Happy Family Conditions Apply Review: This Mix Of Sarabhai vs Sarabhai, Khichdi, And Baa Bahoo Aur Baby Fails To Impress

Sarabhai vs Sarabhai, Khichdi, and Baa Bahoo aur Baby were epic shows. In times when saas bahu serials were dominating the TV space, Jamnadas Majethia and Aatish Kapadia gave us shows that turned out to be a breath of fresh air for us. What made these shows extraordinary were their characters – may it be Roshesh from Sarabhai vs Sarabhai, Gattu from Baa Bahoo aur Baby, or Hansa and Praful from Khichdi. These characters were the true essence of these shows. We are fed up with Tulsi and Parvati’s never-ending trauma and ‘drama.’ We wanted something entirely different to come out of the saas-bahu trance, and JD and Aatish Kapadia came as messiahs to our rescue. Wait! How can I forget Deven Bhojani, who was a part of almost all of their shows? Sometimes, he donned the hat of an actor while other times, he played the role of Creative Director. 

But now times have changed. We would love to have Gattu, Hansa, Praful, Baa, Maya Sarabhai, and Monisha back on our screens but with the same actors in the same shows. Happy Family: Conditions Apply is a mix of all their hit shows with actors who have terribly failed at their jobs. Ratna Pathak still gives us Maya Sarabhai vibes. That lady will always be too young and charming to play Baa. Raj Babbar, literally feels like an extra in the show. Not the makers’ fault though, he is clearly not the typical Gujarati head of the family. His diction, dialect or mannerisms, nothing gives us Gujju vibes. I wonder why did the casting director not pick a Gujarati actor to play Mansukhlal Dholakia. The same applies to Atul Kulkarni who played Hemlata and Mansukhlal’s son, Ramesh Dholakia. Atul Kulkarni is a fab actor but fails to impress in Happy Family: Conditions Apply. 

Speaking of Ayesha Julkha, ok, let’s not talk about her. Comedy is not her forte. To be honest, all known faces but other than Ratna Pathak Shah, everyone felt like an extra in the show. Characters are not well-crafted, the show is not well-scripted. 

Paresh Ganatra and Pranoti Pradhan’s characters, Jatin Kumar and Falguni remind you of Charubala and Tushar from Baa Bahoo and Baby. Ayushi Dholakia’s (Sanah Kapoor) broken English reminds you of  Jasmine from Sarabhai vs Sarabhai 2, and there are endless character traits that will take you back to one of the duo’s (JD and Aatish Kapadia) old shows. The biggest mistake is that there is nothing original in Happy Family: Conditions Apply. It’s repetitive, has bad performances, and is annoying for many reasons. With each episode, it gets unbearable to watch these characters go through their lives and create unnecessary drama for the sake of ‘forced’ comedy. 

If you still want to watch this show, only 4 episodes are out for now. Fifth episode of Happy Family: Conditions Apply will release next Friday, that is, on 17th March. I am sure, they won’t release just one episode on Friday, at least 3 to 4 episodes should be out together. But here is what I know for sure, I am not watching the remaining episodes.

Here’s a piece of advice: save yourself the torture.

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