Sarabhai vs Sarabhai
| Sarabhai vs Sarabhai | |
|---|---|
| Created by | Hats Off Productions |
| Directed by | Deven Bhojani |
| Country of origin |  India |
| Production | |
| Producer | Jamnadas Majethia |
| Original release | |
| Network | STAR One |
Sarabhai vs Sarabhai is a 2005 sitcom set in a quintessential upper class family in Mumbai aired on channel STAR One in India. The show had one of the best TRPs for an Indian comedy show.
Synopsis
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 area of South Mumbai. The family consists of Indravadhan Sarabhai and his wife Maya, who live in an apartment with their younger son Rosesh, and their elder son Sahil and his wife Monisha live in the opposite flat. 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.
Criticism
The show is notable for its insensitive portrayal of the relationship between the kiddish Rosesh and his father (Indu). Indu refuses to accept Rosesh as his own son and is constantly scheming to embarrass and harass Rosesh. He exhibits unwarranted favouritism towards one of his sons and denies the same affection to his other son. Another notable feature is the show's treatment of the hopes and aspirations of India's middle class by the extremely pretentious character of Maya, who seems to live in her own exclusive super-rich world.
Principal Characters
Indravadan (Satish Shah) : A rich, ex-director of a multinational company, he constantly amuses himself by making fun of his wife and picking at 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 Sahil into the fights and also makes fun of Rosesh with him, accusing the latter of being a "Moma's boy". 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.
Maya (Ratna Pathak) : She is Indravadan's wife and likes only the crème de la crème in every aspect of her life and her family. Her bone of contention - daughter-in-law, Monisha, who is middle class. 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 middle class, like Sahil did. 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 !"; main victim is generally Monisha.
Sahil (Sumeet Raghavan) : The cosmetic surgeon and Maya's eldest son, and husband of Monisha. 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.
Monisha (Rupali Ganguly) : 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, and her house is always in a mess. She was earlier known as Manisha but Maya made her change her name insisting that Monisha was too middle class. She consistently sides with her father in law Indu.
Comic side: She behaves like a typical middle class girl, always tries to optimize whatever she can, running after the sales offers, tries to make efficient use of everything but failing miserably.
Rosesh (Rajesh Kumar) : 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 dissaproves 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' on the expense of others' embarrassment and irritation except Maya.
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: 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 and specialises is reading the Tarot.
Dushyant (Deven Bhojani) : 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 Monisha, who loves everyone. He has a morbid fascination for various electronic appliances from toasters to tubelights to refrigerators. 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 always begins with his phrase "I'll explain...".
Madhusudan Phupha (Arvind Vaidya) : Madhubhai is Indravadan's brother in law, married to Indravadhan's sister Ila. 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 loud. He is particularly bothersome to Indu and interjects almost all remarks made with "heh?" (which is the Gujarati pronunciation of 'what?'). A lot of humour is derived from his misinterpretations and the difficulty that people have in explaining things to him.
Besides them, other characters who make appearances include, the maid-Radhabai, the manservant- Vitthal, Indravadhan's sister- Ilaben and Maya's socialite friends- Sarita, Baldev, Sarupa & Dinesh(Sarita's Husband)
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, 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 Indravadhan 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, often encouraged by Maya and ridiculed by Indravadhan and Saahil. 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.
- Indu hates Rosesh- Indravadhan 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 hatered for milk and love for vada pav.
DVD
No information on DVD release. No official announcement yet.
Guest Stars
Mandira Bedi, Mallika Sherawat, Makrand Deshpande, Amar Ali, Parvin Dabas,The Khichdi Family
Awards
The ITA Awards
In 2005 Winners
- 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
The Indian Telly Awards
- Best Weekly Serial
- Best Actor in a Comic Role ( Male ) - Rajesh Kumar