<
p>Wonderful news: The Kumars at No. 42, a successor to the incredible British Asian sketch show Goodness Gracious Me, debuts on BBC America next Sunday. Like The Ali G Show, it’s a celebrity interview format where the interviewers are in character. You’re inviting Patrick Stewart in to meet your embarrassingly ethnic family, wicked old nani included, and filming the results.
“I said, ‘Mum, this is Helena Bonham Carter.’ Mum said, ‘You’re such a pretty girl. It’s a shame they forced you to wear a monkey mask in your last film.’ “
The desi grandma character is particularly pointed, which puts me in mind of Zohra Sehgal’s ninja-dowager roles in Masala and Bhaji on the Beach.
“The expectation and cliche of an old Indian woman is that she’s the most invisible woman in the world, walking 10 paces behind her husband,” Syal says. “The old ones I met, particularly the widows, were raucous and cheeky. Widowhood was the first time no one relied on them — that’s why they turned out to be so naughty.”
Fox licensed the concept last year, morphed the ethnicity into The Ortegas, and then froze production.
“We went to the WB as well, and [former network co-chief executive] Jordan Levin said to me, ‘They’ll all try to make you have them be Hispanic, but I’d keep it Indian. There are already lots of shows set in the Hispanic community. This is more quirky, but they’ll convince you it should be Spanish.’ “
But GGM plays well in India, where, due to overpopulation, ratings have a different meaning:
“He said to me, ‘I have some terrible news,’ ” Bhaskar says, shedding his posh British accent and replacing it with his cousin’s Indian accent. ” ‘Your show is doing terribly here. It’s only seen by 40 to 50 million people.’ ”