Why is Sarabhai vs Sarabhai different?

Sarabhai vs. Sarabhai is a television show that aired on Star One during the year 2005. It will always be remembered for its comic values. What makes this comedy different is its portrayal of characters. A common Hindi sitcom is known to have an old fashioned saas (mother in law), a serious sasur (father in law), an overly charming son and his modern wife and a younger brother being loved by his father (in a way ofcourse). Well, in SVS, everything is just the reverse :) With a cast like Ratna Pathak, Satish Shah, Rajesh Kumar, Rupali Ganguly and Sumeet Rahgavan, this is by far the funniest modern Indian sitcom I've seen. Much of the humor is derived from the artificiality, hypocrisy and shallowness in the interactions of the city's elite and their perceived notions of the shortcomings of middle class society.

The ultimate character is that of Maya. Her confrontations with Monisha are always very suave and sugar-coated. The way she corrects Monisha, when she behaves in a little less sophisticated manner, by saying "It's too Middle class!" and then after all siad and done, she ends it up with her another punchline, "Don't mind hu'h beta, I am just joking". The way Sahil is always sandwitched between his mother and wife is not a new concept (It happens in every family), but the way it is initiated by Satish Shah is hilarious. This show has Satish Shah in his very own self, a character he plays the best; a person who knows to enjoy life and cracks jokes on anyone, anytime. The way he hates Roshesh and bullies him is marvelous. Roshesh' poetry, Monisha's optimized expenses- all put together make a great and a very fresh comedy. The humor is not cheap here; it is always backed up by characters you are familiar with. The stories are so predictable yet are a treat to watch because of your love for the characters.

P.S.- These comments hold good for the first 40 episodes. The next 5 episodes are watchable. The conclusive episodes of the season are a disaster.