The senior most member of the Billi family, she is Kumari Kusum and BIlli’s mother-in-law. She is an old grandmother who speaks Saraiki. Like many old women, she has diabetes and likes sweets, apart from other fried food. She broods over the lack of attention she receives from everyone, but blossoms when she gets the chance to shower motherly love, especially on her grandson Barish. Her wrinkled face and incredible accent are to die for. Dadi has a twin sister residing in the Queen’s London. Yes, she speaks Multani in a very English accent!

Dadi’s  key dialogues are: 

     ‘Mai toh Budhri thi gayiaa. Menu kon puchsii.’ 

     ‘Idde aa, buthi de cha’ 

     ‘Chutney hovey eii te maza aaveaaii

     ‘Ae mere bacha’ 

     ‘Hun sam po‘ 

     ‘Khana kha baithe ho?’ 

Binnu is Dadi’s elder son and Kumari Kusum’s husband. Being a Mast-Maula, he thinks life is a song. He can sing a song about anything, from plants to washing machines, in the most simple and non-melodious way possible. An interesting fact about Binnu- he was the first character that Gaurav Gera created!

His key dialogues are: 

‘Let me sing a song’

Or

‘I want to sing a song’

And

‘Ae ae ae ae ae ae a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a

Ganjaa is Dadi’s younger son and Billi’s husband. Billy doubt’s that he has an affair with his secretary ‘Sherry-Kutti‘. Till now he has not shown his face in the videos and makes select appearances in the background while dancing in the club or doing things that any Ganjaa would do.

Billi is a middle class woman with a high degree of popularity! Her videos are always engaging and often reveal the secrets of her sensitive heart. Behind her shy flirting, youthful spunk and endless chatter lies a lonely woman who feels neglected by her husband. Within three years of her marriage, her husband lost all his hair, so she calls him Ganja. Adding to her dismay is the fact that Ganja is always busy in office and she suspects him to be having an affair with Sherry (aka Sherry Kutti), Ganja’s assistant. But she loves to share and often tries to please others, not just her family but also her audience. Billi Masi is an actual Masi! Her niece is Chutki (yes, Chutki’s mom is her sister).

The fact that Billi also tries hard to fit into the urban, modern society with her version of English is at once funny and largely relatable. We may have been or know someone like that! But, there can only be one Billi Masi.

Why? Because she is the only one who says

 ‘Hello vi, kya haal hai?’ And 

     ‘Hatt’ 

     ‘Pagal’ 

     ‘Good night. See you tomorrow. Sitti maro’ 

     ‘Jawani ke sapne dekhungi’ 

     ‘Meow!’ 

She is the feisty and tough boxer who loves to not do anything at home. A sports champ and a go-getter in college, she fell in love with Garam Paji before settling for her present husband, Binnu. It is said that Binnu’s face is permanently disfigured because of Kumari Kusum’s jabs. Kumari Kusum generally takes to beating people up for no reason. Her way of expressing joy, too, is punching in the air! Despite her rustic origins and gruff mannerisms, she can be rather soft, particularly with her son Barish, who she loves the most and is surprisingly liberal with. Her smile is innocent and childlike, which says it all.

Her key dialogues are: 

‘Raeh dhar ke dungi’ 

‘Kaak mei bheech dungi’ 

Or even more lethal 

‘Kaak mei bheech ke maar dalungi!’   

Barish is a young guy in his 20s who is more Diva-like than Paris Hilton. He doesn’t have a job so he’s mostly hanging around. What he does have is an opinion on everything and a big, loud mouth. His strength is his gender fluidity as he dons many looks, all with equal aplomb. He is as delicate as his mom is tough and wins hearts with his glamour and ‘I’m so funny’ Moments.

His other key dialogues are 

     ‘Hello my lovelies!’

    and the unmistakable

    ‘Geeli Chummi’ 

He is Billi’s son and his face remarkable resembles an ‘aadu’ or peach. A gentle , school-going boy, studies a lot but doesn’t get marks. He sometimes sulks but rarely seems to get what he wants. When he is not able to sleep, Billi sings to him. But Billi doesn’t remember lyrics and replaces most lyrics with singing ‘bacche khata tha’. For example, if Aadu demands a song on Superman, Billi sings- ‘ek tha Superman, bacche khata tha’. As a result, Aadu faints and sleeps.

Daddy, or ‘Aerobics daddy’ is Billi’s father and Chutki’s grandfather. He manages to surprise others and embarrass his daughters with the love of his life- exercise. His exercise usually involves holding the right arm to the right shoulder and moving the elbow up and down swiftly while keeping the palm like a blade on the neck area. He then moves his blade hand in upward and downward directions and sticks his hip out along with it. He does come across as a hippie from the 80s, especially when he breaks into his aerobics dance. He exercises while eating, walking and probably exercises himself to sleep.

His key dialogues are: 

‘Come, let’s do exercise, one, two, one, two’ 

‘Don’t Laugh’

Garam Paji is inspired by, obviously Dharam Paji, and looks exactly like Dharmendra in his youth. Except for Garam Paji, his Hema Malini was Kumari Kusum. Or so he thought. They met when she was in college and fell in love. Garam Paji offered to teach her boxing and Kumari Kusum did not just pick up boxing skills, she also delivered their baby. Kumari Kusum was unable to handle this scandal and left the baby in front of a shop, where he was later found and named Shopkeeper. Till date, Garam Paji enthusiastically plays the role of Kusum’s ex-boyfriend and hopes to get her attention. Also, till date, Shopkeeper wonders who his father is; he even reached Kumari Kusum’s house to get information on the same.

Bata Didi is like a sutradhaar; she links the story through her narration. She steps in to explain even a story left midway. As she herself has made clear, she is not a part of Billi’s family, even though she is often found lurking around the family. Inspired by her idol, the legendary Lata Mangeshkar, she loves to sing. It is worth mentioning that she doesn’t even remotely sing like Lata Ji, but keeps trying. Her significance is mostly as a sort of spokesperson for the Billi family. She actively interacts on social media and explains to viewers about what happened the last time they left and the events of the future. Fun fact: she has a mysterious link to America (she had an American accent as a child).

Her key dialogues are: 

     ‘Lol!’

     ‘Namaskar’

     ‘Mai aapko geet sunati hoon.’

Chutki is young, sensuous and usually gets the last word on all matters with her natural charm. She loves putting lipstick, is conscious of her appearance and likes to have fun. Her interactions with Shopkeeper are hilarious and suggest a great chemistry between the two. There is a sweet vulnerability to her character as she struggles to achieve something she doesn’t fully understand, be it finding love or becoming the next Miss India! Chutki has featured in television shows, including the popular Indian dance reality show, Jhalak Dikkhla Ja. Chutki is Billi’s niece.

Suyash is Chutki’s boyfriend (read puppy). He is a well educated, MBA guy who is madly in love with her. He talks in an upmarket English accent and a deep voice, characteristic of ‘eligible bachelors’ cast in English cinema of the 90s. He wears a rolex and sports a fancy, gelled hairdo. However, it remains a mystery if these are enough to win Chutki’s affections for life, as she remains dissatisfied with his submissive attitude and treats him badly most of the time. Chutki is still on the lookout for options and Suyash is more like her back-up option.

Shopkeeper is a simple man who likes to take care of his business. He was probably leading a mundane existence till Chutki started coming to his shop. Referring to all women as ‘behenji’ meaning ‘sister’, he doesn’t cease to get surprised even now by her remarks and gestures, though he has a humor of his own. Shopkeeper frequently indulges in a battle of wits with Chutki, with Chutki subtly flirting and shopkeeper giving a clever comeback. He has a wife called Fifi, whom he met in China when visiting the wholesale market there. Fifi, at the time, was standing and frying momos. It was love at first sight and they got married to each other. They have a son called Munna, who Chutki always calls ‘so ugly’.

The Chutki and Shopkeeper duo is an interesting one. Shopkeeper is rather innocent and never flirts back; Chutki thus enjoys the chase. She would probably run in the other direction if Shopkeeper develops feelings for her.

He is Chutki’s bespectacled younger brother. Chutku is intensely scared of his mother, mostly because she beat him up badly as a kid. He never spoke to his mother and his silence has spilled into his growing years. As far as his sister is concerned, Chutku was always the cuter one, was much better in studies and a computer junkie. All this meant Chutku was the more celebrated one of the two siblings, a fact that never went down well with Chutki. In order to avenge her misery, Chutki goes to great lengths- and Chutku is often found struggling to dodge her attacks!

Here is a lady you can’t miss (you certainly can’t miss her JLO bum!)- she’s mean and she’s not sorry for it. Her granny glasses perfectly suit her witchy laughter as she scolds and makes fun of her daughter, Chutki, whenever Chutki calls her.  A resident of Africa, her hairdos can get wilder than the jungles there. She wears anything that is in the news on her hair. So if onions are suddenly expensive, you’ll find them proudly sitting on her head; same goes for daal (lentils) and other trending items, such as CDs, cameras, you name it. It is her unique fashion statement. She is also Billi’s sister, but she doesn’t want to visit India to look up her family anytime soon!

Biddu Uncle personifies the old Indian uncle who has lost his hearing power and sense of social conduct. No one really cares for him but even when he does catch someone’s attention, all he does is indulge in time-pass talks (he loves chatting even though he can’t hear). His wife died about fifty years ago and his only source of excitement is drooling over young girls and sexualizing them in his head.

Bhandu is the meek, chubby guy with telescopic eyes. His external appearance hides the inner romantic in him. He doesn’t speak; he just talks through a sputtering sound using his tongue. As we all know, the deepest emotions can’t be expressed through words. In Bhandu’s case, they can be expressed with saliva.

This character is named NRI from USA because he needs no other introduction. He finds so many things in India cool and he loves the culture, because……he’s an NRI from USA. His opinion matters and he’s always right, because he’s an NRI from USA! He is also the father of Bhandu- Barish’s love interest. NRI from USA did not care for Barish’s gender fluidity (USA is a country of the free) but like a typical desi wanted him to get married to his son and initiated talks for the alliance. His son must surely be speechless after seeing his dad’s generosity.