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The Kumars at Number 42 ... Sunset Boulevard
By Alexa Baracaia, Evening Standard Last updated at 10:28am on 05.04.07
American dream: Meera Syal and Sanjeev Bhaskar, seated, in the Kumars
The Kumars At Number 42 are heading for Hollywood.
Meera Syal and Sanjeev Bhaskar's comedy chat show is set to be remade in America.
Producers of the BBC hit, which ended its seven-series run last year, are in talks with US broadcasters.
It would make Syal, 45, and husband Bhaskar the latest British comedy stars to cross the Atlantic, after Ricky Gervais and Sacha Baron Cohen.
Syal told the Standard: "There's interest from America and we are in talks. It's early stages and so much depends on the budget."
She said she would hope to star in any American version rather than see a US cast take over the format. "I'd be really interested. Can you imagine, the Kumars interviewing Sylvester Stallone and Nicole Kidman? I think it would be hilarious."
The comedy stars Syal as the matriarch of a British Indian family who invite stars into their "home". Bhaskar plays her grandson, host of the show.
Repeats of the Kumars on BBC America have been a big hit with viewers.
Syal,who juggles her career with raising daughter Chameli, 14, and son Shaan, 16 months, also attacked British television.
She said: "In the old days producers like Michael Wearing, who made Boys From the Black Stuff, were in charge of their own budget. They'd be told, 'that's your money for the year, it's up to you what you do with it'.
"Now a script has to go through so many levels of management it's going to be watered down. And there are few chances for new writers to get their work on because we've lost the single play. We need the single strand drama back.
"Also I'd like to see better roles for women. I would love to see a feisty women of a certain age comedy."
Syal revealed she is working on a film called The Describer - a dark romantic comedy in which she hopes to cast Hugh Grant as a lawyer who is turning blind.
Syal is also in rehearsals for a new play, Rafta, Rafta by East Is East writer Ayub Khan-Din. It opens at the Lyttleton Theatre on 26 April.
Reader views (3)
Being a big fan of the show I'm really glad that they're taking it over there but I just hope they don't forget about the UK if it takes off. I'd love to see another series if possible. Thats the thing with television though, everyone seems to want to make it in the U.S and when they do they forget about the viewers who put them there in the first place.
- Lance, Clapham
I'm not sure if an American audience will pick up on the show as the humour is very 'British'. It is a very funny programme and Meera Syal is abosultely brilliant as the Gran. Good luck to them!
- Mandy, Surrey
This is great news! The Kumars is a fantastically funny show and fingers crossed it will go down as well over in America. I just hope they come back and do another series over here too though!
- Lucy, Harrow
