Indian Comic Sitcoms

Comedy TV serials in  90s and early 2000s were the golden periods of clean humour. While today’s comedy movies and shows (like the one done by Kapil Sharma) function on the problematic and regressive themes under the disguise of humour. The era of the 90s and early 2000s was completely different. Unlike today, the shows and movies of that era did not rely on the sexiest or regressive jokes.

Here is the list of comedy shows from the glory days that  are timeless and insanely hilarious:

1 Dekh Bhai Dekh– It was one of the most popular comedy shows on Indian television. Every Character of the Diwan family made us fall in love. From Shekhar Suman, Farida Jalal, Navin Nischal to Sushma Seth, every character was insanely funny.

2 Tu Tu Main Main– Much before Ekta Kapoor came up with twisted saas-bahu relationships. Reema Lagoo & Supriya Pilgaonkar gave us a hilarious take on regular banter between saas and her bahu. This light-hearted comedy captured these mischievous women brilliantly.

3 Flop Show- The satire in Jaspal Bhatti’s flop show is still relevant three decades later. The show revolved around day to day problems of the common man in satirical ways. It was impossible to watch this serial without a laugh.

4 Zabaan Sambhalke– Starring Pankaj Kapoor, it was a Hindi remake of the British sitcom ‘Mind Your Language’. The show was based on the hilarious Hindi classes for adults belonging to diverse cultures. Pankaj Kapoor made many of us laugh with a hilarious comeback for every odd question that his multi-lingual students threw at him.

5 Shriman Shrimati– With power-packed performances of Reema Lagoo, Jatin Kanakia, Rakesh Bedi, and Archana Puran Singh, this show was immensely loved and adored by the audience.

6 Hum Paanch– A middle-class family with members who love taking digs at each other, so much so that dead talk through the picture too. From Sweety’s craziness and Kajal’s bhaigiri to Anand Mathur’s constant struggle to keep up with chaos. It remains one of the most loved TV shows. With this show, Ekta Kapoor forayed into TV serials.

7 Philips Top Ten– Starring Pankaj Kapoor and Satish Kaushik, who made Santa and Banta’s character world famous. The show updated us with the weekly top 10 songs of Bollywood films, with a heavy dose of laughter.

8 Hudd Kar Di– Starring Dara Singh, Rita Bhaduri, Swapnil Joshi, Mahesh Thakur, and Shilpa Tulaskar, this show captured the hilarious chaos in the family as the elders move from the village to the city. The show showcased the emotional technicalities and challenges that come their way, with a witty twist.

9 Filmi Chakkar– Much before Sarabhai vs Sarabhai, we saw Satish Kaushik and Ratna Pathak Shah as Bollywood-obsessed couple. The show revolved around a family, who was totally obsessed with Bollywood.

10 Office Office– Mussadilal (Pankaj Kapoor) has to deal with the lethargy of govt. officials in a different departments to get the small things done. The show highlighted the problems with the officials in the public sector while tickling our funny bones.

11 Ji Mantriji– It was an Indian adaptation of the British satirical sitcom ‘Yes Minister. The show starred Farooq Sheikh as Minister of Administrative Affairs Surya Prakash Singh and Jayant Kriplani as the department’s secretary. The show was not only intelligent but it was uproariously hilarious too.

12 Sarabhai vs Sarabhai– It can be considered one of the best-ever comedy shows on Indian TV. Starring Ratna Pathak Shah, Satish Kaushik,  who plays a middle-aged couple, and their antics with their daughter-in-law played by Rupali Ganguly is a treat to watch. In my opinion, this is the most hilarious sitcom ever telecasted on Indian TV. Although this series came much later I could not resist mentioning it.

Sorry Kapil Sharma, you would never be able to match up to this level of comedy!

I am sure you all must have gone through a very hilarious nostalgic trip.

Waiting for your vies on this blog.

Anil Malik

Mumbai, India

21^st May 2022