Sarabhai Vs Sarabhai - Principal Characters

Principal Characters

• Indravardhan Sarabhai aka Indu (played by Satish Shah): A rich businessman who constantly amuses himself by making fun of his wife Maya and picking on his younger son, Rosesh by calling him a 'Momma's Boy' and often belittling his poetry. He always sides with his daughter-in-law Monisha in disagreements between her and his wife, which always turn out to be one of the sources of humour. He dotes on Sahil and Monisha. He often drags Doushant into the arguments. He does not listen to his wife, which often includes not following the health and diet regimen she draws up for him. He is gregarious by nature. He is mischievous and still a child at heart. He likes playing pranks at Rosesh's expense that annoy Maya to no end. He can't keep a secret and usually instigates or pits two people against each other. These traits of his earn him the moniker Nārad Muni.

• Maya Sarabhai née Majumdar (played by Ratna Pathak Shah): She is part of the crème de la crème of upper-class society. She likes only the best in every aspect of her life and for her family. Her bone of contention with her daughter-in-law, Monisha is the latter's behaviour which goes against the grain of high-class society. Her confrontations with Monisha are always very suave and sugar-coated. Maya and Monisha are at loggerheads, but they never get into direct and heated confrontations. She is very talented; she is good at Scrabble. She wants to ensure that her other son, Rosesh, doesn't do a Sahil and marry a lower-class woman. As a result, Roshesh has trouble finding a girl his "Momma" would like. She tries to "save" Sahil from the "middle-class" acts of his wife, Monisha.
  Comic side: Teasing and correcting someone when he/she behaves in an unsophisticated or less sophisticated manner. Her constant refrain is "It's so middle class!" Her victim is mostly Monisha. She says snide, rude or patronising things to Monisha but covers up by saying, "Don't mind huh beta, I am just joking" or "Don't mind huh beta, I'm just using you as an example", in the end.

• Sahil Sarabhai (played by Sumeet Raghavan): He is a cosmetic surgeon and Maya's oldest child. He is soft, noble, wise and very attached to his mother and wife. He dislikes hurting anyone. He is the archetypal Indian male sandwiched between his wife and family. He is perhaps wiser than his father Indravadan when it comes to contentious matters between his wife and mother. He always tries to make them get along with each other. In the case of his younger brother, Rosesh, he has a funny bone and, like his father, likes to tease him. Owing to the constants tiffs between the members of his family, he runs away from home twice.
  Comic side: He is always sandwiched between his mother and wife resulting in disturbance in his family life. He is a model husband and son.

• Monisha Sarabhai née Manisha Singh (played by Rupali Ganguly): She belongs to a middle-class Punjabi family. She once visits Mumbai for her engagement. The engagement is called off and, after a dramatic turn of events, she marries Sahil. She is committed to her husband. Her middle-class ways are a constant source of humour in contrast to Maya's polished personality. Though she respects her mother-in-law Maya, she hates the fact that Maya constantly belittles her. She is often very emotional, and sometimes quite naive. She does not enjoy cooking and sometimes serves her husband food that is stale or has gone bad. She never cleans or tidies her house which is always messy. Maya changes her name from Manisha to Monisha insisting that the earlier was too middle class. She gels well with her father-in-law. Often she and Indravardhan team up against Maya.
  Comic side: She behaves like a typical middle-class woman, always trying to save as much money as possible running after sales offers, tries to make efficient use of everything but failing miserably.

• Rosesh (Rajesh Kumar): He is the second son of Maya and Indravardhan. He is a wannabe actor and a poet. He is dearest of his mom Maya. He disapproves of his father and is very loyal to Maya. His poetry is awful and yet another source of humour.
  Comic side: Acts/speaks like a kid. Truthful by nature, but Indravardhan hates him for behaving like a "Momma's boy". Maya is the only one who admires his poetry, and hence she forces everyone to listen to it.