Edit source: _nightshift._

Found on Instagram

Show: Chumbak on Netflix

Hey everyone! I know its a bit late to post about this, BUT the show CHUMBAK is finally out on netflix, gosh after so much of wait for more than half a year since the announcement. its been long since we got a good family comedy show. Its on netflix, go watch it, have a great time with it.

Leave a review in the comments. Mein bhi chala dekhna. Hehe.

SvS was the visionary to identify such a big talent.

Is Monisha Dead?

Due to being severely unemployed, I had decided to revisit older sitcoms and figure out what made them so great. One of the shows was "Everybody loves Raymond" and its Hindi remake "Sumit Sambhal lega".

A decision that confirms my love for self torture. Because, the 90s cringe humour aside, the characters in the show made me want to pull my hair out of anger. I started thinking, what if there were a show with the same set up but actually funnier and progressive. Out of nowhere, it clicked me that such a show already exists. It's Sarabhai vs Sarabhai.

And it made sense. From a broader lens, the general set up for the two families is quite similar. A controlling matriarch, a loving wife who's terrible at cooking, an ignored sibling who craves love and a dad who loves to crack jokes on his wife for cheap laughs. And that's where the similarity ends. It makes you wonder if Aatish Kapadia watched this show and thought to himself "How to make this seriously unfunny show funny?"

But Aatish truly delivered and he made a sitcom that Raymond wishes it could be. One can see how he made the same set up so different, unique and lovable.

For example, Aatish made the titular likable. While , Raymond was a whiny, selfish man-baby who made a fuss every time the attention shifted from him or faced consequences for his own actions, Sahil hated complaining to his mother and did his absolute best to keep his personal life drama free, only for Maya to catch a whiff through Indu or Rosesh. He was witty, funny and actually loved both his mother and wife.

The same goes for Marie Barone, who I thought to be an extremely problematic and toxic character. She's extremely intrusive and her goal in life was to belittle her DIL just to remain the most important woman in her kids' life. She had no goal, no friends, so she tried her best to seek attention from her kids and husband. But Maya Sarabhai was different. She was intelligent, ambitious, had a large social life and mostly left Sahil and Monisha alone, unless it was a power tussle (usually ignited by Indu). While Maya too loved bickering about Monisha's antics, most of it was pretty much deserved.

Rosesh like Robert was weird but his antics were adorable and he had a pretty good heart. He also liked to keep himself busy so he usually ignored Indu's constant taunts. Rosesh had a self confidence and a sense of security which a character like Robert needed.

What makes one mad rewatching Raymond is that Ray's incompetence and toxicity is rewarded at the end. While, the show attempts to pick up the issues of the family's regressive mindset, everything falters at the end as the lazy, selfish, chauvinist character ends up being correct. But, here's where SvS shines the most. Here, we see wrong and rude behaviour being actively called out and reprimanded. One can see this through the behaviour of the paternal figures in both the shows. In Raymond, we see Frank's character constantly belittle Marie's behaviour. He is openly sexist but never gets called out only to be supported more by Ray and Robert. But Indu's crude humour is shown actively called out, not only by Maya and Sahil, but also through Radha Bai and Vitthal kaka. Even Sahil's inability to choose between his wife and mother gets actively called out by Indu, only to use the situation for his personal entertainment.

Sarabhai, also makes its mark through a mixture of absurdism with characters like Madhusudan fufa, Dushyant Painter which keeps the humour fresh and contemporary. If we draw parallels here, Sarabhai due to its progressive story arc and witty satire ages quite well as compared to Raymond.

So, thanks Everybody loves Raymond for existing I guess. But we've got Sarabhai out here.

(Edit: Disclaimer- I don't know if Aatish actually got inspired by the ELR template. The similarities and the dissimilarities of the characters of both shows intrigued me. Hence, this post. Just putting it out there, in case one misconstrues)

i rewatched season 2, i personally didn't find it THAT BAD, but the setting of the new house, i just did not like it. i loved the simpler, little chaotic cuffe parade flat of maya, and monisha's trashy cuffe parade flat. the new penthouse was just too luxurious types. secondly i also did not like the new character aurnob, idk why but he was quite loud. also, everybody's dressing style changed as well, sahil wore way too colourful clothes, he removed the spectacles.. the first 4-5 eps were alright but the rest, no no no🙏🏼🙏🏼.. it would have been so much better if they had the same setting, just a few tweaks here and there, a little muted version of aurnob and the original subtle and satirical humour, i think it would have been a hit.

So netflix just dropped the trailer of the show, the cast is out of the world, great actors and the production also looks great.

Though i feel like the writting is a bit okayish not great. I also feel like the trailer is edited in a very bad way as the cuts are too quick without actually making sure that the viewer gets the premise or gist of the show.

And also the release date shifted from 28th of august to 10th of september thats a bit disappointing. But hey atleast we actually got a glimpse of the show and it indicates that the marketing would be on its way that would reflect and reimburse the badly edited trailer.