Synopsis of Mumbai Calling

Episode 1: “Teknobable”

Kenny Gupta has been sent out from London to manage Teknobable, a call center in Mumbai. Since arriving, Kenny has been unhappy. He’s had his heart broken, he’s been drinking, and recently he’s been absent from his job. Meanwhile at the call center, among the daily confusion and the lack of supervision, Dev Rajah, Kenny’s assistant, gets a call from the head office saying that Terry Johnson will be arriving in Mumbai to do “an on-site assessment.”

In a panic, Dev tells an office boy to pick up Terry Johnson from the airport and drop the assessor “anywhere but here!” Dev must find “Mr. Kenny” to deal with the problem. Dev finds Kenny in a bar trying to work off a hangover. Dev suggests that Mr. Kenny needs a new good-looking “bendy” assistant. He has made a few calls. The girls will be coming in that day. “Un-make the calls.” Kenny tells him. Kenny agrees to come in to work to deal with the assessor. Dev returns to deal with the “bendy” assistants. Terri Johnson, the assessor straggles into the call center to find it hardly what she expected. And Terri Johnson is also hardly what they expected – a good-looking woman. Just then a crisis breaks out. Kenny and Terri quickly spring in to action. Working together they solve the crisis. They might be a good team. The head office tells Terri to stay in India, setting up a rivalry, and maybe an attraction between Kenny and Terri.

Episode 2: “Home Comforts”

Kenny Gupta is late for work and the streets are blocked with crowds arriving for a religious festival. His cab driver finds a way through by driving like a maniac. Today is the day that Kenny is launching a new service for drivers in the UK. It’s goes well, then not so well, and then it’s a disaster. Meanwhile, Terri has nowhere to live. So out of an act of Indian hospitality, Dev offers her accommodation at his house. Terri tells Dev’s family that she is his boss and this causes Dev to be ridiculed at home. By the end of the night, Terri finds herself sleeping in a bed with three of Dev’s relatives. Kenny is surprised that he is jealous of Terri staying at Dev’s house. But when he finds out that there is no relationship between the two, he comes up with a plan to help both Dev and Terri out of their unfavorable predicaments.

Episode 3: “Good Sellers”

Terri is concerned that the operators at the center do not speak with clear English accents. She decides they need coaching. An actor is hired and he embarks on a radical training program. Meanwhile, Dev is caught out by a local gangster who is demanding protection money from Teknobable. Considered a total failure, the training scheme has been abandoned and the actor has been fired. Kenny and Terri are now involved and are threatened by the gangster as well. The actor returns to the call center to collect his money. Later, his pal, a Bollywood star, comes to offer support. The gangster is stunned when he sees the Bollywood star, who coincidentally is his hero. Impressed and in awe, the gangster vows to leave the call center alone and all ends well, but less so for Dev.

Episode 4: “Boy to Man”

Terri realizes that the operators are lacking in confidence, that they are too submissive with the callers. She sets out to give the operators a crash course in self-confidence. Amar, Dev’s assistant, is seriously distracted. Dev quickly finds out that it is because his parents are forcing him into an arranged marriage. At the “Assertiveness Workshop”, Amar is chosen as the subject. Terri succeeds in giving him a “corporate bitch slapping”. He runs off a broken man. Terri, Kenny, and Dev follow Amar to the train station where they each make their case for and against the arranged marriage. They go to Amar’s house where Amar, filled with confidence, takes a stand, and he is surprised at the parents’ supportive reaction. He is also shocked when he sees the prospective bride.

Episode 5: “Dating Season”

Dev accepts a speaking engagement on behalf of Kenny Gupta. Kenny is initially reticent to give the speech at the “The Indo British Trade Association Dinner Dance (and Raffle)”, but Dev convinces him, “You can impress them with your pointless stories.” Kenny now relishes the prospect. He wants to invite Terri, but Dev talks him out of it. As the date approaches Kenny gets more nervous. Dev gives him an inspirational speech – interrupted by his mobile phone, which will not switch off. Kenny arrives at the venue and realizes that he has forgotten his speech, which he left in the printer. Looking out on the crowd, Kenny is taken aback to see Terri arriving with Dev. With no notes and being continuously interrupted by Dev’s mobile phone, Kenny reverts to the speech we first heard from Dev. Much to Kenny’s surprise it gets a rousing response. Kenny is on a high and then wins the raffle and gets up courage to invite Terri to share the prize, a weekend for two in Kerala. Her response is not what he was hoping for at all.

Episode 6: “My Mate Mumbai”

Kenny Gupta, reluctant call center manager, has decided he’s had enough of India. In order to get home to London he must turn over a new leaf and sort out the call center’s accounts. This means a change of approach so he’s arrived at the office with a new suit, new boots and a “new-suit-new-attitude” – much to Terri’s amusement. But before long Terri and Kenny realize that Dev has made such a mess of the credit card database that Kenny won’t be going home anytime soon. Kenny’s frustration with Dev boils over and an aggrieved Dev is easily convinced into selling the credit card details to his shady friend Vijay. Meanwhile, the call center staff has been plagued by a nuisance caller. A lonely guy, desperate for company, keeps calling and is stopping the operators getting on with their work. Kenny has to step in and so blocks the caller. However this leads the lonely guy to a desperate suicide attempt, which he explains in detail to Terri and Kenny. In the end, Dev averts criminal activity and resolves an internal conflict when he takes action against his old friend. Kenny and Terri find a new closeness after talking the lonely guy out of suicide. This closeness looks set to lead to something more until Kenny loses his boots.

Episode 7: “All That Glitters Is Not Glass”

The sun rises over Mumbai and Kenny and Terri wake up in Terri’s bed. Kenny can hardly remember how he got there. They are both embarrassed. A text message tells them that Philip Glass, the formidable business tycoon and owner of the company is coming to Mumbai. Kenny rushes to “mobilize the troops at the call center.” On arrival, Dev quizzes him. He discovers that he has left his “chuddies” (underpants) at Terri’s apartment along with his mobile phone. When Philip Glass arrives he makes straight for Terri. They seem to know each other well, very well. Kenny realizes Philip Glass is her boyfriend and that he will be staying at the apartment where he has left his chuddies. He sends Dev to retrieve them. Glass offers Kenny a job back in the UK. His first job would be organizing a birthday bash for Glass’s wife. “She will be depressed she is going to be 30.” Glass also tells Kenny that Terri is his, “Bit on the side.” Kenny tries to warn Terri, but to no avail. Later in Terri’s apartment Glass discovers a pair of men’s underpants in Terri’s bed along with Kenny’s mobile phone. Kenny is doomed. Glass fires him and the staff wishes him a teary farewell. Terri thinking on her feet decides to blackmail Glass with his infidelity in an attempt to have Kenny get his job back. Glass is cornered by Terri’s business moves, but flattered when she tells him, “I learnt it from the master.” Kenny is happy to have his job, but more so, he is encouraged to see that Terri would stand up for him like that. His strong feelings for her might be mutual after all.