Sarabhai vs sarabhai
Encyclopedia
Sarabhai vs Sarabhai is a 2005 sitcom set in a quintessential upper class family in Mumbai
Mumbai
Mumbai , formerly known as Bombay in English, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the most populous city in India, and the fourth most populous city in the world, with a total metropolitan area population of approximately 20.5 million...

 aired on channel STAR One
STAR One
STAR One is an Indian television channel that primarily broadcasts Hindi entertainment based in Mumbai. Launched on 1 November 2004 with its show, Remix, the channel gained in popularity with television shows such as Remix, The Great Indian Laughter Challenge, Nach Baliye, Sarabhai vs Sarabhai,...

 in India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

. The show had one of the best TRPs for an Indian comedy show.

The show revolves around the life of a fictional Gujarati family- the Sarabhai's, who are portrayed as a typical family belonging to the class of elite socialites of Mumbai. They live in a luxurious apartment in the upmarket Cuffe Parade
Cuffe Parade
Cuffe Parade is an upmarket neighbourhood in South Mumbai. It is in the southernmost region of the city just north of Navy Nagar. To the north of Cuffe Parade lies Badhwar Park, Ambedkar Nagar the slum area of the Cuffe Parade.-History:...

 area of South Mumbai
South Mumbai
South Mumbai , sometimes incorrectly referred to by English Media as "SoBo" , the southern-most precinct of the city of Mumbai, India, comprises the city's main business localities and its adjoining areas...

. The family consists of Indravadan Sarabhai and his wife Maya, who live in an apartment with their younger son Rosesh, and their elder son Sahil and his wife Manisha live in the opposite flat. Maya being high class, renames her as Monisha. The middle class habits of Monisha irritate Maya and thus Sarabhai VS Sarabhai. Much of the humour is derived from the artificiality and shallowness in the interactions of the city's elite and their perceived notions of the shortcomings of middle class society.

Principal characters

Indravadan AKA Indu (Satish Shah
Satish Shah
Satish Ravilal Shah is a Hindi and Marathi film and television actor best known for his comedy films. He is perhaps best known for his roles in the ever popular 80's sitcom Yeh Jo Hai Zindagi directed by Kundan Shah and Manjul Sinha. He is famous for playing the role of Municipal Commissioner...

) : A rich, ex-director of a multinational company, he constantly amuses himself by making fun of his wife and picking on his younger son, Rosesh. He always sides with his daughter in law Monisha in case of a brawl between her and his wife Maya, which always turn out to be very funny. He often brings Dushyant into the fights and also makes fun of Rosesh with him, accusing the latter of being a "Momma's boy" and many times imitating him. He also never listens to his wife and does what he wants. He is mischievous but still a child at heart.
Comic side : Cracking jokes on anyone, anytime, anywhere. He is also well known as Narad Muni because if he is asked to keep a secret, he will reveal is immediately.

Maya (Ratna Pathak Shah) : Maya is a Gujarati. As Indravadan's wife she likes only the crème de la crème in every aspect of her life and her family. Before her marriage, she was Maya Majumdar. Her bone of contention her daughter-in-law, Monisha, who is from a middle class Punjabi family. The confrontations with Monisha are always very suave and sugar-coated. She is also very talented, she wants to be very sure that her second son, Rosesh doesn't do a Sahil and marry someone who is middle class. As a result, Roshesh has trouble finding a girl his "Momma" will like. She also tries to "save" Sahil from the "middle class" acts of his wife, Monisha.
Comic side : Teasing/Correcting the opposite person, when he/she says/behaves in a little less sophisticated manner, by saying "It's too Middle class !"; her main victim is generally Monisha and she ends it up with her another punchline,"Don't mind hu'h beta, I am just joking",or,"don't mind huh beta, i m just using you as an example" made especially for Monisha.

Sahil (Sumeet Raghavan
Sumeet Raghavan
Sumeet Raghavan is an actor in highly Marathi and Hindi TV Industry/ Hindi Movies. Born on April 22, 1971 to a Tamil Father and a Kannadiga mother-Career:...

) : The cosmetic surgeon and Maya's eldest son, and Monisha's husband. He is soft, noble, wise and very attached to both his mom and wife. He dislikes hurting anyone. He is the quintessential 'Indian male sandwiched between his wife and family'. He is perhaps wiser than his father Indu when it comes to matters between his wife and mother and always tries to make them get along with each other. But in case of his younger brother, Rosesh, he has a funny bone and like his father, likes to tease him.
Comic side: He is always sandwiched between his mother and wife resulting disturbance in his family life. He also had affairs with many ladies, but he tries to show his wife Monisha that he loves her and no one else. Best expressions in " serious comedy "

Monisha (Rupali Ganguly
Rupali Ganguly
Rupali Ganguly is an Indian television and theatre actress. She became popular after her role as Dr. Simran Chopra in the STAR Plus serial Sanjivani and later Sarabhai VS Sarabhai...

) : The middle class girl, she is the daughter-in-law of the Sarabhais. Her father was a detective and she seems to have got the same inquisitive genes in her. Committed to her husband, she hates the fact that Maya constantly belittles her, though she respects her, but she never lets an opportunity to get back at Maya go. She is the most careless sometimes idiotic in whole Sarabhai family. Also, she never tidies her house, which is always in a mess. She was earlier known as Manisha but Maya made her change her name insisting that Manisha was too middle class. She consistently sides with her father-in-law Indu.
Comic side: She behaves like a typical middle class girl, always trying to optimize whatever she can, running after the sales offers, tries to make efficient use of everything but failing miserably.

Rosesh (Rajesh Kumar
Rajesh Kumar (actor)
Rajesh Kumar is an Indian actor. He did his schooling in Patna, Bihar and is an alumunus of Hindu College, University of Delhi.-Career:...

) : He is the second son of Maya & Indravadan. He is a theatre artist, wannabe actor & a poet. He is dearest of his mom Maya. He disapproves of his father and is very loyal to Maya. He is very stupid and his poems are always bad, but funny.
Comic side : Acts/speaks like a kid. Truthful by nature but Indravadan hates him for behaving like a "Momma's boy". Tries to pour his emotions in his 'poetry', and recites those 'poems' at the expense of others' embarrassment and irritation except Maya. Maya does not like his poems either but she loves him too much to hurt his feelings.

Other characters

Most episodes (though not all) involve the five principal members of the family. Members of the extended family and friends make regular appearances and plots of some episodes are centred around these characters as well.

Sonya(Kshiti Jog): Sonya is the second child of Indu and Maya. She is married to Dushyant and presumably lives somewhere close to the Sarabhai residence. She does exhibit some of the hypocrytic socialite attitude of Maya, but to a lesser degree. She is heavily into the occult
Occult
The word occult comes from the Latin word occultus , referring to "knowledge of the hidden". In the medical sense it is used to refer to a structure or process that is hidden, e.g...

 and specializes in reading the Tarot
Tarot
The tarot |trionfi]] and later as tarocchi, tarock, and others) is a pack of cards , used from the mid-15th century in various parts of Europe to play a group of card games such as Italian tarocchini and French tarot...

.

Dushyant (Deven Bhojani
Deven Bhojani
Deven Bhojani is an Indian TV serial actor/director. He is a theatre actor who is best known for his Gujarati and Sindhi plays and dramas. While he is usually associated with comic roles, he is also known to portray supporting characters to a certain extent...

) : Dushyant is Maya's son-in-law, married to her daughter Sonya. He makes more appearances than his wife and is much despised by the rest of the family, even by the normally affable Monisha. He has a morbid fascination for various electronic appliances from toasters to tubelights to refrigerators and elevators. When the rest of the family is busy contemplating on some serious matter, he creates much chaos by quoting facts about various electronic brands and their technical details. He also seems to be an inhouse mechanic and electrical expert, going to great extents to explain the working of electrical goods and often using Rosesh as a guinea pig to explain the working of various appliances. He often uses the catchphrase "I'll explain...". Another regular comic gimmick from his side is him calling up the Sarabhais mostly at midninght and advising them not to buy the goods of a certain company because they are faulty(mostly they are inappropriate things like tractors or dish antennas)

Madhusudan Phupha (Arvind Vaidya) : Madhubhai is Indravadan's brother-in-law, married to his sister Ilaben (Rita Bhaduri
Rita Bhaduri
Rita Bhaduri is an Indian film and now television actress. She initially appeared as supporting actress in various Bollywood during the 1970s, 1980's, 1990's and now currently works as television actor...

). He is hard of hearing and refuses to use a hearing aid. He usually does not acknowledge the fact that he cannot hear and blames others for speaking too softly. He is particularly bothersome to Indu and interjects almost always with a "hein?". A lot of humour is derived from his misinterpretations and the difficulty that people have in explaining things to him. His wife Ilaben (Reeta Bhaduri) is often amused by this.

Besides them, other characters who make appearances include, the maid-Radhabai, the manservant- Vitthal, Indravadan's sister- Ilaben and Maya's socialite friends- Baldev, Sarupa(Baldev's wife), Sarita & Dinesh(Sarita's Husband), and Maya's distant Cousins Videesha(Usha Vachhani) and Nayessha(Played by Sumit Raghavan)

Running gags

Although each episode in the show had an independent storyline,like most sitcoms, several running gags contributed to much of the humour in the show.
  • 'Middle class' Monisha- Monisha often exhibits several traits that Maya brands as being 'middle class'. These traits include a love for bargaining
    Bargaining
    Bargaining or haggling is a type of negotiation in which the buyer and seller of a good or service dispute the price which will be paid and the exact nature of the transaction that will take place, and eventually come to an agreement. Bargaining is an alternative pricing strategy to fixed prices...

    , speaking in an excessively loud voice, watching soap operas that make little sense and lack of refined language. Often Maya breaks into a list of Monisha's shortcomings which continue till other characters, usually Indravadan or Saahil, intervene. Humour often arises from the fact that despite pointing out her errors, Monisha usually continues to defend her actions.

  • Rosesh's Poetry- Rosesh prides on his skills at composing poetry
    Poetry
    Poetry is a form of literary art in which language is used for its aesthetic and evocative qualities in addition to, or in lieu of, its apparent meaning...

    , often encouraged by Maya and ridiculed by Indravadan and Sahil. The topics he chooses for his poetries, odd choices of rhyming words and his irritatingly shrill voice feature regularly in most episodes.

  • Maya's sophistication- Maya is portrayed a typically snobbish socialite, who often goes for charity auctions, exhibitions, art performances and tea parties with her socialite friends. She often thinks of herself as a social activist who works for upliftment of the downtrodden. The irony of her criticism of the less fortunate and her self acclaimed social activism for their betterment often brings about much humour. One such instance is when she raises funds for helping street children who are victims of alcohol abuse by hosting a cocktail party where she sells alcoholic beverages to her socialite friends. She dejects Monisha's Middle class attitude and most often ends up listing her shortcomings despite the fact that the problem was something else in the first place.

  • Indu hates Rosesh- Indravadan despises Rosesh on almost all counts, especially his poetry. He often harasses Rosesh, who is a momma's boy and exhibits much immaturity. Indu criticises Rosesh's skills at poetry and plays and never exhibits any sign of acceptance of Rosesh as his own child. Ironically, in one of the episodes, it is shown that Rosesh may have inherited his poor skills of poetry from Indu himself.

  • Indu's childish antics and behaviour- Indravadan is usually at his childish best be it hiding chocolate chip cookies or selling his sports shoes on the street to have pani puri and yes not to forget his hatred for milk and love for vada pav nor his continuous attempts of playing mischief and teasing Maya.

Guest stars

  • Mandira Bedi
    Mandira Bedi
    Mandira Bedi is an Indian actress, model and television presenter who gained celebrity status playing the title role in the 1994 television serial, Shanti, shown on India's national channel, Doordarshan which was the first ever daily soap on Indian television.She followed up her career in TV...

  • Mallika Sherawat
    Mallika Sherawat
    Mallika Sherawat is a former Indian model, now working as an actress in mainly Bollywood films. Known for her bold onscreen attitude, Sherawat has been frequently featured in the media as a sex symbol...

  • Makrand Deshpande
    Makrand Deshpande
    Makarand Deshpande is an Indian actor, writer, and director in Hindi and Marathi films and theatre. He is often seen in supporting and pivotal roles in various films like Jungle, Sarfarosh, Swades, Makdee, and Darna Zaroori Hai where he often plays drunkard, wayfarer roles. He has directed over 5...

  • Aamir Ali
    Aamir Ali
    Aamir Ali Malik is an Indian television actor.-Early life and Background:Aamir Ali was born on September 1, 1977 in Mumbai, Maharashtra to an Ismaili Muslim father and mother from Mumbai, India....

  • Parvin Dabas
    Parvin Dabas
    Parvin Dabas , also known as Parvin Dabbas, is an Indian actor and model.-Background:Parvin Dabas was born into a Jaat family of Dabas Gotra. His family is from Kanjhawala, Delhi...

  • Roop Kumar Rathod
    Roop Kumar Rathod
    -Personal life:Roopkumar is the son of the late Pandit Chaturbhuj Rathod, the classical luminary – an exponent of the rare and arguably the oldest style of singing i.e. Dhrupad. He belonged to the “Aditya Gharana of Jamnagar”. Pandit Rathod has trained and groomed many well known names like...

     & Sonali Rathod
  • Maninee De
  • Parmeet Sethi
    Parmeet Sethi
    -Personal life and education:Parmeet was educated in Mumbai. He passed out of Sydenham college of commerce. He married Archana Puran Singh, a film and television actress, on 30 June 1992. They have two sons...

  • Kishwar Merchant
    Kishwar Merchant
    Kishwer Merchantt is an Indian television actress and model. The word Kishwar has Persian origin meaning “Nation”. She made her screen debut with a small role in Zee TV's popular series Hip Hip Hurray in 1998. In 2001, she gained recognition for her serial Dhadkan on Sony TV.-Television:...

  • Usha Bachani
  • The Khichdi (TV series) Family

Indian Television Academy Awards 2005

  • Best Actor - Comedy (Jury) - Satish Shah
  • Best Actress - Comedy (Jury) - Ratna Pathak Shah
  • Best Director - Comedy (Jury) - Deven Bhojani
  • Best Serial - Comedy (Jury)
  • Best Dialogues(Jury) - Aatish Kapadia

Indian Telly Awards 2005

  • Best Weekly Serial
  • Best Actor in a Comic Role ( Male ) - Rajesh Kumar

Technical

  • Art Direction - Fiction - Omung Kumar Bhandula
  • Best Director (Sitcom) - Deven Bhojani

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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