All through the early 2000s, we saw some great gems on Indian TV and one of them was Sarabhai Vs Sarabhai. The magic Ratna Pathak Shah, Satish Shah, Rupali Ganguly, Sumeet Raghavan and Rajesh Kumar created on TV, is etched in every 90s kid’s mind. The show was a family event with every character beautifully etched out and my personal favourite was Rosesh.
Also, you’re not a true Sarabhai VS Sarabhai fan if you don’t remember Rosesh’s poems.
Humpty Dumpty sat on a gadi,
gadi pe baitha tabhi aagayi dadi,
dadi ne kaha aaja mere paas,
kyunki gadi pe baithna is just so middle class...
Ever since the government has announced a nationwide lockdown due to the coronavirus pandemic, a lot of us are turning to light comedy shows, which can help us unwind after a rather stressful ‘work-from-home’ day. Much like others, I turn to comedy on a bad day, and Sarabhai Vs Sarabhai continues to be wholesome in so many ways.
And as it turns out, I am not the only one.
The first season of Sarabhai Vs Sarabhai came in 2004, as most of you may know, it revolved around an upper-class Gujju family who live in a fancy SoBo (South Bombay) apartment. While the show is mostly shot in the confined spaces of the apartment, the creators of the show, Aatish Kapadia and Jamnadas Majethia, manage to show us the whole spectrum of their relationship with not just each other but also other relatives, friends and neighbours who run into them.
The cult of Sarabhai Vs Sarabhai is so strong that the characters on the show have evolved into templates or references of personality types in every day lingo.
So Maya Sarabhai (Ratna Pathak Shah) is the snooty, upper class lady whose pride is as dear to her as her two sons. Kitty parties and charity events that put her in the spotlight are stuff she lives for. And she’s careful never to be associated with anything that’s just too “middle-class”.
On the other hand, Monisha (Rupali Ganguly) is Maya’s stingy daughter-in-law, who’s the text-book definition of all things “middle-class”. She’ll bargain till her last breath to save on every paisa she can and she lacks boundaries and how.
Indravadan Sarabhai (Satish Shah), Maya’s husband is the loud and sarcastic uncleji, who’s mostly rooting for anyone who goes against Maya. Also, he doesn’t leave a single chance to diss his younger son Rosesh’s “creative” urges.
Sahil Sarabhai (Sumeet Raghavan), a doctor by profession is torn between his wife Monisha and mother Maya. He’s the oh-so-ideal son and husband who listens to both and helps them work things out. It’s only Rosesh who tests his patience.
Rosesh (Rajesh Kumar), the youngest in the Sarabhai family, is a typical momma's boy. If you think the term ‘maa da ladla’ came after the release of Dostana, you're mistaken. Rosesh is the OG ‘maa da ladla’. He’s that confused, spoilt maa da ladla in the house, who seeks attention with his bizarre musings.
Can We Please Talk About these Classy Jokes?
If Indravadan Sarabhai never loses an opportunity to take a dig at Maya, she knows exactly how to give him a taste of his own medicine.
Take this for instance:
Maya: Jao Indravadan, paani leke aao.
Indravadan: Main mard hoon.
Maya: Pata hai, par ab uska kuch naahi ho sakta, Indravadan. Yeh problem tumhein accept karni hi hogi.
And then there were these Indravadan vs Rosesh repartees...
And the Sarabhai series is also a rib-tickler for self-deprecating humour. Aatish Kapadia, the writer of the show makes a couple of appearances in it as Kacha Kela, a poet who first recites his poem that’s titled “Main Lukkha Hoon” and then returns to share his next masterpiece, “Main Bakwaas Hoon”.
In fact Sumeet Raghavan took to Twitter to share a scene from Sarabhai Vs Sarabhai and wrote about how Aatish Kapadia was the “real star” of the show.
Sarabhai Vs Sarabhai did make a comeback on Hotstar in 2017 on popular demand, but the show didn’t receive the same overwhelming response as the original in 2004. Some blame it on the access of the show being limited to just a digital platform. As compared to 2020, viewing habits of a large section of the people were still limited to traditional TV.
Sarabhai Vs Sarabhai is still relevant because of how the show resonates with the family audience. The comedy and hilarious lines aside, it’s how the show depicts people we can all relate to at so many different levels that makes it click.
Sarabhai Vs Sarabhai won many awards at the Indian Television Academy Awards in 2005. The show received Best Serial, Comedy (Jury), Best Director, Comedy (Jury) Deven Bhojani, Best Actor, Comedy (Jury) Satish Shah, Best Actress, Comedy (Jury) -Ratna Pathak Shah and Best Dialogues (Jury) Aatish Kapadia. The show bagged the same awards in the popular choice category too.
Now that Ramayana, Mahabharata are on, Can Someone Bring Back Sarabhai?
While you can still catch Sarabhai Vs Sarabhai online on Hotstar, as the news of the reruns of Ramayana, Mahabharat, Circus, Shaktimaan and others surfaced, some people took to Twitter to request Star TV to consider a re-run of Sarabhai Vs Sarabhai.
So, if you’re someone who loves this show as much as I do, then you need to join this movement and tweet to Star, right now!
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