Chumbak is a comedy series that zooms in on the lives of five multigenerational families that reside in row houses within the fictional Chumbak Colony. The colony is set in the century-old (and very real) neighborhood of Chembur in Mumbai. The series was created by Aatish Kapadia and Jamnadas “JD” Majethia (Sarabhai vs Sarabhai, Khichdi). 

Calling Chumbak a tribute to nostalgia, Kapadia and Majethia explore the notion of family that extends beyond blood ties. They look at the way these bonds can become like char diwaari (the four walls that enclose a house). These relationships arise because of geographic proximity, but they are forged through shared (mis)adventures and togetherness.

“We wanted to celebrate something we’ve all experienced but perhaps don’t appreciate enough anymore — the beautiful chaos of nostalgic neighborhoods, where no one needs an invitation to drop by and neighbors slowly become family,” Kapadia and Majethia tell Netflix. 

But loving thy neighbor is always easier said than done — especially when your neighbors come from diverse social backgrounds and harbor quirks that could make your kookiest aunt seem normal. As the characters and their interpersonal dynamics are introduced, it’s clear that there’s one main rule among them: They show up for one another, through life, death, and everything in between — even if it comes at the risk of being a bit too much up in each other’s business. 

Read on to get to know the five families that live in the colony. 

The Merchants

Kuku Merchant (Deven Bhojani), fondly known as Kuku uncle, is one of the most senior and gregarious of this eccentric clan. Now retired, he was once a pilot who got fired for mistakenly landing a plane meant to go to Bangalore in Mangalore. Kuku lives with dementia, and this frequently lands him in hot water with his wife, Rajni (Neena Gupta), whose name he often can’t remember. 

The always elegant and demure Rajni is a sari designer who’s tired of parenting the man she married. But she refuses to stop caring for him, even though she yearns to live a little for herself. As a matriarch of the neighborhood, Rajni is often sought out for advice, and she guards her flock like a hawk. She intervenes when she thinks something is awry and offers a helping hand — even when it hasn’t been asked for.  

Kuku and Rajni’s only son, Nikhilesh (Priyal Gupta), lives in the US and receives infrequent updates about the goings-on of his family as he waits for his green card to arrive.

The Kejriwals

Fame follows Dharmendra Kejriwal (Sumeet Raghavan) wherever he goes. Dharmendra is a celebrated actor who’s built his career playing various women characters on a talk show. He’s as comfortable being a bro’s bro as he is borrowing clothes and makeup from the ladies.

Dharmendra’s wife, Kiran (Sandipa Dhar) is a flight attendant who’s easily flustered but remains her clan’s voice of reason. She’s not as comfortable with Dharmendra’s feminine side (even though it brings them money and fame).

Their daughter, Piya, is a clearheaded 12-year-old and daddy’s little girl. She’s always in on the joke and won’t cower before the bullies who want to shame her for her father’s reputation.

The Khannas

Anyone in Chumbak Colony can hear Priyanka Khanna (Manasi Parekh) coming from a mile away. A homemaker and mother to two pre-teen sons, Priyanka fills her days caring for others. She also talks seemingly endlessly, and asks rapid-fire questions without giving people a chance to answer. 

Tempering Priyanka’s high spirits is her husband, Aditya, aka Adi (Sumeet Vyas), a deadpan advertising executive and the yin to her yang. If she’s the thunderclap, he’s the taalam. Adi has perfected the art of making lemonade from the lemons that life’s handed him, and his greatest asset is his dry sense of humor born of world-weary wisdom. 

Priyanka and Adi have two sons: Ruhaan (Vidhaan Sharma), their eldest, who has no interest in his schoolwork and a creative mind for getting out of it, and Vedant (Vidvaan Sharma), the younger son, who has a penchant for taking things too literally. Vedant follows his older brother in much of what he does — and, together, they cause complete chaos.

The Taraporewalas

Hutoxi Taraporewala (Amyra Dastur) is the smart-talking scribe who documents the highs and lows of life in the neighborhood in her debut book, The Chumbak Chapters. She’s bold, opinionated, and sarcastic. She’s either your best friend or worst enemy — and in Chembur, she has plenty of both.

Chief among her enemies is her mother-in-law, Gulshan (Delnaaz Irani), the quintessential mumma ji who gives the stereotype new life with her loud, caustic remarks. She might play a little fast and loose with the facts, and Parsi-ness might be her only religion, but when the time comes to support her Chumbak family, she does it with the force of a tiger mom. 

Yo-yoing between these two strong women is Freddy Taraporewala (Anant Vijay Joshi), a home chef and caterer. Loyal to a fault, Freddy will go to great lengths to protect his loved ones. His first love, though, is food — and his second is laughter. Both come in handy in a household where barbs are always flying between his mother and his wife. 

The Oberois

Not much slips by the keen eyes and ears of Twinkle Oberoi (Helly Shah). Sarcastically referred to as Einstein and Aristotle, Twinkle is your typical poor little rich girl with the first-world problems of a Kardashian and the grace of a bull in a china shop. A model by profession, Twinkle likes to live in her own little world but is always there when her friends need her.    

Her husband, Micky Oberoi (Arjun Bijlani), might be a handsome cardiac surgeon, but he’s clearly married up — or so he’s made to believe. Apart from his job, his full-time occupation is to spoil his wife.

Micky’s father-in-law, Nari Ravjiani (Atul Kumar), meanwhile, is perpetually suspicious of him. A successful hotelier (and allegedly a mafia don), Nari wields money and power like a sword to protect his darling daughter.

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