Delhi gets its own television show

A television show that Delhiites can truly claim as their own. From its title, to local shooting locales, to an all-Delhi cast and crew. 12/24 Karol Bagh, which premieres August 31 on Zee TV, is being pitted as the first ever ‘truly Delhi’ show on Indian television.

“A place like Karol Bagh in Delhi is the best to bring out a contrast between two different generations belonging to an essentially middle-class family,” says Sukesh Motwani, Creative Head Fiction at Zee TV. “To make it more convincing the entire cast and crew had to be from Delhi… Dilli-waale karenge to dil se karenge,” he adds.

“With Delhi-based actors we didn’t have to work hard on getting the lingo right. Phrases like Tu aa jaiyo or Aur bata yaar come to us naturally,” says Smriti Kalra, who plays Simmi in the show. “But the youth will be able to relate to it more because we’ve even shot at Shri Ram College of Commerce in the Delhi University,” she adds.

Kalra says shooting at places like Bengali Sweets and in the by-lanes of Lajpat Nagar has got people excited about the show. “The crowd goes hysteric when we’re around shooting. Delhiites always want to be in front of the camera, even if they don’t know what’s being shot!”

So what, according to her, are the things that are ‘quintessentially Delhi’? “You can’t replicate the food you get here anywhere else. And T-shirts as cheap as Rs 25... only in Sarojini Nagar,” she smiles back.link