Zabaan Sambhalke
Encyclopedia
Zabaan Sambhalke is a Hindi sitcom directed by Rajiv Mehra. It is the Indian version of the British sitcom Mind Your Language
(1977). The show followed Dekh Bhai Dekh
, another popular sitcom on DD Metro
, in prime time in 1993. The show ran successfully for two seasons, first in 1993–1994 with 54 episodes on DD Metro
Channel, and later in 1997–1998 with another 52 episodes on Home TV. The show featured actors Pankaj Kapoor
, Viju Khote
, Shobha Khote and Tom Alter
.
The show also reruns on SAB TV
and later on Bindass
channel.
) is an engineer who is forced to teach Hindi in a language school. His students are people from all corners of the country as well as the world. Along with them is the obnoxious principal Miss Lata Dixit (played by Shobha Khote) of the (National Institute of Language, aka NIL). It had the "I-hate-my-job", "lost-in-translation" and culture shock
situations.
Mind Your Language
Mind Your Language is a British comedy television series, that premiered on ITV in late 1977. Produced by LWT and directed by Stuart Allen, it is set in an adult education college in London and focuses on the English as a Foreign Language class taught by Mr. Jeremy Brown, portrayed by Barry Evans,...
(1977). The show followed Dekh Bhai Dekh
Dekh Bhai Dekh
Dekh Bhai Dekh was a Hindi sitcom directed by Anand Mahendru, and starring Sushma Seth, Navin Nischol and Shekhar Suman in lead roles. It first aired in 1993. The story revolves around three generations of the Diwan family, who live as an extended family in an ancestral bungalow in the suburbs of...
, another popular sitcom on DD Metro
DD Metro
DD Metro also known as DD 2 was Doordarshan's Hindi language general entertainment channel. At the time, DD Metro was on air, the channel was kept as a terrestrial channel, instead of exclusive satellite channel. However, it was available on many of the cable operators in India...
, in prime time in 1993. The show ran successfully for two seasons, first in 1993–1994 with 54 episodes on DD Metro
DD Metro
DD Metro also known as DD 2 was Doordarshan's Hindi language general entertainment channel. At the time, DD Metro was on air, the channel was kept as a terrestrial channel, instead of exclusive satellite channel. However, it was available on many of the cable operators in India...
Channel, and later in 1997–1998 with another 52 episodes on Home TV. The show featured actors Pankaj Kapoor
Pankaj Kapoor
Pankaj Kapur is an Indian theatre, television and film actor from Ludhiana, Punjab, India. He has appeared in several television serials and films. His most acclaimed film roles to date have been that of Dr...
, Viju Khote
Viju Khote
Viju Khote is an Indian actor who has worked as character actor in more than 300 films in Hindi cinema and Marathi cinema. He is especially famous as the dacoit Kalia in the film Sholay and the dialogue, Sardar maine aapka namak khaya hai and Robert in movie Andaz Apna Apna...
, Shobha Khote and Tom Alter
Tom Alter
Tom Alter is an Indian actor of American origin. As a thespian and television actor, he is best known for his work in Bollywood, but has also worked in the theatre...
.
The show also reruns on SAB TV
SAB TV
SAB TV is an Indian general entertainment television channel that is owned by Multi Screen Media Pvt. Ltd and based in Mumbai, Maharashtra. It was launched on April 23, 2000 by Sri Adhikari Brothers as a general entertainment channel. In 2003, it was repositioned as a comedy-centric channel...
and later on Bindass
Bindass
Bindass is a Hindi entertainment channel in India targeted at Indian youth. It was launched on 24 September 2007 under CEO Zarina Mehta.Bindass is defined by its brand values of being Fun, Frank, Fearless and Free...
channel.
Overview
The show is set in the 1990s when the country had high unemployment rates. Mohan Bharti(Pankaj KapoorPankaj Kapoor
Pankaj Kapur is an Indian theatre, television and film actor from Ludhiana, Punjab, India. He has appeared in several television serials and films. His most acclaimed film roles to date have been that of Dr...
) is an engineer who is forced to teach Hindi in a language school. His students are people from all corners of the country as well as the world. Along with them is the obnoxious principal Miss Lata Dixit (played by Shobha Khote) of the (National Institute of Language, aka NIL). It had the "I-hate-my-job", "lost-in-translation" and culture shock
Culture shock
Culture shock is the anxiety, feelings of frustration, alienation and anger that may occur when a person is emplaced in a new culture.One of the most common causes of culture shock involves individuals in a foreign country. Culture shock can be described as consisting of one or more distinct phases...
situations.
The staff
- Mohan Bharti, played by Pankaj KapoorPankaj KapoorPankaj Kapur is an Indian theatre, television and film actor from Ludhiana, Punjab, India. He has appeared in several television serials and films. His most acclaimed film roles to date have been that of Dr...
, is an engineer who is forced to teach HindiHindiStandard Hindi, or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi, also known as Manak Hindi , High Hindi, Nagari Hindi, and Literary Hindi, is a standardized and sanskritized register of the Hindustani language derived from the Khariboli dialect of Delhi...
in the National Institute of Language, NIL. He hates his job but has no choice. Unlike Jeremy BrownJeremy BrownJeremy Van Brown is an American former professional baseball catcher with the Oakland Athletics. He is primarily known for his place in Michael Lewis' 2003 #1 bestseller Moneyball.-Career:...
, he is not charming and is shorter than all the girls in his class. The girls of the class and the receptionist flirt with him. He constantly complains to Miss Dixit about increasing his salary. He often loses his temper, yells at students and walks out of class. - Lata Dixit, played by Shobha Khote, is referred in the show as Miss Dixit. She is the obnoxious principal who is poked fun at for her weight and miser attitude. She is a shrewd business woman, who has never married and often dreams of being a Bollywood actress. Later in the show she has a romantic interest in a Russian Student, Nikolai.
- Archana, played by Meenakshi Shukla, is Miss Dixit's secretary. She has a small role but is shown in almost all episodes. She seems to have a crush on Mohan Bharti, and she often teases him.
- Chaturvedi, played by Chandu Parkhi, is the peon. His job is to serve tea, and he is often seen sharing jokes with Archana.
The Class
- Miss Vijaya Southeast, played by Bhavana Balsavar, is a Tamil ActressTamil cinemaTamil cinema is the film industry based in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India, dedicated to the production of films in the Tamil language. It is based in Chennai's Kodambakkam district, where several South Indian film production companies are headquartered...
aspiring for roles in Hindi Films. - Mister Charles Spencers, played by Tom AlterTom AlterTom Alter is an Indian actor of American origin. As a thespian and television actor, he is best known for his work in Bollywood, but has also worked in the theatre...
, is a BritishUnited KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
writer living in India. He is later shown married to an Indian woman, played by Asawari JoshiAsawari JoshiAsawari Joshi born on May 6, 1965 is a popular Marathi language actress. She has acted in many marathi films and serials. Recently she is acting in Office Office. She has acted as Lovely Kapoor in Om Shanti Om, a movie which starred Shahrukh Khan....
. - Makkhan Singh, played by Rajinder Mehra, is a SikhSikhA Sikh is a follower of Sikhism. It primarily originated in the 15th century in the Punjab region of South Asia. The term "Sikh" has its origin in Sanskrit term शिष्य , meaning "disciple, student" or शिक्ष , meaning "instruction"...
Government employee who recently got transferred to Mumbai from PunjabPunjab (India)Punjab ) is a state in the northwest of the Republic of India, forming part of the larger Punjab region. The state is bordered by the Indian states of Himachal Pradesh to the east, Haryana to the south and southeast and Rajasthan to the southwest as well as the Pakistani province of Punjab to the...
. - Miss Jennifer Jones, played by Tanaaz Irani, is an airhostess for American Airlines. She is a Bimbo, wearing short skirts and high heels.
- Mungwango Asoyo, played by Simon Asoyo, is an African from Congo. He is probably the best student when it comes to Hindi. He once bought kebabs for Miss Dixit on her birthday which were made of snakes; he said they were "Snake Kebab" which because of his pronunciation were taken as "Seenkh Kebab".
- Vittal Bapurao Pote, played by Viju KhoteViju KhoteViju Khote is an Indian actor who has worked as character actor in more than 300 films in Hindi cinema and Marathi cinema. He is especially famous as the dacoit Kalia in the film Sholay and the dialogue, Sardar maine aapka namak khaya hai and Robert in movie Andaz Apna Apna...
, is a maharashtrian who works in the local "Nautanki". He often comes to class in play costumes. - Nikolai Molatov, played by Hosi Vasunia, is a Russian diplomat. He is the romantic interest of Miss Dixit. He carried a bottle of Vodka which was often mistaken as water by his classmates.
- Sheikh Ruslan-Al-Sulaah, played by Keith Stevenson, is an Arabian Sheikh. He is an oil magnate and very rich, and wears the white robe and typical Sheikh headgear. He has many cars and he is so rich that even the JerrycanJerrycanA jerrycan is a robust fuel container originally made from pressed steel. It was designed in Germany in the 1930s for military use to hold 20 litres of fuel. The development of the Jerrycan was a huge improvement on earlier designs, which required tools and funnels to use.-Uses:Today similar...
for keeping spare fuel in the car is made of gold. His Hindi is worst in the class, while his last name "Sulaah" was often heard as "Salaa" which is a derogatory remark in Hindi. - Mr. Keki Dastoor Contractor, played by Dinyaar Tirandaz, is a ParsiParsiParsi or Parsee refers to a member of the larger of the two Zoroastrian communities in South Asia, the other being the Irani community....
. He has a laid back attitude and really bad poetry. - Mr Vivek Vaswani, played by Vivek VaswaniVivek VaswaniViveck Vaswani is a Bollywood actor, writer and producer. He mostly appears in the films he produces, and his films mainly star Shahrukh Khan.- Career :...
, is a sindhiSindhi peopleSindhis are a Sindhi speaking socio-ethnic group of people originating from Sindh, a province Formerly of British India, now in Pakistan. Today Sindhis that live in Pakistan belong to various religious denominations including Islam, Zoroastrianism, Hinduism, Sikhism and Christianity...
. He is a NRI, and rich, but he is a penny pincher and often paranoid about people tricking him and stealing his money.
Added in season 2
- Dimple Shah is a highly talkative Gujarati girl.
- Mr. Mukharji, played by Anant MahadevanAnant MahadevanAnant Mahadevan , also credited as Ananth Narayan Mahadevan, is an actor and director of Marathi and Hindi films and television serials in India, who hails from Kerala ; a state down the south of INDIA. He has acted in Bollywood films since the 1980s playing character/minor roles...
, is a Bengali gentleman who is also a Magician, often getting into arguments with Ruslan. - Rock Patel, played by Javed Jaffrey, is only seen in two episodes He is an NRI and rapper, his catchphrase is YO!, which annoyed Mohan Bharti.