Actor and producer JD Majethia shares his thoughts on the initial failure of TV show ‘Sarabhai vs Sarabhai’. Featuring several talented actors like Rupali Ganguly, Ratna Pathak Shah and Satish Shah, the serial became a classic over time. However, it did not gain much popularity at the time of its original release on television. Majethia, who also made special appearances in the show, spoke about its reception by the audience in those days.

In his latest show with Siddharth Kannan, the producer questioned the sensibility of the Indian audience. He said, “India is a country of mediocre people, especially when it comes to watching TV. There is a lot to learn there. Mediocre – that is, I am not speaking ill-I mean they don’t expect any super-intelligent cinema in life.” He explained how Indian audiences generally prefer to watch shows that are easy on the eyes and mind. “They just want some light-hearted stuff, the middle-class mindset of, ‘I’m back home after a long day, just give me something feel-good or a daily soap or a drama for women.’ They don’t want to use their brains too much,” he said.

Majethia spoke about the ‘intelligent humour’ and ‘vocabulary’ of ‘Sarabhai vs Sarabhai’. He also threw light on its airing time on the channel. “It was important to have knowledge of the vocabulary to enjoy it. Also, it will air every Monday, so viewers can get an idea of ​​how funny it is. People are not used to that (People are not used to it.) Those who watched the show loved it so much that there was no time for rebroadcasts. Aaj kal sab OTT par aa jaata hai (because nowadays everything is available on OTT), Sony’s show was on SonyLIV, Star Plus’s on Hotstar or Zee’s on Zee5. There wasn’t much scope for re-watching in those days, so they had to wait for the next Monday to watch a new episode. It was because of YouTube that people got to know what ‘Sarabhai vs Sarabhai’ is all about.”

The producer said he can see the show’s popularity growing among the audience. He recalled the time when he saw ‘Sarabhai vs Sarabhai’ and his other show ‘Khichdi’ doing better than top American shows like ‘Friends’. “The show wasn’t successful in the first season but till date it is considered one of the best comedy shows in India. I am very happy with its journey,” he said.

‘Sarabhai vs Sarabhai’ returned for its second season which saw the original cast come together to showcase the life of the Sarabhai family today. The show acts as a reboot of the original TV series and can be watched on Disney+Hotstar.