AS was hugely evident in the recently concluded series of the popular reality quiz Sony TV show ‘Kaun Banega Karodpati’, the prime focus has been the ‘aam aadmi’ ( common man). In a fictional deviation of this thrust, the Sony SAB TV show ‘R K Laxman Ki Duniya’ showcases breezy light-hearted family
entertainment with a smart mix of comedy laced with thought-provoking social satire involving the ‘common man’, according to N P Singh (COO, Sony Network).
But wasn’t there comparisons with the ‘Wagle Ki Duniya’ based on a similar concept, which was aired several years ago. Counters co-producer Jamnadas Majethia , “Not really. While ‘Wagle…’ was a weekly, ours is a daily contemporary episodic serial depicting mundane day-to-day social issues based on select R.K. Laxman’s pocket cartoons. The variety of characters from different regions, the grammar of treatment and packaging in our show is distinctly different.
There is even a Chaplinesque emotional-tragic slight tinge in the climax of most episodes. But there is no ‘rona-dhona’,” insists Majethia who with associate Dharmesh Mehta has cast Atul Parchure as the middle-class protagonist with Vandana Pathak as his wife. Eminent veteran Gujarati TV serials and prolific theatre actor Deepak Gheewala as the iconic ubiquitous cartoon character, plays the senior citizen father’s character Krishnakant.
Elaborates Gheewala, “In my entire theatre and TV serials career, I have essayed a versatile variety of characters for which I have won critical acclaim. But playing this R.K. Laxman cartoon character was a huge challenge for me, besides being a rare honour. That’s because in the pocket cartoon of ‘You Said It’ my character is a mute observer of social and political incidents and issues but his silent expressions are an eloquent reaction, that says it all that too with an impactful punch. After minutely observing hundreds of cartoons for reference, chatting with people who were closely associated with the legendary cartoonist Laxman-saab, I used my own imagination to improvise and infuse ‘life’ into the iconic character. From the tremendous positive feedback I have been receiving, it seems I have done justice to my role,” smiles Deepak as he discreetly glances at his real-life actress wife Raagini, for her nod of approval.
Wasn’t the slim, agile Gheewala eager to meet the celebrated cartoonist who is the iconic inspiration behind his show? “Honestly, I have been a die-hard addict of his daily front page cartoon. My morning breakfast would be incomplete without browsing through his brilliant sketches with the hard hitting dialogue- captions.
That would always be my stimulating food for thought. Of course, it would be a huge honour for me to meet Laxman-saab personally. And I guess, like in his cartoons where the common man is ‘silent’, I would be ‘dumbstruck’ initially, whenever I get to take his precious blessings,” signs off Gheewala with tears welling up in his eyes.