'Hello Friends': Did you know Cyrus, Nikhil Chinapa, Maria Goretti, Simone starred in Hindi version of 'F.R.I.E.N.D.S'?

People have been awaiting the reunion of the star cast of the hit American sitcom, Friends (popularly known as F.R.I.E.N.D.S) which will happen soon. However, they are only coming together for one talk show kinda set up and not a full-fledged show. Friends is one of the most popular show worldwide including India wherein fans have watched it multiple times and use its reference in daily life.

But did you know the show has already been remade in Hindi? Yes, we came across the series named Hello Friends on YouTube which is a carbon copy of the hit American sitcom. The show starred former MTV VJs Cyrus Broacha, Maria Goretti, Nikhil Chinapa along with Simone Singh, Anil Dimri and Aparna Bannerjee. Hello Friends aired on Zee TV from September 6, 1999, to February 20, 2000, while the original show was going on.

In the show, Cyrus played the role of Chandler Bing (advertising executive), Maria as Phoebe Buffay (aspiring musician), Nikhil as Ross Geller (computer engineer), Simone as Monica Geller (fashion designer), Anil as Joey Tribbiani (struggling model/actor) and Aparna as Rachel Green (a millionaire on this show).

Check out the first episode below:

Like Central Perk, in Hello Friends they chilled at Uncle Sam's cafe owned by Kunal Vijaykar.

Talking about the show, it's producer-director Ajit Pal had said in a magazine, "They are the idols of the youth who are a readymade audience for the show. The jokes are very Indian."

The show aired for only 26 episodes.