Galli Galli Sim Sim

Galli Galli Sim Sim (Devanagari: गली गली सिम सिम) is the Hindi language adaptation of the American children's television series Sesame Street (famous for its Muppets), for India. It is co-produced by Sesame Workshop and Turner Entertainment, through Miditech. The show's Indian production company is known as Sesame Workshop India.

Production of the show is based in Delhi. Filming of the first season's 65 half-hour episodes began in February 2006, with the premiere held on 15 August 2006.^[1] Till now the show has produced 6 seasons.

Funding for the initial development phase of Sesame Workshop India was provided through the support of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), ICICI Bank and Turner Broadcasting.^[2]

Format

Episodes are similar in format to that of the originating series. The show consists of street scenes, segments (some filmed locally with Indian actors and children, some Indian animation, some are classic American Muppet skits dubbed in Hindi) and include four new Indian Muppets specially created for the subcontinent's children. The puppet characters include Indian boy and girl Muppets, a character based on traditional Indian folk tales and an animal Muppet.

About 157 million children in India are watching the show on Indian children's TV channels, Turner's Cartoon Network, POGO and Doordarshan.

In a country with more than 15 official languages — not including English — Turner and Sesame Workshop had their work cut out deciding which language the show should be broadcast in. They decided to launch the shows in Hindi, with a few English words in each episode. Producers hope to make Sesame India available in other languages in the next few years.

Characters

• Jugaadu, "who likes to find innovative solutions to fix problems, and does not view his disability as a handicap".
• Basha Bhaijaan, "who owns a corner store and knows several Indian languages".
• Sid, "who is a cool,smart child and Googly is a fan of his style and dancing".
• Dawa Di, Basha's wife, who is from North East India, and teaches dance.
• Kabir, Basha Bhaijaan and Dawa Di's son, who is an active and curious eight-year-old.
• Col. Albert Pinto, a retired army person, is an advocate for healthy living and civic sense.
• Rukmini Pinto (Doctor Aunty), Col. Pinto's wife. A doctor by profession, she is a combination of contemporary and traditional wisdom.

Leading local Muppets

• Boombah, an eight feet tall, pink lion who is a vegetarian, and loves to dance, exercise and eat healthy. From the royal family of Boombahgarh, Boombah is the star drummer in the Galli and is often seen with headphones shaking a leg under a tree. Boombah is the Galli's loudest roar resounding in every corner and now available for your listening pleasure digitally. Played by Manish Sachdeva
• Chamki, a five-year-old girl muppet, dressed most often, in a school uniform. Chamki is warm, friendly, sensitive and has a knack for problem solving. In the Galli, Chamki is very popular and a mascot for girl-child education and school readiness in India. Played by Ghazal Javed
• Googly, Googly is a six-year-old, adorable and furry blue monster with a penchant for asking tricky questions. Googly is renowned in playing cricket and loves. Played by Gaurav Srivastava
• Aanchoo, a purple gypsy who is a storehouse of interesting stories from all over the world. Her enigmatic character can vanish and appear at will and is often insightful, solution-oriented and helps the rest of the Galli cast on their many escapades. In the new season 6 of Galli Galli Sim Sim for the first time Aanchoo brings her Auto Library. Like they say every cloud has a silver lining, Aanchoo has a book with solution to every problem imaginable. Played by Sangya Ojha
• Grover, Grover is a tall, gangly, dark-blue monster who speaks in a variety of Indian accents. In the new season Grover owns a Dhaba in the Galli which is the best and the most hygienic Dhaba in the Galli. Grover is associated with disruptive fun and learning. Grover's over enthusiasm to help others gets in the way at times. Grover gives information on various subjects but then again has an unexpected take on it.
• Hero, In the season 6 of Galli Galli Sim Sim, we have a new friend in the Galli, Hero. He is an orange coloured Muppet who loves to dress himself up. He is fascinated by Bollywood and takes himself to be a star. Hero recites dialogues from popular Bollywood movies and boasts about the celebrities he claims to know. He is funny, has a little attitude but is a lovable character. He often visits Grover's Dhaba in the Galli with his swift charm though gets quickly frustrated by Grover's well-meaning but bumbling antics.
• Khadoosa, As the name suggests, he is the grouchy neighbour in the Galli but is never intentionally mean. Though he keeps to himself, much to his exasperation, gets dragged into the Galli goings-on! Despite being quite different from the rest of the Galli residents who are cheerful, Khadoosa is very much at home here. He often boasts about his garden and is proud to have the best plants under his care.
• Elmo, is three and a half year old, red and furry monster who loves words on Galli Galli Sim Sim word of the day segment. Elmo is cheerful, enthusiastic and loves building his vocabulary.
• Bert and Ernie, Bert is the long-suffering sidekick of Ernie. He is more mature and analytical and he considers himself the voice of reason in their relationship. Though Bert is wise, he can be rather eccentric. He collects bottle caps and paper clips, plays the tuba and loves Bernice, his pet pigeon. Bert is not always a willing participant in Ernie's escapades; he correctly senses that the tables are destined to turn on him or he will end up on the short end of the stick. However, Bert always forgives Ernie, forever remaining his 'old buddy.' Ernie, the outgoing foil to the more serious and responsible Bert, is great at explaining things, but can sometimes be a bit too smart for his own good. Ernie talks himself into some tight corners and often falls prey to his own jokes, yet his free-spirited approach to his successes and failures makes him one of Sesame Street's most enduring and likeable characters. For the first time in Galli Galli Sim Sim – Season 6, Claymation (clay animations) is used in an all new segment called the Bert & Ernie's Great Adventures. Bert & Ernie will take children on adventures to exotic places like the Cherrapunji, Antarctica, The Himalayas, Australia, and Goa.

Crew

• Season 6: Desighee Productions
• Season 1-5: Miditech Pvt. Limited

References

External links

• Galli Galli Sim Sim official web site
• Sesame Workshop India official web site (offline)
• Sesame Schoolhouse official web site
• Indiatelevision.com's special report on the show