Sarabhai Vs Sarabhai continues to remain one of the most beloved sitcoms of the 2000s. Featuring an ensemble cast of Ratna Pathak Shah, Rupali Ganguly, Sumeet Raghavan, Satish Shah, and Rajesh Kumar, the show still enjoys a cult following. Rajesh Kumar, who brought the iconic character Rosesh Sarabhai to life, recently opened up about his experiences on set, including how he was often ragged by his co-stars and why he never had the confidence to bring his wife to the shoot.
Speaking on the YouTube channel Be You With Shraddha S, Rajesh credited his co-actors for shaping Rosesh into a memorable character. “Rosesh worked because of the reactions. It wasn’t just the way he spoke or his attitude. The magic happened because of how Ratna Pathak Shah or Satish Shah responded to him. Even today, when I’m around the five of them, I instantly become Rosesh because they still treat me like him. If I forward something in our WhatsApp group, no matter what it is, they still troll me–especially Satish ji,” he shared with a laugh.
Their bond, he revealed, remains as strong as ever. “Satish ji still says, ‘Tu chup reh, tu toh bol hi mat,’ and I just go quiet. I tell him, ‘Kaka, I am 50 now!’ and he replies, ‘So what? You will always be our Rosesh.’ Till date, we call each other by the same names–Ratna ji is still ‘Moma,’ she calls me ‘Roshu,’ Rupali calls me ‘Roshu Bhaiya,’ Sumeet is ‘Bade’ and I’m ‘Chote.’ With Satish ji, I say ‘Dad’ or ‘Kaka.’ After the shoot, our bond only grew stronger. We can truly say we are a Sarabhai family.”
Recalling his early days on set, Rajesh admitted he felt overwhelmed. “I was ragged mostly because I was doing comedy for the first time, and on top of that, I was acting opposite stalwarts like Satish ji and Ratna ji. I was nervous throughout the 1.5 years of shooting. Though I was married, I felt like a bachelor on set because that’s how they treated me. I never brought my wife there. I didn’t want her to see how they treated me–it scared me. Even Deven Bhojani would tease me, saying, ‘Reaction dene nahi aata hai!’”
He also remembered a particularly tough day when he struggled with a long monologue. “There was this one scene where I had to deliver a 1.5-page dialogue about the activities I did while being insomniac. I kept forgetting the lines–we did at least eight takes. Satish ji got angry and said, ‘Call me when he remembers his lines.’ The way he said it brought tears to my eyes. I couldn’t tell if it was anger, insult, or just ragging. After that, I went to my director and asked for some time. Even now, I remind Satish ji that he once made me cry, but he never agrees.”
Despite the challenges, Rajesh considers those experiences invaluable. “I learnt a lot from all of them. Whatever Rosesh became, it’s because of the entire team. That’s something I’ll always cherish.”
