Will Sony's Batliwallas lock horns with Star's 'LOC'?

The Batliwallas have taken over Sony's backyard. Literally. The latest additions to the Sony programming portfolio, Jamshed, Shahrukh, Gulshan and Meherbanoo Batliwalla are a crazy lot, occupying a tastefully done up Parsi cottage right behind the Sony corporate office in suburban Mumbai. They look curiously like the family that inhabits Kumars at No 42, but then, that's understandable. Sony's bought the rights to the show and Parsi-ised it at the hands of the inimitable J D Majethia, maker of rib ticklers like Khichdi and Sarabhai vs Sarabhai. No wonder, the cast, culled mostly from theatre and the Parsi community, is a treat to watch. And treat they did, in true Parsi style, the assembled media folk that gathered at Sony on Wednesday for a sneek peak of the serial. Focused on the 30 year old Shahrukh, who nurses grandiose Bollywood dreams, the show is purportedly a chat show that will invite real life celebs on the show, which Shahrukh hosts. The rest of the eccentric family chips in with their questions and asides as the interview rolls. At the media hosting, JD himself made an appearance as a celeb host, and the team regaled with impromptu ripostes. Making a first time appearance on TV is Mahabanoo Mody Kotwal (more famous for her production Vagina Monologues) as the endearing and witty granny on the show. The rest of the cast including Sanjeev Vatsa, Delnaz Paul and Bakhtiar Irani too sparkles with spontaneous histrionics, something that should put the show a cut above the rest. It's going to be a tough fight, with Star Plus ready with its own offering LOC launching the same day, 25 February, at almost the same time. The Batliwallas launch on Sony at 9 pm, while LOC is done by the formidably talented Rajeev Mehra, maker of the award winning Office Office on Sab TV.