The Office gets a desi makeover with former Indian cricketer Yuvraj Singh part of lead cast

The British cult classic, The Office, has been adapted for Indian audiences and finally made its way on the streaming website Hotstar on June 28^th.

More of a mockumentary, just as the original format, the adaptation, as suggested by reports, has already garnered a lot of attention from the audiences due to the popularity of the show. Apparently, this is the tenth adaptation of The Office since the 2001 release of the original series; it has previously been successfully adapted in Canada, Chile, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Israel, Sweden, Finland and the US.

Featuring an ensemble cast, just like the original version, the sitcom will also mark legendary Indian cricketer Yuvraj Singh’s acting debut. It will be interesting to see whether the Indian version will turn out to be as iconic as the British sitcom.

The ensemble cast includes, Gauahar Khan, Ranvir Shorey, Sunil Jetly, Gopal Datt, Mukul Chadda, Sayandeep Sengupta, Preeti Kochar, Samridhi Dewan, Priyanka Setia, Abhinav Sharma, Gavin Methalaka, Chien Ho Liao, Nehpal Gautam and Mayur Bansiwal amongst others.

In a statement released earlier to the press in Manchester, BBC Worldwide revealed, “Wernham Hogg becomes Wilkins Chawla, a paper company, as the hilarious format, sold to India’s Aditya Birla Group’s Applause Entertainment, follows Indian boss Jagdeep Chaddha and his hapless attempts to inspire and motivate a reluctant workforce. And the Slough trading estate of the home version becomes an industrial park on the far outskirts of Faridabad, a satellite town of New Delhi.”

Directed by Rohan Sippy and Debbie Rao, the 13 episodes follow typical The Office characters in various odd situations, creating comedy around their predicaments. The original was created, written, and directed by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant.