Colors, Mondays to Fridays, 9 pm

Cast: Aruna Irani, Swapna Waghmare Joshi, Jay Soni, Shamim Mannan

Sanskaar Dharohar Apnon Ki reminds you of those 1980s films, in which the hero is a perpetual loser with a heart of gold and his family (a joint family with too many dependents) pinning all their hopes on him. There is a debt to clear, promises to be kept and family legacy to be upheld and so you know how exactly it's all going to pan out unless the serial doesn't get abruptly pulled off air. There is also that whole 'Mera Bharat Mahaan' angle to it (Manoj Kumar would be proud), with every two minutes, our hero saying lines like 'Hum Indians galti karke sorry bolna jaante hain', 'Hum Indians itne meethe hain ki saamnewale ko diabetes ho jaati hai' (and we thought it was our poor lifestyle that did us in!).

Did you ask for the story? Jai Kishan Vaishnav is a textile designer whose family includes a matriarch, parents, uncles, aunts, cousins etc. The matriarch having lost her husband has only one dream - of keeping the family legacy alive, a kapde ka mill which has shut down because of rising debts. The workers are a disgruntled lot and there is a son, the black sheep of the family who doesn't quite understand his mother's grand ambition of resurrecting the mill. But there is Kishan, the grandson who wants to keep his grandparents' legacy alive. So he takes up a job in a New York fashion magazine for a hefty salary, hoping he would earn enough to come back to India after three months and clear all the debts and reopen the mill. But he end up getting his bag with his work documents stolen as his mother told him to pray at a temple in New York! He gets three days from his employer to search the bag even as he bumps into the mysterious girl, who has taken his bag, time and again, but due to the silly twists and turns in the plot, it's always a hit and miss.

What's annoying about Sanskaar is its painful effort to be holier than thou. Each character, save the cunning uncle, is ideal and perfect. There is an extremely irritating daughter-in-law who comes with a background score 'aee chaapli' (which roughly translates into mischief-maker). And the wimp-like character of Jai Kishan doesn't do anything to lift the show. Here's hoping he gets more dashing in the future episodes. Luckily, the lead female character, Bhoomi is easy on the eye and brings in the necessary respite.

Co-produced by Swapna Waghmare Joshi (as a director, she's given us fairly watchable shows before), the show tries to tug at your heartstrings with every scene, every line possible; it gets tedious after a point.The performances range from over-the-top to mildly amusing. Jay Soni as Kishan seems to have mastered the stereotype of an 'innocent, ideal good boy' to his own disadvantage. Shamim Mannan as Bhoomi is likeable, Rajendra Chawla as Hasmukh kaka, is falling into the stereotype of 'grey' characters and Aruna Irani as Ansuben Vaishnav, the matriarch, is thankfully restrained and wears lovely saris! Sanskaar Dharohar Apnon Ki would have worked beautifully had the makers chosen to keep it real and not turn it into a too- perfect-for-your-comfort family drama. The effort jars!