So, one of the most fundamental lessons in any high school education is avoiding plagiarism. Unfortunately, the creators of the Indian version of The Office missed out on that memo. This Hotstar special feels like a Chawri Bazaar (in the words of Jagdeep Chaddha himself) remake of the beloved American classic. It’s basically a scene by scene remake.

There are some instances that have been ‘adjusted’ for the Indian audience but 95% of this show feels like an exercise in Google Translating the original script and bringing in an Indian cast. Michael Scott is turned into the Punjabi Jagdeep Chaddha (Mukul Chaddha), who’s basically one annoying dad joke away from being the uncle that you remove from the family WhatsApp group. His key catchphrase ‘Baby yahi boli’ is probably the creepiest one I’ve ever heard.

The performances of the supporting characters are insanely lackluster and seem to lack any chemistry, especially Amit and Pammi (Jim and Pam). The only bright spot is the version of Dwight Schrute, TP Mishra. He’s a weird hyper conservative desi yet a total goof and is the only character who’s mildly original and Gopal Datt does it justice.

I hoped that season 2 would find its own voice but unfortunately, it’s still a scene by scene copy. Mallika Dua’s Kitty provides some comic relief but it’s not enough. My advice is to invest in an Amazon Prime subscription and watch the original version instead.