young actresses are playing mothers, I took it up as a challenge," adds Delnaz. One cannot ignore the fact that her absence from Sony for almost a decade has been the deciding factor for Delnaz to take up the character of Gulshan Batliwalla. "Batliwallas live like a family on screen and off screen. I was new to this atmosphere but I felt cozy soon. I was taken good care of. Everyone helped me improve my performance with inputs from their side," reminisces Bhaktiar. He is certainly satisfied with his performance, but keeps his feet on the ground. "I am slow in choosing new assignments. This has been my first encounter with the audience. I am waiting for public opinion," he admits. While Delnaz and Bhaktiar keep their fingers crossed, we keep our eyes wide open to catch the public response. Beware; Batliwallas are going to knock on your door. Tomorrow night.