How did Mumbai Calling happen?
Producer Allan McKeown was interested in setting a comedy in a call centre in India. I had started writing a movie about a call centre some years ago, which I abandoned to pursue other projects. I dusted those ideas and developed a situation comedy. Actor Nitin Ganatra and writer Simon Blackwell are friends. I brought them on board and they added to the series.
What’s your character Kenny Gupta like?
Kenny Gupta is a British-born Indian who comes to Mumbai to manage a call centre.
Although he looks like everybody else, he’s a fish out of water and is constantly looking forward to the day he can return to his cold, rainy, depressing bit of London.
Is this yet another attempt at speaking about race relations?
From Goodness Gracious Me through The Kumars at No. 42 to a documentary series on India, my work has always been about playing with people’s perceptions and stereotypes. I hope to do the same with Mumbai Calling.
How is the race scene in the UK now?
Better than it was when my parents came here. After President Obama, who knows, we might have an Indian prime minister of the UK.
Do you fear that given the current economic scenario and the western take on outsourcing, the show might face criticism in the UK?
Mumbai Calling is entertainment and thus employs dramatic licence. It isn’t a documentary, so any criticism other than from an entertainment point of view is pointless.
Your wife Meera Syal has not been a part of Mumbai Calling. What is she up to?
Meera has been writing movie scripts and acting in a comedy on British TV, called Beautiful People, so she is busy.
What makes a good joke — a situation or a punch line?
Both make a good joke. A combination of the two makes a great one.
Who are your favourite comedians?
The Marx brothers, Woody Allen, Monty Python, Peter Sellers, Robin Williams... the list goes on. At the moment my three-year-old son Shaan makes me laugh more than anyone else.
