<p>The setting seems vaguely familiar. Two not-so-alike boys rollerblade around a hotel, causing minor havoc along the way, much to the chagrin of the hotel manager and their mother.<br /></p>.<p>Turns out, these kids have a suite on the 23rd floor of the hotel, which their mother has neatly worked into her salary package, as she works at the hotel as an assistant manager. Various moments in the show are interspersed with raucous laughter over the kids’ most recent, naughty outing and the hotel manager’s exasperation over trying to keep the two out of the hotel’s way. Surely, this must be a version of Disney’s The Suite Life of Zack and Cody. As it turns out, it certainly is, what with the same introductory musical score and the title, The Suite Life of Karan and Kabir; the show airs every Sunday at 10.30 am on the Disney Channel.<br /><br />There are all the usual suspects, with a few variations — Karan and Kabir aren’t as physically alike as Zack and Cody; their mother, Preeti Jaiswal, is not a singer in the bar as the character is portrayed in The Suite Life of Zack and Cody. Tipton Hotel has been rechristened Raj Mahal Hotel, which is managed by Maan Singh, whose worries are similar to that of Mr Moseby from the original. Rani Uberoi slips into the role of the hotel owner’s snooty and spoilt daughter who flits in and out of the frame to reiterate her inherited wealth, much like London Tipton in the earlier version. And taking Maddie’s place is Vinnie/Vinita, who mans the candy counter at the hotel, and occasionally ‘babysits’ Karan and Kabir. It is with this motley crew that we enter the desi version of the Suite Life experience.<br />Watching the pilot episode of The Suite Life of Karan and Kabir, I begin to wonder if the original was just as loud or dramatic. As I switch back and forth between Zack, Cody, Karan and Kabir, I realise that, save for the minutest change in details, the storylines are very much the same. The plot of each episode is identical to the ones that have been aired in the original and the acting, just as over the top.<br />Shruti Seth, who plays the role of the mother Preeti Jaiswal in the Indian version, reaffirms this by saying, “We’ve kept the storyline as close to the original as possible.” Perhaps keeping in mind the Indian mentality, some characterisations have been slightly tweaked, particularly that of Preeti’s role in the hotel. <br />Preeti’s counterpart in the original, Carey Martin, is a singer who works in the hotel lounge/bar. Carey is shown to have been married earlier to Kurt Martin, Zack and Cody’s father, but later divorced for reasons that were not clearly spelt out. I am not entirely sure how portraying a single mother, working as a singer in a hotel bar would have translated in the minds of an Indian audience, and that too, in a television show aimed mainly at kids and teenagers. But still, they seem to have found a reasonable way around the original character description without totally straying from the essence of the role itself: a mother who works hard to make a living for herself and her two adorable, and sometimes slightly incorrigible, kids.<br />I do wish, however, that the father’s absence was more definitively clarified. Shruti explains that in the making of this Indian adaptation, it was a deliberate decision to not establish the presence or absence of the father/husband. Besides, Shruti feels, as that character is not an integral part of the show, the absence of the father figure would mostly go unnoticed. <br />However, as I go through the first couple of episodes of The Suite Life of Karan and Kabir, I can’t help but think of the father and where he might be. Is he dead? Are the parents separated/divorced, just as in the original? Is he at sea, as Shruti suggested in passing? It silently nags at the back of my mind — like a piece of a jigsaw puzzle that conveniently goes missing just as you’re about to get the whole picture. But then again, that could just be me.<br />I’m not sure if this show would take off with the same amount of fervour as the original series. I suppose my skepticism might be due to the fact that I am not a part of the target audience, for whom the antics of Karan and Kabir, or even Zack and Cody for that matter, might appear amusing or impressive. However, The Suite Life of Karan and Kabir still has it moments of laughter, which makes this series a tad bit entertaining.<br /></p>
<p>The setting seems vaguely familiar. Two not-so-alike boys rollerblade around a hotel, causing minor havoc along the way, much to the chagrin of the hotel manager and their mother.<br /></p>.<p>Turns out, these kids have a suite on the 23rd floor of the hotel, which their mother has neatly worked into her salary package, as she works at the hotel as an assistant manager. Various moments in the show are interspersed with raucous laughter over the kids’ most recent, naughty outing and the hotel manager’s exasperation over trying to keep the two out of the hotel’s way. Surely, this must be a version of Disney’s The Suite Life of Zack and Cody. As it turns out, it certainly is, what with the same introductory musical score and the title, The Suite Life of Karan and Kabir; the show airs every Sunday at 10.30 am on the Disney Channel.<br /><br />There are all the usual suspects, with a few variations — Karan and Kabir aren’t as physically alike as Zack and Cody; their mother, Preeti Jaiswal, is not a singer in the bar as the character is portrayed in The Suite Life of Zack and Cody. Tipton Hotel has been rechristened Raj Mahal Hotel, which is managed by Maan Singh, whose worries are similar to that of Mr Moseby from the original. Rani Uberoi slips into the role of the hotel owner’s snooty and spoilt daughter who flits in and out of the frame to reiterate her inherited wealth, much like London Tipton in the earlier version. And taking Maddie’s place is Vinnie/Vinita, who mans the candy counter at the hotel, and occasionally ‘babysits’ Karan and Kabir. It is with this motley crew that we enter the desi version of the Suite Life experience.<br />Watching the pilot episode of The Suite Life of Karan and Kabir, I begin to wonder if the original was just as loud or dramatic. As I switch back and forth between Zack, Cody, Karan and Kabir, I realise that, save for the minutest change in details, the storylines are very much the same. The plot of each episode is identical to the ones that have been aired in the original and the acting, just as over the top.<br />Shruti Seth, who plays the role of the mother Preeti Jaiswal in the Indian version, reaffirms this by saying, “We’ve kept the storyline as close to the original as possible.” Perhaps keeping in mind the Indian mentality, some characterisations have been slightly tweaked, particularly that of Preeti’s role in the hotel. <br />Preeti’s counterpart in the original, Carey Martin, is a singer who works in the hotel lounge/bar. Carey is shown to have been married earlier to Kurt Martin, Zack and Cody’s father, but later divorced for reasons that were not clearly spelt out. I am not entirely sure how portraying a single mother, working as a singer in a hotel bar would have translated in the minds of an Indian audience, and that too, in a television show aimed mainly at kids and teenagers. But still, they seem to have found a reasonable way around the original character description without totally straying from the essence of the role itself: a mother who works hard to make a living for herself and her two adorable, and sometimes slightly incorrigible, kids.<br />I do wish, however, that the father’s absence was more definitively clarified. Shruti explains that in the making of this Indian adaptation, it was a deliberate decision to not establish the presence or absence of the father/husband. Besides, Shruti feels, as that character is not an integral part of the show, the absence of the father figure would mostly go unnoticed. <br />However, as I go through the first couple of episodes of The Suite Life of Karan and Kabir, I can’t help but think of the father and where he might be. Is he dead? Are the parents separated/divorced, just as in the original? Is he at sea, as Shruti suggested in passing? It silently nags at the back of my mind — like a piece of a jigsaw puzzle that conveniently goes missing just as you’re about to get the whole picture. But then again, that could just be me.<br />I’m not sure if this show would take off with the same amount of fervour as the original series. I suppose my skepticism might be due to the fact that I am not a part of the target audience, for whom the antics of Karan and Kabir, or even Zack and Cody for that matter, might appear amusing or impressive. However, The Suite Life of Karan and Kabir still has it moments of laughter, which makes this series a tad bit entertaining.<br /></p>
