Mumbai Calling is a new comedy series, set in a call centre in Mumbai, that will air on ITV in Autumn 2008.
Mumbai Calling…“an Indian Call Centre… hour upon hour spent hanging on the telephone listening to poor saps who completely fail to understand what you need – but if you’re a highly educated graduate of the University of New Delhi you’ve got to work somewhere, isn’t it?"... No, Sunil, we say ‘haven’t you’”.
Kenny Gupta, London born, accountant minnow, is lumbered with running a call centre in Mumbai, India. But… he’s lost his girl, lost his way and wants out. He longs for the drizzle, tarmac and supermarkets of England.
As he slides into a world of Mumbai distractions - pretty girls and cheap alcohol - Dev Rajah, erstwhile general manager and purveyor of clandestine goods and services, has to take over running the operation. But when Dev receives a call from head office in London, informing him that they are sending someone over to assess them, he has to bring Kenny back into the game.When ‘the person’ arrives, she turns out to be Terri Johnson, a sexy, feisty woman in her early 30’s. Terri fulfils her brief and shakes up the office. But is then shocked to then learn from her boss in England, that she must stay in India to help Kenny run the call centre. The audience later discovers that Terri’s boss is also her married lover, all too keen to get her out of the way while he gets his marriage back on track.
The series follows Kenny, Dev and Terri as they fight to keep the call centre going at all costs, whether this involves directing a hearse through the traffic of Milton Keynes or delivering a baby over the phone. |
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Mumbai Calling was shot entirely on location in India,
has enormous production values and a large cast of Indian actors.
“We
were able to work to a scale that would have been impossible in the UK,” said
Executive Producer Allan McKeown for whom Mumbai Calling marks a return
to UK TV after ten years spent working with HBO in the U.S. (Tracey
Takes On, Trailer Tales, Live & Exposed) and
producing musicals in London (Jerry Springer the Opera - winner
of Olivier Award for Best Musical 2005) and on Broadway (LENNON).
Running time
7 x 30 minutes
Starring
Sanjeev Bhaskar The Kumars at No. 42
Nitin Ganatra
Bride and Prejudice
Daisy Beaumont
Star Stories
Namit Das
Allan McKeown Tracey Takes On, Trailer Tales, Live & Exposed, Jerry Springer the Opera, Lennon
Written by
Sanjeev Baskar, Simon Blackwell and a team of UK writers