SAB presents Smriti Irani in and as Maniben.com

Refreshing avatar will make you smile from 8th June on SAB. Mumbai, 02 June 2009: Guess who will be the new queen of comedy? Smriti Irani starts her new innings on television, in and as Maniben.com on SAB, India’s leading family comedy entertainment channel. The show premiers on Monday, 8th June and will be aired Monday-Thursday at 8.00 pm.

Maniben.com is the story of several Mani’s existing in our society; it’s a journey of Maniben from Bhuleshwar to Peddar Road, which brings with it new dreams, new ambitions, and retains hope in humanity.

Commenting on this Anooj Kapoor, Business Head, SAB TV stated: “SAB has believed in getting fresh content for television audience in the comedy genre that it believes can bind families in today’s time. Maniben.com is one show which again the entire family would love to sit and enjoy after a hard day’s work. We have adapted a popular and super hit Gujarati play on to Television, where Smriti herself had been playing the title role. We intend to now take Maniben.com closer to millions of Indians across the country who have loved Smriti on television all these years.”

Maniben.com has a very simple storyline; that promises to appeal to young and old alike. It revolves around the daily life of a middle class woman who lives in one of the many chawls in Mumbai with her husband. Being in the business of diamonds and witnessing his rising fortunes, her husband Jaman Patel (played by Nitin Vakharia) manages to bring himself and his family out of the chawl to an up-market area of Mumbai – Peddar Road. Smriti Irani aka Maniben (who plays the role of his wife) although very happy with the recent turn of events, is now faced with an impending dilemma. Balancing her middle class values and inhibitions; she has to also portray herself with her neighbors as an equally snobbish and fashionable woman which is typical of the rich society women who live in the area. Maniben.com is a humorous journey of a down to earth woman who accepts all the challenge and triumphs in her own way.

Excited with her new comedy avatar on television, says Smriti Irani, “The show fitted in perfectly with the brand ethos of SAB TV since it is a total entertainment for the family. I am extremely pleased to be working with the team at SAB TV and equally excited to be doing comedy, something which I did in the early days of my acting career. The team has worked extremely hard to put this together and we are confident the show will be just as successful as the play.”

Smriti Irani and Nitin Vakharia play the two essential characters of Maniben and Jaman Patel respectively. Other actors include Manini De-Mishra, Simple Kaul, Sharad Vyas, Dolly Bindra, Dilip Rawal, Sudha Shivpuri and Bijal Batavia.