Happy Family – Conditions Apply Review: Ratna Pathak Shah, Ayesha Jhulka and Raj Babbar’s Series Is a Refined Version of Khichdi That Brings In Loads of Laughs! (LatestLY Exclusive)

Happy Family: Conditions Apply review - There is certain faith attached to everything that Jamnadas Majethia (JD) and Aatish Kapadia produce. Khichdi, Sarabhai Vs Sarabhai, Baa Bahu Aur Baby, these two men have such an amazing hold of their Gujarati culture and a fascinating knack for self-deprecating humour. Happy Family: Conditions Apply is just another hilarious edition to the same. Happy Family Conditions Apply Trailer Out! Raj Babbar, Ratna Pathak Shah, Atul Kulkarni, and Ayesha Jhulka Star in Family Comedy Series Premiering on Prime Video From March 10 (Watch Video).

The Dholakias live in a four-bedroom apartment in Bandra as Ramesh Dholakia (Atul Kulkarni) keeps repeating often. He is a chemist and runs the family's pharmacy. His father Mansukhlal Dholakia (Raj Babbar) is retired now and is a problem-solver in the family. His wife Hemlata (Ratna Pathak Shah) is the eccentric and animated matriarch of the family who comments on anything and everything. Ramesh's wife Pallavi (Ayesha Jhulka) is a devoted wife, mother, grandmother, a selfie addict and loves to be with her grandkid. Their son Sunjoy (Raunaq Kamdar) and his wife Tisca (Meenal Sahu) are moving out soon. Four generations live under the same roof and it's complicated.

Personally speaking, post Gullak, I have been desperately searching for that one series that can leave me feeling good and ROFL organically. While Happy Family: Conditions Apply is no Gullak, it is exactly what was missing from the OTT space - clean, sweet, family comedy. What's even more astounding is that Majethia and Kapadia's brand of comedy never gets impacted by age and time. Kapadia's innate understanding of changing trends blends superbly with his humour. None of it is forced and even when it is, you won't mind. That's because it is effective either way.

When on jokes, what's brilliant is none of them is extraordinarily written. Kapadia must have just incorporated what he heard and saw around him in the script. That's what makes it relatable. Despite the Dholakias being a resident of a posh locality, they are as relatable as any middle-class family. It can very well be an upper-class version of Khichdi with a much tamer Hansa and Praful. You can figure out who they are!

What I felt bad about was the series we can only watch four episodes now and the rest of the six episodes will be split into two episodes every Friday. That's almost criminal!

While it doesn't impact the proceedings, it still needs to be said that such stereotypical portrayals of Gujarati women, especially the matriarchs, may not be fine anymore. At a time when films or series should be trying to break the mould, such generalisation should be avoided.  Many times, the younger members of the family do call out the prejudices that arise, but it's not enough.

Watch the trailer of Happy Family: Conditions Apply

Performances are simply mindblowing. Ratna Pathak Shah aces the typical Gujarati 'ben' portrayal while Raj Babbar acts as the perfect foil. His Mansukhlal is one of those Kader Khan characters from films like Biwi Ho To Aisi, Ghar Ghar Ki Kahaani, only good part is he doesn't wait for the climax to speak up. Ayesha Jhulka looks so comfortable on screen while Sanah Kapoor is just brilliant. Raunaq Kamdar and Meenal Sahu are good in their roles. Atul Kulkarni does seem a tad bit of a misfit in this setup but he does give his all. Faraar Kab Tak: Atul Kulkarni Hopes Viewers Learn From His New Crime Show on Ishara TV

Yay!

-Funnier jokes

- feel good

-excellent performances

Nay!

-cliched character graphs can be damaging

Final Thought:

Happy Family: Conditions Apply is a perfect weekend binge. The fact that one gets to watch only four of the 10 episodes tomorrow can be tad disappointing. My belief is good content shouldn't make anyone wait. Happy Family: Conditions Apply streams on Amazon Prime.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 10, 2023 12:00 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).