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India scores Hat Trick improv format

UK production house Hat Trick and India’s Miditech are hooking up for an Indian version of comedy improvisation show Whose Line is it Anyway?

The deal will see Hat Trick’s global sales arm, Hat Trick International, and prodco Miditech developing a TV series around the popular format, which began in the UK in 1986, and a series of live events.

HTI’s group commercial director Paul Cohen said the format’s potential in India was “huge, both through television and live events as the comedy market in India expands,” and added he expected the local version to air next year.

Miditech’s head of development Nivedith Alva called stand-up comedy “the next big thing in entertainment.”

“Whose Line is it Anyway? is a big step for us because it is not just about bringing another global television brand to India, it’s the relationship with Hat Trick and their comedy expertise that excites us even more,” he added.

Whose Line was first broadcast in the UK on Channel 4 before US network ABC created a successful version in the late 1990s. Adaptations have also aired in the Netherlands, Germany, Scandinavia, Israel, Eastern Europe, French Canada, Brazil and Pakistan, among other countries.

A series loosely based on the format has previously aired in India under the guise of Lo Kar Lo Baat.

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