Batliwala goes on amidst uncertainty

Sony's Batliwala House No 43 has been subject to quite a few rumors lately. There was even speculation that the show would go off- air by mid August. However JD Majethia producer of the show clarifies, "No, the show is not going to be pulled off. We have shoots confirmed for this entire month. How far the show will go is something I can't comment on but I'm pretty sure we will complete this season at least." There were also rumors that Cyrus Shaukar would replace Bhaktiar Irani, who is the lead on the show. A pilot was also shot with Shaukar, however nothing happened and he was unavailable for comment. Bhaktiar, on the other hand has no clues about his stand on the show. "I just got a call today and they have informed me that we shall have our shoot tomorrow. Yes there was speculation that I would be replaced. But now that they are calling me for shoots only implies that I'm not." Mahabanu Modi Kotwal who plays the grandma's part on the show had her own opinion. "I think it's a good comic show. Maybe the audience is not yet prepared to like shows of such formats. Whatever the problem, I'm happy with the show," she says. From our sources, we also heard that the format of the show was going to be changed completely as Sony was not happy with the shows ratings. On this JD says, "A lot of creative inputs are put in at times. It is not necessary that they will be implemented. Whether the format is going to be changed is the channel's call. I don't even know whether they are going to call the show off after this month's episodes." As a viewer, one can surely say that the celebrities on the show can't take the antics with a pinch of salt. At times they don't even react to when they're getting their leg pulled on the show. Whether the audience will accept the format, celeb's will start lightening a bit, let's hope all the confusion is cleared, all we can say at the end is 'The Show must go on!"