It's not a copy, says Indian office crew

Samridhi Dewan, Sayandeep Sengupta, Mukul Chadda and Gopal Dutt. Pics/Sameer Markande

Identity theft is not a joke, Jim," thundered Dwight Schrute, one of the most loved characters in The Office: An American Workplace, in episode 21 of season three, when his colleague Jim Halpert, arrived to work dressed up as him as part of the many pranks he plays on Dwight. It is one of the many dialogues from the show that is recounted verbatim even today, over six years after the show aired its last episode.

The American version of British comedians Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant's mockumentary-style original, set in the dreary office of a fictional paper company, garnered a loyal fanbase worldwide over the nine seasons it lasted. Now, its Indian version - the 10th adaptation of the series - is set to hit digital screens later this month. The trailer for it dropped two weeks ago and fans weren't impressed, reminding the makers that 'identity theft' is still not a joke. The cast of the Indian show is well-aware of this criticism, and they're taking it on the chin. Speaking to mid-day about their adaptation, which is based on the first two seasons of the American version, they said they hope viewers give them a chance before making up their mind.

A still from the show. Pic/Hotstar

Their show, which will air on June 28 on Hotstar, is set in Faridabad, Haryana, where America's Dunder Mifflin Paper Company has turned into Wilkins Chawla. The regional manager - Michael Scott in the US version - is Jagdeep Chadda, played by Mukul Chadda, while Dwight, the assistant 'to' the regional manager, is TP Mishra, essayed by Gopal Dutt. The office lovebirds Pam Beesly and Jim are Pammi Goel and Amit Sharma, being played by Samridhi Dewan and Sayandeep Sengupta.
Talking to mid-day about how he prepared for Jagdeep's role, Chadda said, "Strangely, my challenge was less Michael being the issue and more like getting into the issues of Jagdeep Chadda, because he's a very peculiar character. I did watch the original while auditioning to understand the grammar of the show and that was helpful. But once I got the part, I didn't watch the show again."

About channelling Mishra, Dutt said, "In our Office, TP Mishra is a straight guy, he speaks Hindi, he is a Swadesi follower and that's what makes him different from Dwight's character. His Indianness makes him unique. Their quirks and eccentricities are quite common, but with a cultural difference. The language is different and the agenda of this character is different." For Dewan, Pammi is fairly dissimilar from Pam, "Because the society she lives in, the pressures and the stuff she goes through are very different. So the difference in terms of the social context is what you can look forward to." Sengupta said the flavour of the show is similar, but the humour is more Indian. Apart from that, he said, for Amit and Jim, "The nose and the height are the same."

So what can audiences expect from the show? "I think for a lot of people, it is a very Indian show. It is set in a slightly smaller town. Even from the title song, you get a sense of a smaller town office, where these people come in. So many people would relate to that because those are the kind of offices they've probably been to and the characters are the type they've seen; there's a lot to identify with," said Chadda. While the response to the show remains to be seen, audiences seem to have an opinion on the trailer and most of it is less than favourable, a fact both Chadda and Dutt are aware of. Chadda said, "I didn't take it personally or seriously at all. The show is getting noticed, that is the good part."

Dutt joked saying, "I think after watching the Hindi version, people will say 'don't make this in Bengali; the Hindi version is the best.'" Chadda added, "Apparently, when the UK version was made into the US version, they got a similar reaction and there are people who are angry to this day. So some of those people, to be honest, we are never going to convince, and that is fine. But to everybody else I would say, please watch it and keep an open mind and then tell us what you have to say, we'll also keep an open mind." Sengupta said, "If the show doesn't work, it would be because of the actors. The writers have done a phenomenal job Indianising the show."

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