Galli Galli Sim Sim

thumb|300px
thumb|300px
Galli Galli Sim Sim (गली गली सिम सिम in Hindi) is the Indian co-production of Sesame Street. It was co-produced by Sesame Workshop and Turner International India, while local production companies were Miditech (seasons 1-5) and Desighee Productions (season 6).
Production of the show is based in Delhi, but crew traveled the country to tape segments. Filming of the first 65 episodes began in February 2006. The series first aired on August 15, 2006 on Cartoon Network India and Pogo. The series is accompanied by a similarly-structured radio program, a move that follows the success of South Africa's Takalani Sesame. The distribution of the radio show is currently unknown.
Funding for the initial development phase of Sesame India was provided through the support of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and ICICI Bank.
In 2015, it spawned a 2D-animated spinoff called Chamki ki Duniya, and on March 8, 2019, the official YouTube channel launched a short-form series called "Hello Chamki."
==Description==
From the UK newspaper The Independent:
==Format==
Episodes were similar in format to that of the originating series. The show consisted of Street scenes, segments (some filmed locally with Indian actors and children, some Indian animation, some are classic American Muppet skits dubbed in Hindi) included four Indian Muppets specially created for the subcontinent's children. The puppet characters included Indian boy and girl Muppets, a character based on traditional Indian folk tales and an animal Muppet.
About 157 million children in India tuned in to the show from on Indian children's TV channels Turner's Cartoon Network and POGO.
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, but have decided to launch the first season's shows in Hindi, with a few English words in each episode.
However, producers hoped to make Sesame India available in other languages, and had plans to broadcast the program on Indian radio. As of 2018, the series launched in Kashmiri and Urdu."Galli Galli Sim Sim, kids’ well-loved edutainment show to broadcast in Kashmiri, Urdu", KNS Kashmir, July 17, 2018.
Producers, who worked with Indian educational experts on the show's content and teamed up with Sesame Workshop to design Sesame India's set and characters, say the shows will reflect India's rich cultural diversity and heritage while helping youngsters to read and write.
Bert and Ernie's Great Adventures was added to the show in season 6.
An animated Bert and Ernie math segment was added to the show in season 8.
==Characters==
Muppet Characters
* Boombah: A full-body lion. Designed by Ed Christie and built by Mary Brehmer and Andrea Detwiler. He is performed by Manish Ram Sachdeva
* Googly: A blue monster. Designed by Ed Christie and built by Rollie Krewson. He is performed by Gaurav Srivastava.
* Aanchoo: A sneezy purple monster. Designed by Ed Christie and built by Rollie Krewson. She is performed by Sangya Ojha.
* Chamki: A Prairie Dawn-like little Indian girl. Designed by Ed Christie and built by Rollie Krewson. She is performed by Ghazal Javed.
In the show's 2nd season, more Muppets were added to the street:
* Hero: A Bollywood movie star; made from an Orange Gold Anything Muppet pattern.
* Kewal Khadoosa: The resident Grouch
* Zoonie: A purple bird
* Ba and Baba: A sheep duo
* Denchoo: A donkey
* Rengu Rani: A blue worm
In the show's 3rd season, more Muppets were added:
* Toto: A curious young monkey
* Elmo: A red monster
* Grover: A blue monster
* Biscuit Badshah: Cookie Monster
* Bharat and Ernie: Bert and Ernie
In 2014, another Muppet was added:
* Raya: Sesame Workshop's Global Health AmbassadorImpatientOptimists.org - Meet Raya, the Newest Member of the Sesame Family (2014-03-18)SesameWorkshopIndia.org - "Cleaner, Healthier, Happier” Campaign Unveils New Muppet In Bangladesh, India And Nigeria (2014-03-18)
Human 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".
* 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 (played by Maxwell Pereira), 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.
==Puppeteers==
*Ghazal Javed as Chamki and others
*Manish Ram Sachdeva as Boombah, Rengu Rani, Biscuit Badshah and others
*Sangya Ojha as Aanchoo, Elmo, Raya and others
*Gaurav Srivastava as Googly, Grover and others
*Hashim Haider as Hero, Elmo's Daddy and others
*Babita Kurdiya Rachoya as Baba, Elmo's Mommy and others
*Anil Kumar as Ba and others
*Pawan Diwan Singh as Denchoo and others
*Garima Arya as Rengu Rani and others
*Shamsul Shams as Toto and others
*Lucky Bhat as Zoonie and others
==Guests==
* Neha Dhupia, season one
* announced: Amjad Ali Khan, Rahul Bose, Sivamani, Daler MehndiBollywood Hungama Bollywood stars on desi version of Sesame Street August 6, 2006
==Crew==
* Niret Alva, President of Miditech and Executive Producer of the series
* Pria Somiah, Supervising Producer
* Julius Packiam, Music Director
* Samir Chanda, Art Director
* Sehba Iman, Head Writer
* Prakash Moorthy, Head Animator
==Merchandise==
A version of "Hokey Pokey Elmo" was produced by Fisher-Price in 2007, the first Hindi-speaking Sesame Street toy. Fisher-Price also released plush toys of Bharat, Ernie and Biscuit Badshah."Fisher-Price unveils Galli Galli Sim Sim's Elmo singing & dancing to the 'Hokey Pokey'", Indiantelevision.com. January 17, 2007.
==Quotes==
==Sources==
==See also==
*Galli Galli Sim Sim Sketches
*Chamki ki Duniya
*Talking about Talking with Elmo, a YouTube-only series in English and Telugu
==External links==
* Galli Galli Sim Sim official site
* POGO official site
* Indiantelevision.com: "Galli Galli Sim Sim" to launch on 15 August on Cartoon Network
__NOWYSIWYG__
Category:International Sesame Street Shows