Kumkum Bhagya (transl. Vermillion in My Fate) is an Indian Hindi-language drama television series produced by Ekta Kapoor under Balaji Telefilms.[2] It premiered on 15 April 2014 on Zee TV and digitally streams on ZEE5.[3] It formerly starred Sriti Jha and Shabir Ahluwalia. Currently, it stars Mugdha Chaphekar, Krishna Kaul, Rachi Sharma and Abrar Qazi. One of the longest running Indian television soap opera, the concept of the show was originally based on Jane Austen's novel Sense and Sensibility.[1]
| Kumkum Bhagya | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Genre | Drama Romance |
| Created by | Ekta Kapoor |
| Based on | Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen[1] |
| Developed by | Ekta Kapoor |
| Screenplay by | Anil Nagpal Mrinal Tripathi Dialogues Dheeraj Sarna Vikash tiwari |
| Story by | Anil Nagpal |
| Directed by | Ravindra Gautam Sameer Kulkarni Sharad Pandey Jeetu Arora Deepak Chavan Shahnawaz Khan Khalid Akhtar Muzammil Desai |
| Creative directors | Shaalu Nitin Dhall Rajan Prachi Tanya Rajesh Kiran Gupta |
| Starring |
|
| Theme music composer | Lalit Sen Nawab Arzoo |
| Opening theme | "Kumkum Bhagya" |
| Country of origin | India |
| Original language | Hindi |
| No. of seasons | 3 |
| Production | |
| Producers | Ekta Kapoor Shobha Kapoor |
| Cinematography | Sanjay Memane Anil Katke |
| Original release | |
| Network | Zee TV |
| Release | 15 April 2014 – present |
| Related | |
| Kundali Bhagya Bhagya Lakshmi | |
Plot
Sarla Arora runs a marriage hall, Kumkum Bhagya, and is a single mother to her two daughters, Pragya and Bulbul. Sarla constantly worries for Pragya as she is still not able to find her a groom. Famous rockstar Abhishek "Abhi" Prem Mehra crosses paths with Pragya and they immediately get on each other's bad side. Abhi's grandmother, Kulpreet Mehra, asks for Pragya's hand in marriage for Abhi from Sarla, to which Sarla agrees. Alia, Abhi's sister, is in love with Purab Khanna, Abhi's best friend, while he is in love with Bulbul. Mistakenly believing Pragya loves Purab, Alia urges Abhi to marry her, and he reluctantly complies for his sister's happiness.
On their wedding night, Pragya is devastated to know the truth about her marriage, as Abhi promises to make her life hell. She also finds out that Alia's supermodel best friend, Tanushree "Tanu" Mehta, is Abhi's girlfriend. To protect her sister Bulbul, Pragya falsely claims to be involved with Purab. She convinces Bulbul to move on from Purab, who is slated to marry Alia. However, on the wedding day, Purab flees to marry Bulbul. Soon it is revealed that Bulbul is the woman whom Purab loves. Alia, Abhi, and Tanu blame Pragya for everything, but after a series of events, he realises that Bulbul and Purab truly love one another and arranges their marriage, angering Alia. During one of the wedding ceremonies, Alia arranges for Bulbul to be kidnapped but Pragya is kidnapped instead. The marriage preparations are put on hold and Abhi goes in search of Pragya. They both spend a month trying to escape from their kidnappers, who are Neel, the corporator, and his henchmen. Neel works with Alia because he is in love with Bulbul as Alia is with Purab. Before they return home, Pragya confesses her love for Abhi.
After a series of events, Abhi realises he reciprocates Pragya's feelings. When he is about to confess his love for her, Pragya lies to him and says that she was only joking with him, devastating him. Abhi decides to find out what is going on with Pragya as she began to behave rudely with the family members, got Akash, Abhi's cousin, married to a pregnant Rachna, Pragya's neighbour, and also brings Tanu to their home. Abhi is shocked to know that Pragya wants everyone to hate her so that Tanu wins everyone's hearts, as she is pregnant with Abhi's child. In a turn of events, Tanu's pregnancy is revealed to the whole family, angering Kulpreet. Abhi agrees to marry Tanu, for the sake of the baby. Pragya fakes her death, reappearing later to claim the property and money, pretending to be motivated by greed. In reality, Pragya, along with Kulpreet, Rachna, Bulbul, and Purab, are all scheming to expose Alia, for wanting to usurp the property and Abhi's business, and Tanu, who is pregnant with another man's child.
Bulbul and Purab are married in a temple by Pragya, after she has a dream that Alia killed Bulbul. At the reception, Alia organises for Pragya to be killed, but Bulbul saves Pragya and later dies by suicide. After various failed attempts to expose Tanu, Pragya finally reveals everything to Abhi. At first, he does not believe her as he thinks she is responsible for Tanu's accident and losing the baby, but in fact, Pragya saved Tanu and the real father of the baby. He only believes her when she tells him about Rachna, Bulbul, Purab, and Kulpreet's involved. They reconcile, but their happiness is short lived as Abhi gets into an accident, planned by Alia and Tanu to kill Pragya. In hospital, he is announced dead, but Pragya is able to revive him. She is devastated to find out that Abhi has no memory of everything that has happened after Alia went to study in Australia, which was two and a half years prior to their marriage. She is forced to move back to her mother's house and Alia and Tanu decide to take advantage of Abhi's memory loss.
Later, Pragya begins working in Abhi's company and they constantly cross paths with one another, but this time, they form a friendship. Alia and Tanu do not like their budding romance and put Abhi in a situation where he is forced to marry Tanu. The wedding day approaches, but Abhi does not show up as he goes in search of Pragya who has been kidnapped once again. Abhi confesses his love for Pragya and they get married in a temple, not long after, they take refuge in a middle aged man's home and Pragya discovers that he is her father, Raghuveer, and that she has two younger sisters, Preeta and Srishti after Bulbul. Abhi regains his memory, Purab finally tracks down Abhi and Pragya, but Pragya is shot and falls into a flowing river. In a fit of rage, Abhi accidentally kills Dushyant, who shoots Pragya. Abhi returns home, throws Alia and Tanu out of the house, and hopes for Pragya's return.
Cast
Main
- Sriti Jha as Pragya Arora Mehra: Sarla and Raghuveer's eldest daughter; Preeta, Bulbul and Srishti's sister; Abhi's wife; Kiara, Prachi and Rhea's mother; Khushi and Poorvi's grandmother (2014–2021, 2023)
- Shabir Ahluwalia as Abhishek "Abhi" Mehra: Santoshi and Prem's son; Alia's brother; Raj and Akash's cousin; Pragya's husband; Tanu's ex-husband; Kiara, Prachi and Rhea's father; Khushi and Poorvi's grandfather (2014–2021, 2023)
- Mugdha Chaphekar as Prachi Arora Kohli (Prachi Mehra): Pragya and Abhi's second daughter; Kiara and Rhea's sister; Bunty, Neha, Bittu and Aryan's cousin; Akshay's ex-wife; Ranbir's estranged wife; Khushi and Poorvi's mother (2019–present)
- Krishna Kaul as Ranbir Kohli / Krishna "KK" Kakkar: Pallavi and Vikram's son; Mishti's brother; Siddharth and Mihika's cousin; Prachi's estranged husband; Trishna’s husband; Rhea's ex-husband; Khushi and Poorvi's father (2019–present)
- Rachi Sharma as Poorvi Kohli Malhotra: Ranbir and Prachi's younger daughter; Khushi's sister; Rajvansh's wife (2023–present)
- Abrar Qazi as Rajvansh "RV" Malhotra: Harman and Harleen's younger son; Vikrant's brother; Poorvi's husband; Khushi and Monisha's ex-fiancé (2023–present)
Recurring
- Simran Budharup as Panchi "Khushi" Kohli Randhawa: Ranbir and Prachi's elder daughter; Akshay’s adoptive daughter; Poorvi's sister; Arman's wife; Rajvansh's ex-fiancée (2023–present)
- Trisha Rohatgi as Child Panchi "Khushi" Kohli (2023)
- Aakash Talwar as Arman Randhawa: Khushi's husband (2024–present)
- Mallika Nayak as Manpreet Tandon: Ashok's second wife; Akshay and Mihika's stepmother; Prachi’s mother-figure (2023–present)
- Kaushal Kapoor as Ashok Tandon: Prachi's former boss and father figure; Vishakha's brother; Manpreet's husband; Akshay and Mihika's father (2023–present)
- Utkarsha Naik as Vishakha Tandon: Ashok's sister; Divya's mother; Diya’s grandmother (2023–present)
- Riya Kapoor as Divya Tandon: Vishakha's daughter; Akshay, Mihika, Neha and Abhay's cousin; Diya’s mother (2023)
- Mahira Sharma replaced Kapoor as Divya (2023–present)
- Sanchita Ugale as Diya Tandon: Divya’s daughter; Poorvi’s best friend; Soham's fiancee (2023–present)
- Srishti Jain as Monisha: Dipika's sister; Rajvansh's ex-fiancée and one-sided obsessive lover (2024–present)
- Imran Khan as Harman Malhotra: Rajvansh and Vikrant's father; Harleen's husband (2023–present)
- Pyumori Mehta Ghosh as Harleen Malhotra: Rajvansh and Vikrant's mother; Harman's wife; Yug's aunt (2023–present)
- Kirti Sualy as Rajvansh's grandmother (2023–present)
- Susheel Parashar as Rajvansh's grandfather (2023–present)
- Preet Kaur Nayak as Dipika Malhotra: Monisha's sister; Vikrant’s wife (2023–present)
- Rahul Ram Manchanda as Vikrant Malhotra: Dipika's husband; Rajvansh's elder brother (2023–present)
- Nakul Ulja as Yug Malhotra: Rajvansh’s younger cousin; Diya’s love interest (2023–present)
- Arjun Shekhawat as Ashutosh: Poorvi’s ex-fiancée (2023–2024)
- Kavita Banerjee as Trishna Jaiswal: Krishna's wife (2024–present)
- Hemant Choudhary as Amar Dayal; Jaiswal’s political rival (2024)
- Ajay Sharma as Gajendra Jaiswal; Trishna’s father (2024–present)
- Hetal Yadav as Rajni Jaiswal; Trishna's mother (2024–present)
- Mrunal Thakur as Bulbul Arora Khanna: Sarla and Raghuveer's third daughter; Pragya, Preeta and Srishti's sister; Purab's first wife (2014–2016)
- Arjit Taneja as Purab Khanna: Abhi's best friend, business partner and brother-figure; Bulbul's widower; Disha and Aliya's ex-husband; Sunny and Aryan's father (2014–2016)
- Vin Rana replaced Taneja as Purab (2016–2021)
- Madhurima Tuli as Tanushree "Tanu" Mehta: Alia's best friend; Abhi's ex-wife; Nikhil's ex-girlfriend (2014)
- Leena Jumani replaced Tuli as Tanu (2014–2021)
- Supriya Shukla as Sarla Arora: Raghuveer's widow; Pragya, Preeta, Bulbul and Srishti's mother; Kiara, Prachi and Rhea's grandmother; Panchi and Purvi's great-grandmother (2014–2018)
- Madhu Raja as Daljeet Kaur Arora: Raghuveer's mother; Pragya, Preeta, Bulbul and Srishti's grandmother; Panchi and Purvi's great-grandmother (2014–2018)
- Jasjeet Babbar as Janki: The Aroras' handmaiden; Poorvi's mother (2014–2018)
- Kanupriya Pandit as Sweety: Pragya and Bulbul's aunt; Sarla's sister-in-law (2014)
- Faisal Rashid as Suresh Shrivastav: Rachna's brother; Pragya's ex-fiancé (2014–2015)
- Daljeet Soundh as Daljeet Kaur Mehra: Matriarch of the Mehra family; Swarni and Indu's sister; Ajay and Prem's mother; Abhi, Alia, Raj and Akash's grandmother; Bunty, Neha, Bittu, Kiara, Prachi, Rhea and Aryan's great-grandmother (2014–2018)
- Charu Mehra as Poorvi: Janki's daughter; Pragya and Bulbul's namesake sister (2014–2015)
- Neel Motwani as Corporator Neil Thakur (2014–2015)
- Shikha Singh as Alia Mehra: Santoshi and Prem's daughter; Abhi's sister; Raj and Akash's cousin; Purab's second ex-wife; Aryan's mother; Kiara, Prachi and Rhea's aunt (2014–2020)
- Reyhna Malhotra replaced Singh as Alia (2020–2023)
- Shivaani Sopuri as Parminder "Pammi" Kaur Mehra: Ajay's wife; Raj and Akash's mother. (2014–2021)
- Ajay Trehan as Ajay Mehra: Daljeet's elder son; Prem's brother; Parminder's husband; Raj and Akash's father; Bunty, Neha and Bittu's grandfather (2014–2020)
- Ankit Mohan as Akash Mehra: Parminder and Ajay's younger son; Raj's brother; Abhi and Alia's cousin; Rachna's husband; Bittu's father (2014–2016)
- Aditi Rathore as Rachna Shrivastav Mehra: Suresh's sister; Akash's wife; Bittu's mother. (2014–2016)
- Zarina Khan as Inderjit Kaur Suri: Daljeet and Swarni's sister; Ajay and Prem's aunt; Abhi, Alia, Raj and Akash's grand-aunt; Kiara, Sunny, Prachi, Rhea and Aryan's great-grandaunt. (2014–2020)
- Radha Israni as Swarni Dasi: Abhi, Alia, Raj and Akash's grand-aunt; Daljeet and Indu's sister (2014–2018)
- Asha Sharma replaced Israni as Swarni (2018–2020)
- Anurag Sharma as Raj Mehra: Parminder and Ajay's elder son; Akash's brother; Abhi and Alia's cousin; Mitali's husband; Bunty and Neha's father (2014–2021)
- Samikssha Batnagar as Mitali Mehra: Raj's wife; Bunty and Neha's mother (2014)
- Swati Anand replaced Batnagar as Mitali (2014–2021)
- Haelyn Shastri as News Reporter (2015)
- Nikhil Arya as Nikhil Sood: Tanu's ex-lover (2015–2017)
- Rajat Dahiya replaced Arya as Nikhil (2017–2018)
- Shaad Randhawa replaced Dahiya as Nikhil (2018–2019)
- Bobby Khanna as Mr. Mehta: Tanu's father (2015–2017)
- Roma Lavani as Mrs. Mehta: Tanu's mother (2015–2018)
- Pratik Parihar as Manohar: Abhi's accountant who schemed against Pragya (2016)
- Vijay Kashyap as Raghuveer Arora: Daljeet's son; Sarla's husband; Pragya, Preeta, Bulbul and Srishti's father; Kiara, Prachi and Rhea's grandfather (2017)
- Nitin Goswami as Dushyant Rana: Simonica's husband who was accidentally killed by Abhishek (2017–2018)
- Ruchi Savarn as Disha Singh: Purab's first ex-wife; Sunny's mother (2017–2019)
- Sharhaan Singh as Sangram Singh Chautala: Disha's ex-fiancé (2017–2018)
- Vivana Singh as Simonica Dushyant Rana: Dushyant's widow (2017–2018)
- Shwetanshu Singh as Dr. Sheila (2017)
- Mishal Raheja as King Singh: A rapper based in the UK; Pragya's former boss and one-sided lover (2018–2019)
- Kaurwaki Vasistha as Kiara Mehra: Pragya and Abhi's eldest daughter; Prachi and Rhea's sister; Bunty, Neha, Bittu and Aryan's cousin (2018–2019)
- Vedansh Jaju as Sunny Khanna: Purab and Disha's son; Aryan's half-brother (2018–2019)
- Ashlesha Sawant as Meera: Rhea's foster mother and Abhi's ex-fiancé (2019–2021)
- Abeer Adil as Tarun: King's cousin; Neha's husband (2018–2019)
- Richa Rathore as Neha "Babli" Mehra: Mitali and Raj's daughter; Bunty's sister; Bittu, Sunny, Kiara, Prachi, Rhea and Aryan's cousin; Tarun's wife. (2018)
- Roma Bali as Tarun's mother: King's aunt (2018–2019)
- Naina Singh as Rhea Mehra: Pragya and Abhi's youngest daughter; Kiara and Prachi's sister; Bunty, Neha, Bittu and Aryan's cousin; Siddharth and Ranbir's ex-wife (2019–2020)
- Pooja Banerjee replaced Singh as Rhea (2020–2022)
- Tina Philip replaced Banerjee as Rhea (2022–2023)
- Zeeshan Khan as Aryan Khanna: Alia and Purab's son; Sunny's half-brother; Bunty, Neha, Bittu, Kiara, Prachi and Rhea's cousin; Ranbir's best friend; Mili's ex-boyfriend; Shahana's love interest (2019–2021)
- Pulkit Bangia replaced Khan as Aryan (2022–2023)
- Naveen Sharma replaced Bangia as Aryan (2023)
- Abhishek Malik as Akshay Tandon: Ashok's son; Manpreet's step-son; Mihika's brother; Abhay, Neha and Divya's cousin; Prachi's fake husband; Khushi's adoptive father (2023)
- Aafreen Dabestani as Mihika Tandon: Ashok's daughter; Manpreet's step-daughter; Akshay's sister; Abhay, Neha and Divya's cousin; Ranbir's fake fianceé (2023)
- Sparsh Kotwal as Abhay Tandon: Vishakha and Ashok's nephew; Akshay, Mihika, Neha and Divya's cousin (2023)
- Mehul Kajaria as Vikram Kohli: Daljeet's eldest son; Vikrant and Arun's brother; Pallavi's husband; Ranbir and Mishti's father; Siddharth's uncle/adoptive father; Abhi's friend and business partner; Khushi and Poorvi's grandfather (2019–2021)
- Rushad Rana replaced Kajaria as Vikram (2021–2023)
- Khyati Keswani as Pallavi Kohli: Vikram's wife; Ranbir and Mishti's mother; Siddharth's aunt/adoptive mother; Khushi and Poorvi's grandmother (2019–2023)
- Kiran Bhargava as Daljeet "Dida" Kohli: Vikram, Vikrant and Arun's mother; Ranbir, Mishti, Siddharth and Mihika's grandmother; Khushi and Poorvi's great-grandmother (2019–2022)
- Smita Shetty replaced Bhargava as Daljeet (2022–2023)
- Aparna Mishra as Shahana Sharma: Beeji's granddaughter; Pragya's niece-figure; Prachi's best friend and sister-figure; Aryan's love interest (2019–2023)
- Jaanvi Sangwan as Beeji: A nurse who took Pragya in after the latter's exile, Shahana's paternal grandmother (2019)
- Manmohan Tiwari as Rohit "Sanju" Gill: A local gangster of Hoshiarpur; Prachi's obsessive one-sided lover (2019–2020)
- Ashwini Tobe as Dimpy: Rhea's friend (2019–2020)
- Shivali Choudhry as Shaina: Rhea's friend (2019–2022)
- Pooja Singh as Mishti Kohli: Vikram and Pallavi's daughter; Ranbir's sister; Siddharth and Mihika's cousin (2019)
- Neena Cheema as Sarita Ben: A Gujarati woman who gave refuge to Pragya and her daughters after they left Hoshiarpur for Delhi; Rishi's maternal grandmother (2019–2020)
- Rupa Divetia replaced Cheema as Sarita Ben (2020–2021)
- Sonali Joshi as Chief Minister Vasudha (2019)
- Ribbhu Mehra as Ritik: Disha's friend and secret lover (2019)
- Gautam Nain as Rishi Dhaval: Sarita's grandson; Prachi and Shahana's friend; Purab's employee (2019)
- Kajal Chauhan as Priyanka Rane: Abhi's friend's daughter, Rishi's obsessive lover (2019)
- Farida Dadi as Baljeet Mehra: Daljeet's sister-in-law; Abhi, Raj, Akash and Alia's grand-aunt; Bunty, Neha, Bittu, Sunny, Kiara, Prachi, Rhea and Aryan's great-grandaunt (2020–2021/2023)
- Rose Khan as Maya Choubey, Ranbir's ex-fiancée (2020)
- Manish Khanna as Dushyant Singh Chaubey, Maya's uncle (2020)
- Bhupendra Khuranna as Mr. Choubey, Maya's father, Dushyant's younger brother (2020)
- Anuradha Sharma as Mrs. Choubey, Maya's mother (2020)
- Naina Yadav as Palak: Prachi and Shahana's friend (2021)
- Sharukh Firoz Khan as Sharp Shooter (2021)
- Gagan Anand as Digvijay: Abhishek's business rival (2021)
- Gazala Silawat as Pari: Rhea's friend (2021)
- Rohit Choudhary as Pradeep Khurana: Tanu's ex-husband (2021)
- Dolly Sohi as Sushma Tandon: A rich businesswoman and Pragya's mentor (2021)
- Vineet Kumar Chaudhary as Gautam Thapar: A businessman; Sushma and Pragya's business partner; Pragya's one-sided lover (2021)
- Jatin Shah as Gaurav Thapar: Gautam's elder brother (2021)
- Riyaz Panjwani as Mr. Thapar: Gaurav and Gautam's father (2021)
- Kushagra Nautiyal as Siddharth "Sid" Kohli: Vikrant's son; Pallavi and Vikram's nephew/adopted son; Mihika's elder brother; Ranbir and Mishti's cousin; Rhea's ex-husband (2021–2023)
- Shamik Abbas as Arun Kohli: Daljeet's youngest son; Vikram and Vikrant's younger brother; Teji's husband (2021)
- Mridula Oberoi as Teji Kohli: Arun's wife (2021)
- Abhishek Kumar as Jai Bhatt: Ranbir's best friend (2021–2022)
- Gulshan Shivani as Stanley: Ranbir's assistant (2022)
- Aishana Singh as Mihika Kohli: Vikrant's daughter; Siddharth's younger sister; Ranbir and Mishti's cousin (2022–2023)
- Veronica Talreja as Mili: Aryan's ex-girlfriend and friend (2022)
- Aalisha Panwar as Kaya Malhotra: Ranbir's former boss and Prachi's friend (2023)
- Mimicharve Khadse as Mauli: a girl whom Prachi loved as her own after she lost Panchi in the six-year leap (2023)
- Vishal Solanki as Satinder: Prachi's rival colleague (2023)
- Pallavi Mahara as Damini: Aryan's suitress (2023)
- Sharika Ahluwalia as Laali: A poor, greedy woman who raised Panchi/Khushi (2023)
- Mohsin Khan as Balbira: Laali's boyfriend (2023)
- Purvi Pawar as Neha Tandon: Akshay, Mihika, Abhay and Divya's cousin; Ashok's brother's daughter (2023)
- Ipsita Jena as Priya: Prachi's assistant (2023)
Kumkum Bhagya Saavan Mahotsav
- Vishal Singh as Rahul: Abhishek and Purab's friend; Anjali's husband (2018)
- Rhea Sharma as Anjali: Abhishek and Purab's friend; Rahul's wife (2018)
- Yuvika Chaudhary as Tina: Rahul's former fiancé (2018)
- Kavita Ghai as Rahul's mother (2018)
- Rakesh Kukreti as Rahul's father (2018)
Cameo appearances
- Shraddha Arya as Dr. Preeta Arora: Pragya, Bulbul and Srishti's sister; Karan's wife (2017–2018)
- Anjum Fakih as Srishti Arora: Pragya, Preeta and Bulbul's sister (2017–2018)
- Dheeraj Dhoopar as Karan Luthra: Abhi's friend; Preeta's husband (2017–2018)
- Manit Joura as Rishabh Luthra: Abhi's friend, Karan's elder brother (2017–2018)
- Vijay Kashyap as Raghuveer Arora: Daljeet's son; Sarla's husband; Pragya, Preeta, Bulbul and Srishti's father; Kiara, Prachi and Rhea's grandfather (2017)
Production
Development
The series is a love story[4] produced by Ekta Kapoor and Shobha Kapoor under the banner Balaji Telefilms that airs on Zee TV. Ekta Kapoor considers the letter K to be lucky and has named many of her productions starting with K.[5] Talking about introducing a fresh concept on prime time, Zee TV Programming head Namit Sharma said, "It takes one epic show to replace another, so you can imagine. It is a passionate drama of love, a far cry from regular saas-bahu soaps and has an ensemble cast of some very talented actors."
Ekta Kapoor added, "While two of my shows (Pavitra Rishta and Jodha Akbar) are already on-air and doing immensely well on Zee TV, it's a pleasure to extend my partnership with Zee to a third show. Pavitra Rishta has had a run of over five years now and the journey has been most gratifying for me as a producer. While the audiences who are hooked on to Pavitra Rishta will continue to enjoy the show at 6:30 PM, Kumkum Bhagya will open at 9 PM, drawing maximum eyeballs. It is so contemporary in its treatment that viewers will be able to instantly spot characters out of their own lives in the show. It's a story of passionate love that anyone with a soul would be able to easily relate to".
Kapoor rejected 19 costumes while selecting the look of character Pragya.[6]
Filming
The production and airing of the show was halted indefinitely in late March 2020 due to the COVID-19 outbreak in India.[7] The outbreak caused the halt of filming of television shows and movies on 19 March 2020, and they were expected to resume on 1 April 2020. But shooting remained suspended and the remaining episodes were aired up to 24 March 2020.[8][9][10] After three months, the production and filming of the series resumed on 29 June 2020 and airing resumed on 13 July 2020.[11][12][13]
Casting
Shabbir Ahluwalia,[14] who was also cast in Ekta's TV series Kayamath, was selected to portray the lead role of Abhishek Prem Mehra. Ahluwalia made his comeback after Zee twenty years. Actress Sriti Jha landed in lead role in the show.[14] Mrunal Thakur was selected to portray the second leading role of Bulbul[15] while Arjit Taneja was cast opposite her.[15][16] In May 2014, Shikha Singh entered the show as the main antagonist Alia Mehra,[16][17][18] while Madhurima Tuli was cast to portray the negative role of Tanu. Later, Tuli had to shoot for her film Baby so, this role was later played by Leena Jumani from September 2014.[19] Actor Faisal Rashid was selected to portray the role of Suresh (Pragya's fiancé) who played an important role in April–May 2014, but in May 2015 he quit the series. Actress Supriya Shukla was cast to play the role of Sarla Arora, while Madhu Raja played the role of Daljeet Arora. Other supporting cast members include Samikssha Batnagar, Ankit Mohan, Charu Mehra and Amit Dhawan. Bhatnagar, who portrayed the supporting role of Mitali was replaced by Swati Anand within the month of launch while Anurag Sharma replaced Amit. In 2015, Neel Motawani (who was also cast in other shows of Ekta) was selected to play the negative role of Neel; while in June 2015 Nikhil Arya entered the series playing the role of main male antagonist Nikhil Sood.[20]
In December 2015, Mrunal Thakur opted out from the show and was to be replaced by Kajol Shrivastava, however the character of Bulbul was phased out of the series after Mrunal's departure. In August 2016, Ankit Mohan quit the show so his character left as well. In September 2016, Arjit Taneja quit the show and was replaced by Vin Rana. In October 2016, Nikhil Arya was replaced by Rujut Dahiya.[21] In July 2017, actress Ruchi Savarn entered the show as Purab's new love interest. Mishal Raheja as King Singh and Kaurwakee Vashista as Kiara Mehra entered the show after the leap. Actor Abeer Adil was cast in 2018 as King's cousin Tarun and Roma Bali as Tarun's mother.
In March 2019, a twenty-year leap was introduced with which several new characters entered in the show and became pivotal characters. In March 2019, Mugdha Chaphekar, Krishna Kaul and Naina Singh were introduced as leads of the second generation who play Prachi, Ranbir and Rhea respectively alongside Sriti and Shabbir. In August 2020, Naina left the show as she was not happy playing a negative role anymore and Pooja Banerjee replaced Singh as Rhea. In February 2022, Pooja Banerjee quit the show because her due date was near, and she was replaced by Tina Ann Philip.[22]
The show then introduced the third generation post a leap of twenty years in November 2023, with Rachi Sharma and Abrar Qazi roped in as the new leads with Sharma portraying Prachi and Ranbir's younger daughter Poorvi Kohli while Qazi as Rajvansh Malhotra respectively.[23] Simran Budharup was roped in to play grown-up version of Prachi and Ranbir's elder daughter Khushi Kohli Randhawa replacing Trisha Rohatgi who played childhood version of same.[24]
In February 2024 Srishti Jain was cast to play negative lead Monisha thus making her second collaboration with Balaji Telefilms after Bade Achhe Lagte Hain 3.[25]
Spin-off
Kundali Bhagya
A spin-off series Kundali Bhagya premiered on 12 July 2017. The series narrates the story of Pragya's sisters, Preeta and Srishti and their attempt to find their mother Sarla and how they meet the rich and famous Luthra family. Later that show too took a generation leap and story shifted to Preeta's sons Rajveer and Shaurya. The show stars Supriya Shukla, Shraddha Arya, Dheeraj Dhoopar, Manit Joura, Anjum Fakih, Shakti Arora, Shakti Anand, Paras Kalnawat, Sana Sayyad, Baseer Ali and Adrija Roy.[26][27][28]
Bhagya Lakshmi
A similar series Bhagya Lakshmi premiered on 3 August 2021. It traces the love story of Pragya's best friend, Lakshmi and Rishi. It stars Aishwarya Khare and Rohit Suchanti.[29][30]
Reception
Critical reception
Here's celebrating a show that has stood the test of time and crossed the boundaries of language, a big thank you to each and every one of you from all over the world for all the love you have given Kumkum Bhagya, for always keeping it at the top, no matter where it aired, and what language. We, as a team, are truly grateful that you let us entertain you for half a decade.
— Shabir Ahluwalia on the series completing 5 Years.[31]
The show climbed to Top 5 most-watched shows across all GECs, after only a few weeks of its launch.[32] It was touted as the biggest fiction launch of 2014.[33] The serial is very popular among Indian women.[citation needed] The show also gave tough fight to the long-time Hindi GEC leader Diya Aur Baati Hum that aired at same slot on Star Plus.[citation needed]
Reruns of Kumkum Bhagya premiered on Zee Anmol from 2017 and received high ratings in the BARC rural chart when Zee Anmol was FTA. It began running on the network again from episode 1 from 10 June 2020, due to the return to DD Free Dish.[citation needed]
The show also managed to strike a chord with West Africans too.[34] Actor Kartik Aaryan also watched the show during the lockdown.[35][36]
Awards and nominations
References
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External links
Media from Commons
Quotations from Wikiquote
Data from Wikidata