‘Sarabhai vs Sarabhai’ characters inspired by its writer’s family

The characters of “Sarabhai vs Sarabhai” are inspired by the “real people” in Aatish Kapadia’s extended family, says the writer and creator of the popular show which is returning in May as a web series.

“Sarabhai vs Sarabhai”, which went off air over a decade ago, was based on the life of a hilarious Gujarati family living here. It will now return on the video-on-demand platform Hotstar as part of the Hotstar Originals bouquet. The show will take a seven-year leap.

“Each character in the family is replete with their own distinct quirks, and trust me when I say that each of these characters is based on real people in my extended family. I play around with them in my head and then write the episodes, and if I feel like I’m having a blast, then I feel sure that the viewers will too,” Kapadia said in a statement.

Produced by Hats Off Productions’ Jamnadas (JD) Majethia and Kapadia, the 10-part series will feature the original cast like Satish Shah, Ratna Pathak Shah, Sumeet Raghavan, Rupali Ganguly, Deven Bhojani and Rajesh Kumar. There will be new characters as well.

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“The wisecracky and intelligent soul of the show will return exactly as our fans remember it, with more laughs and new stories”, said Majethia, founder of Hats Off Productions.

Ajit Mohan, CEO of Hotstar, said the “buzz and love around the show was so strong that we had to bring it back”.

The show revolved around the life of an upper class Sarabhai family, consisting of Indravadan (Shah) and his wife Maya (Pathak), who live in an apartment with their younger son Rosesh (Rajesh Kumar). It also featured Sahil (Raghavan) as their older son and his wife Monisha, played by Rupali Ganguly. The show became extremely popular for its wit and running gags about its characters, from Rosesh’s poetry to Maya’s sophistication.

The show will be released as a web series in May.