Lapataganj

Lapataganj
Season 2 logo
Genre	Situation comedy
Written by	Ashwni Dhir Rajesh Chawla
Starring	See below
Country of origin	India
Original language	Hindi
No. of seasons	2
No. of episodes	767 (Season 1) 310 (Season 2)
Production
Producers	Garima Dhir Jalaj Dhir Harvinder Singh Bains Gurmit Singh Bains Keka Singh Chatterjee
Editors	Rupa Ganguly Kamlendu Ganguly Prithi & Sourav Shan Chatterjee
Camera setup	Multi-camera
Running time	Approx. 24 minutes
Original release
Network	SAB TV
Release	26 October 2009 – 15 August 2014

Lapataganj – Sharad Joshi Ki Kahaniyon Ka Pata is an Indian television sitcom, aired on SAB TV from 26 October 2009 to 15 August 2014. The series is based on Sharad Joshi’s novel of the same name. It has become one of the most popular comedy-shows in India. The 2nd season of the series is titled Lapataganj – Ek Baar Phir and started airing on 10 June 2013. The show was broadcast every day Monday to Friday at 10:00pm IST. This is SAB's most successful show after Taarak as when shows were 0.3 below it was at 1.5 and in season 1 it reached 2.1 TRP and Season 2 it reached 2.4 TRP. Its lowest TRP of season 1 was 0.3 at launch and in season 2 0.8.

Synopsis

Based in an imaginary small town called Lapataganj (meaning a lost place), the story is inspired by the writings of Sharad Joshi, who was an eminent Hindi satirist. His wide range of work has highlighted the bitter truth of Indian society with a satirical punch. These stories, while making viewers laugh, also make them empathize with the situations people face in their daily lives.

Lapataganj is a town in some part of India which has been long forgotten by the system. The town struggles daily for basic facilities, yet the people residing there are the happiest of the lot. The show captures the spirit of the common man to lead a happy life against all odds.

Seasons

Season 1.1

Première: 26 October 2009
Finale: 11 January 2013
No. of episodes:767

Season 2

Première: 10 June 2013
Finale: 15 August 2014
No. of episodes: 310

The 2nd season, titled Lapataganj – Ek Baar Phir, replaced the show Hum Aapke Hain In Laws and started its airing on 10 June 2013. This season had taken a 6-year leap in the show.

Cast and characters

Actor	Character	Details
Rohitash Gaud	Mukundilal Sughandhilal Gupta / Sughandhilal Shakarkandilal Gupta	A common man who is forever smiling irrespective whether is happy or not. He is very intelligent, helpful and an understanding person. He and his wife Indumati are in tune with one another—when his wife says "aji", he replies in "oji". Aged 35, he is an honest government post office clerk and because of his morals is strictly against any form of corruption. He is the main protagonist of the show. Sughandhilal is father of Mukundilal and villagers call him Chacha. He always shouts at Mukundi and other villagers. Both father and son are lookalikes.
Sucheta Khanna	Indumati Mukundilal Gupta	A common Indian wife and housewife who regards her husband as God. She speaks slowly, scolds slowly and, being from Uttar Pradesh, her mother tongue disallows the use of the sound 'sha'. Hence, words like 'shaadi' are pronounced as 'sadi', 'khushboo' is pronounced as 'khusboo'. She even mispronounces Urdu words as well. She often regards her husband (pati) as vegetation (banaspati) when he doesn't know something. When she says "aji", Mukundi replies in"oji". She refers to herself as Mrs. Indumati Lal Gupta from Lapataganj.
Vineet Kumar	Kachua Prasad	He is fondly called by the Lapataganj residents as Kachua Chacha. He is affected by nothing nor does he commit anything, staying true to his name. He also says "kuch log yeh kaam karte hai, aur kuch log yeh kaam nahi bhi karte hai" which means 'some people do this work and some people also don't do this work'.
Shubhangi Gokhle	Mishri Mausi	She is the agony aunt of Lapataganj, mother of Surili and elder sister of Chotu Mama. She has advice for everyone, and is an extremely emotional, kindhearted person who breaks into tears at the drop of a hat. She has the unusual habit of forgetting words albeit which leads to humorous incidences. She always says "ae chotu,kya bakloli karte ho" i.e. why you do foolish things as she is fed up with her husband's mischief. She is impatiently waiting for him to return from Mumbai, where he works. Her husband always beats Biji Pandey when he flirts with her daughter Surili.
Abbas Khan	Pappu Pandey a.k.a. Biji Pandey / Eji Pandey	He is fondly called Biji Pandey by the Lapataganj residents, due to his being always busy. His colourful clothes match his colourful personality. Aged above 30, he is still 'biji' (busy) studying law, which he and others pronounce as 'laa'. He is very busy roaming the Lapataganj on his bicycle, most often to chase Surili, his love interest. Now, he is married to Surili. He always dislikes Mishri and Mama. His favourite saying is "papa kasam"(Father's Oath) and "deeply ghus ke"(within depth). After passing law exams he still meets Surili from outside as Surili is not sent to her husband's house because of his unemployment. Eji Pandey is the twin brother of Biji Pandey. His favourite saying is "take it easy". He always flirts with Mirza Chacha's daughters. In the 2nd season he has become a police inspector and is posted at Gumshudaganj Thana.
Preeti Amin / Aditi Tailang	Surili Pappu Pandey	She is the daughter of Mishri mausi. She is very pretty, but unfortunately she is a mute, therefore, her beautiful expressions are limited to just 'khao'(eat), 'jaao'(go), 'laao'(bring), 'aaao'(come) etc. She lost her voice when she swallowed a cracker, anar in her childhood. She is the love interest of Biji Pandey, to whom she is now married. Now she is being treated by doctors and she will learn to speak. Aditi Tailang replaced Preeti for 2nd season.
Anup Upadhyay	Chatteshwar 'Chotu' Shukla a.k.a. Motu Mama	He is Mishri's younger brother and Surili's Mama. He is known by Lapataganj residents as Mama (the Hindi word for mother's brother). He has the frequent habit of replying "Yeh kaam to pitaji kiya karte the."(My father used to do this work…) at whatever is said to him. He loves his friend Alija very much. He doesn't work and always sits in Suttilal's shop. Also he has 3 wives,his third one being Chameli C. Shukla.He has 1 son from his first marriage,Tillu, 2 unnamed daughters from his second and no children from his third.
Dhruv Bhavsar	Tillu	Mama's son from first marriage.
Kajal Nishad	Chameli Chatteshwar Shukla	Lallan Vajpayee's sister, a widow. Her takiya kalam is "Hamko sab pata hai"(I know everything). Now she is married to Chhotu Mama. At the end of Season 1 she, along with Tilu, went to her mausi's house in Ghorakpur.At the very start of Season 2 she ran away with someone but returned before the ending of Season 2.
Krishna Bhatt	Elizabeth Yadav a.k.a. Alija Tailor	In Lapataganj called 'Alija' an old resident of Lapataganj who had gone to South India, to meet his mentor, but later returned to showcase his modern fashion in Lapataganj. He has the frequent habit of ending his sentences with 'hainge' instead of 'hai'. He is Mama's best friend and is always helping him.
Rakesh Srivastav	Lallan Vajpayee/ Kallan Vajpayee	He is the co-brother of Mukundilal Gupta. He has a habit of saying "Humse kisi ne kaha hi nahi" when asking him anything. He works in the Public Works Department and always boasts that he is not an ordinary man as he works in PWD.He has 2 children (unnamed).Kallanji is Lallanji's brother and Chameli's brother.He and Lallanji are twins.He also has a habit of boasting that he is not an ordinary man as he works in the CPWD like his brother.He has a daughter Lilavati,who is a crush of Chukundilala.Introduced in the second season.
Mamta Gurnani / Mamta Verma (Lapataganj Ek Baar Phir)	Bindumati Lallan Vajpayee a.k.a. Bindu	She is the wife of Lallan Vajpayee and sister of Indumati. She often uses names of towns before speaking some words such as "party ka pilibhi", "sabak ka samastipur".
Sunil Kumar	Suttilal Puttilal Halwai / Puttilal Muttilal Halwai	He is the owner of the only snack shop in Lapataganj. His tea, samosas and jalebis are tasty and famous. However, he often complains about the unpaid bills. He loves his wife, Mircha but is scared of her beatings. Recently his wife's brother, Pudina has come to Lapatganj and works at his shop. His father was Puttilal and his shop is named after him. Mukundi's father often regards him as Putti ke puttar.
Soma Rathod	Mircha Suttilal Halwai	She is the wife of Suttilal and creates humorous situations that arise due to her extra large size. She is fond of eating and often eats up all the snacks which her husband has prepared. This makes him very angry.
Sanjay Chaudhary / Unknown	Chukundilal Mukundial Gupta	He is the son of Mukundi and Indumati. He was eight years old and studied in the third grade in the first season. Now, in the 2nd season, he is 14 years old.
Unknown/ Unknown	Bhagyalakshmi Mukundilal Gupta	She is the adopted child of Mukundi and Indu. She was lost in a fair and was found in a temple. Her father and mother died in a road accident.
Tapasya Nayak	Salima	She is the eldest unmarried daughter of Mirza Chacha. Eji Pandey often flirts with her and she also likes him.Her takiya kalam is 'samjha kariye'.
Unknown	Kalima	She is second unmarried daughter of Mirza Chacha.
Unknown	Alima	She is 3rd unmarried daughter of Mirza Chacha.
Unknown	Halima	She is 4th unmarried daughter of Mirza Chacha.
Unknown	Afaima a.k.a. Falima	She is 5th unmarried daughter of Mirza Chacha.
Ashutosh Sinha	Guddu	He is like a brother to Pappu Pandey a.k.a. Biji Pandey.His wife is the constantly nagging Duniya Dubey from Kanpur.
Atul Srivastava	Mirza Tayyab Ali Acche a.k.a. Mirza Chacha	He is also a new character in Lapataganj. He is a Muslim and has five daughters, all of them unmarried. He is disturbed by Eji Pandey when he flirts with her daughters. He, along with all his daughters are not in the 2nd season.
Bharti Achrekar	Sindhumati Lal Singh	She is the mother of Indumati and Bindumati and Mukundi and Lallan's mother-in-law. She was once bitten by a male dog and female dog, and both of them died. Therefore in one episode, Mukundi says "Meri saas hi hai bahut zeherili" (My mother-in-law is indeed very poisonous). She often comes to Mukundi's house and troubles him.
Sukesh Anand	Lalaji	Introduced in 2nd season.He is a big shot and owns 8796549387 trillion billion zillion crore acres of land.The only obstacle in his way for world owning is Lapataganj. Anatoingist.
Trishikha Tripathi	Dolly	Daughter of Lala ji, introduced in 2nd season. She is a very naughty girl. She is also a crush of Chukundilal.
Unknown	Lilavati/Lily	Daughter of Kallan ji, who is the brother of Lallan ji, introduced in 2nd season. She is a crush of Chukundilala. Her favourite catchphrase is "I tell you".
Shilpa Shinde	Miss Mary	New village teacher in Lapataganj. She helps the villagers out and also keeps them updated about the modern world. She is very helpful and often says "Mary bolega to bolte hai Mary bolta, par Mary bolega" before any advice or suggestion. She has trouble speaking fluent Hindi and comes from a Christian background. Love interest of the new havaldar at Lapataganj Thana
Vineet Raina	Lakhan	New havaldar in Lapataganj Thana. Under Eji Pandey's training. He is very smart and the love interest of Miss Mary.

Crossovers

Lapataganj had crossovers with F.I.R. (TV series) on 9 March 2012 and with Chidiya Ghar on 27 May 2012.

Awards

• Indian Television Academy Awards, Best Actor In A Comic Role - Rohitash Gaud

External links

• Official website (Facebook)
• Lapataganj Official Site on SAB TV