Kumkum Bhagya

''Kumkum Bhagya'' () (from 2021 onwards) is an Indian Hindi-language drama television series produced by Ekta Kapoor under Balaji Telefilms.Ekta Kapoor brings another love story on TV with 'Kumkum Bhagya'
The Indian Express.Retrieved on 15 September 2014. It premiered on 15 April 2014 on Zee TV and it is digitally available on ZEE5.Kumkum Bhagya to replace Pavitra Rishta
Hindustan Times, Retrieved on 15 September 2014. It formerly starred Sriti Jha and Shabir Ahluwalia. Currently, it stars Mugdha Chaphekar and Krishna Kaul as the second generation leads.

The concept of the show was originally based on Jane Austen's 1811 novel '' Sense and Sensibility''.

Plot

The series started as the story of Arora sisters Pragya and Bulbul, and their mother Sarla Arora's hope to see them married. Pragya gets married to a rockstar, Abhishek "Abhi" Mehra while Bulbul gets married to Abhi's friend, Purab. Bulbul sadly dies. Abhi and Pragya's married life continues with several challenges. Abhi blames Pragya for his grandmother's death and they get separated.

7 years later

Pragya now has a daughter with Abhi named Kiara. She is living with King Singh, a famous rapper in London. Later, she comes back to Delhi and Abhi and Pragya reconcile. Pragya gives birth to twin daughters, Prachi and Rhea. Kiara is killed by enemies. Pragya and Abhi are heartbroken and blame each other for Kiara's death and separate, with Pragya taking one twin while Abhi keeps the other.

20 years later

Pragya and Abhi's twins, Prachi and Rhea have now grown up. A love triangle is formed between Prachi, Rhea and Abhi's friend's son, Ranbir Kohli who is the college heartthrob. Prachi is the replica of Pragya who is sweet, caring and honest whereas Rhea turns out to be selfish, cunning and over pampered by her aunt Alia. Tanu returns and later marries Abhi who was supposed to be marrying Pragya. Due to a misunderstanding, Abhi cuts ties with Pragya. Prachi and Ranbir get married secretly with only Pragya’s blessings. The Kohlis disown the newly married couple. Pragya gets into an accident and is presumed to be dead.

2 years later

Pragya survives and comes back from Australia with the intention of taking revenge from Abhi as she was tricked into thinking that Abhi was the one who tried to kill her by Tanu and Alia. Prachi and Ranbir's happily married life continues and they soon get accepted back in the Kohli mansion. Rhea gets married to Siddharth, Ranbir's elder cousin brother. Abhi and Pragya clear their misunderstandings and reunite. They meet with an accident and are in a coma. Ranbir accuses Prachi of extramarital affair with Siddharth due to a misunderstanding created by Rhea and they get separated. Abhi and Pragya die in their coma.

1 month later

Sid and Rhea are now divorced. Ranbir turns out to be a successful businessman whereas Sushma who is Pragya's mentor tries to console a heartbroken Prachi. Prachi decides to move on and focus on her career with Sushma's help but gets to know that she is pregnant with Ranbir's child. However, Rhea and Ranbir get married illegally as Ranbir thinks Prachi has moved on. Prachi witnesses their wedding and decides to fight for her self-esteem. For this she returns to the Kohli House to regain her right as Ranbir's legal wife and to throw Rhea out.

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 (2014–2021)
* Shabir Ahluwalia as Abhishek "Abhi" Mehra: Santoshi and Prem's son; Alia's brother; Pragya's husband; Tanu's ex-husband; Kiara, Prachi and Rhea's father (2014–2021)
* Mugdha Chaphekar as Prachi Arora Kohli: Pragya and Abhi's second daughter; Kiara and Rhea's sister; Ranbir's first and legal wife (2019–present)
* Krishna Kaul as Ranbir Kohli: Pallavi and Vikram's son; Mishti's brother; Prachi's husband; Rhea's illegal second husband (2019–present)
* Naina Singh as Rhea Mehra: Pragya and Abhi's youngest daughter; Kiara and Prachi's sister; Ranbir's second illegal wife; Siddharth's ex-wife (2019–2020)
** Pooja Banerjee replaced Singh as Rhea (2020–2022)
** Tina Philip replaced Banerjee as Rhea (2022–present)
* Shikha Singh as Alia Mehra: Santoshi and Prem's daughter; Abhi's sister; Purab's ex-wife; Aryan's mother (2014–2020)
** Reyhna Malhotra replaced Singh as Alia (2020–present)
* Madhurima Tuli as Tanushree "Tanu" Mehta: Alia's best friend; Abhi's ex-girlfriend and ex-wife (2014)
** Leena Jumani replaced Tuli as Tanushree (2014–2019, 2021)

Recurring

* Mehul Kajaria/ Rushad Rana as Vikram Kohli: Daljeet's son; Pallavi's husband; Ranbir and Mishti's father; Sid's uncle/adoptive father; Vikrant and Arun's brother; Abhi's friend and business partner (2019–2021/2021–present)
* Khyaati Keswani as Pallavi Kohli: Vikram's wife; Ranbir and Mishti's mother; Sid's aunt/adoptive mother (2019–present)
* Kiran Bhargava/Smita Shetty as Daljeet “Dida” Kohli: Vikram, Vikrant and Arun's mother; Ranbir, Mishti and Sid's grandmother (2019–2022)/(2022–present)
* Kushagra Nautiyal as Siddharth "Sid" Kohli: Vikrant's son; Pallavi and Vikram's nephew and adopted son; Mihika’s brother; Ranbir and Mishti's elder cousin brother; Rhea's ex-husband (2021–present)
* Zeeshan Khan/Pulkit Bangia as Aryan Khanna: Alia and Purab's son; Sunny's half-brother; Kiara, Prachi and Rhea's cousin brother; Ranbir's best friend; Shahana and Mili’s love interest (2019–2021) / (2022–present)
* Veronica Talreja as Mili: Aryan's ex-girlfriend and friend (2022–present)
* Aparna Mishra as Shahana Sharma: Pragya's niece-figure; Prachi's best friend and sister-figure; Aryan’s love interest (2019–present)
* Aishana Singh as Mihika Kohli: Sid’s younger sister; Vikram and Pallavi’s niece; Ranbir and Mishti’s cousin sister (2022–present)
* Arjit Taneja/ Vin Rana as Purab Khanna: Abhi's best friend and business partner; Bulbul's widower; Disha and Alia's ex-husband; Sunny and Aryan's father (2014–2016) / (2016–2021)
* Mrunal Thakur as Bulbul Arora Khanna: Sarla and Raghuveer's third daughter; Pragya, Preeta and Srishti's sister; Purab's wife (2014–2016)
* Supriya Shukla as Sarla Arora: Raghuveer's widow; Pragya, Preeta, Bulbul and Srishti's mother; Kiara, Prachi, Rhea and Kavya's grandmother; Pihu's adoptive grandmother (2014–2018)
* Madhu Raja as Daljeet Arora: Raghuveer's mother; Pragya, Preeta, Bulbul and Srishti's grandmother (2014–2018)
* Jasjeet Babbar as Janki: The Aroras' handmaiden; Poorvi's mother (2014–2018)
* Daljeet Soundh as Daljeet Mehra: Abhi, Alia, Raj and Akash's grandmother (2014–2018)
* Zarina Khan as Indu Dasi: Abhi, Alia, Raj and Akash's grand-aunt (2014–2020)
* Radha Israni/Asha Sharma as Swarni Dasi: Abhi, Alia, Raj and Akash's grand-aunt (2014–2018)/(2018–2020)
* Shivaani Sopuri as Pammi Mehra: Ajay's wife; Raj and Akash's mother (2014–2021)
* Ajay Trehan as Ajay Mehra: Pammi's husband; Raj and Akash's father (2014–2020)
* Anurag Sharma as Raj Mehra: Pammi and Ajay's son; Akash's brother; Mitali's husband; Neha's father (2014–2021)
* Samikssha Batnagar / Swati Anand as Mitali Mehra: Raj's wife; Bunty, Bably, and Neha's mother (2014) / (2014–2021)
* Ankit Mohan as Akash Mehra: Pammi and Ajay's son; Raj's brother; Rachna's husband; Abhishek and Alia's cousin (2014–2016)
* Aditi Rathore as Rachna Mehra: Suresh's sister; Akash's wife (2014–2016)
* Charu Mehra as Poorvi: Janki's daughter; Pragya and Bulbul's namesake sister (2014–2015)
* Faisal Rashid as Suresh Shrivastav: Rachna's brother; Pragya's ex-fiancé (2014–2015)
* Neel Motwani as Corporator Neil Thakur (2014–2015)
* Haelyn Shastri as News Reporter (2015)
* Nikhil Arya / Rajat Dahiya / Shaad Randhawa as Nikhil Sood: Tanu's ex-lover (2015–2017) / (2017–2018) / (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, Rhea and Kavya's grandfather; Pihu's adoptive grandfather (2017)
* Nitin Goswami as Dushyant Rana: Simonica's husband who was accidentally killed by Abhishek (2017–2018)
* Ruchi Savarn as Disha Singh Khanna: Purab's second 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)
* Kaurwakee Vasistha as Kiara Mehra (Arora): Abhi and Pragya's eldest daughter; Prachi and Rhea's elder sister (2018–2019)
* Vedaansh Jaju as Sunny Khanna: Purab and Disha's son; Aryan's half-brother (2018–2019)
* Abeer Adil as Tarun: King's cousin; Neha's husband (2018–2019)
* Richa Rathore as Neha "Babli" Mehra: Mitali and Raj's daughter; Tarun's wife (2018)
* Roma Bali as Tarun's mother: King's aunt (2018–2019)
* Jaanvi Sangwan as Beeji: A nurse who took Pragya in after the latter's exile, Shahana's paternal grandmother (2019)
* Ashlesha Sawant as Meera: Rhea's foster mother and Abhi's ex-fiancé (2019–2021)
* 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 (2019–2020)
* Pooja Singh as Mishti Kohli: Vikram and Pallavi's daughter; Ranbir's sister (2019)
* Neena Cheema / Rupa Divetia as Sarita Ben: A Gujarati woman who gave refuge to Pragya and her daughters; Rishi's maternal grandmother (2019–2020; 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)
* 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)
* Farida Dadi as Baljeet Dadi: Abhishek, Raj, Akash and Alia's grand-aunt (2020–2021)
* 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)
* Shamikh Abbas as Arun Kohli: Daljeet's youngest son; Vikram and Vikrant’s younger brother; Ranbir, Mishti and Sid's paternal uncle; Teji's husband (2021)
*Mridula Oberoi as Teji Kohli: Arun's wife; Ranbir, Mishti and Sid's aunt (2021)
* Abhishek Kumaarr as Jai Bhatt: Ranbir's best friend (2021–2022)
* Gulshan Shivani as Stanley: Ranbir's assistant (2022)

''Kumkum Bhagya Saavan Mahotsav''

* Vishal Singh as Rahul: Abhishek and Poorab's friend; Anjali's husband (2018)
* Rhea Sharma as Anjali: Abhishek and Poorab's friend; Rahul's wife (2018)
* Yuvika Choudhary 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; later Karan's wife; Pihu's adoptive mother and Kavya's mother (2017–2018)
* Anjum Fakih as Srishti Arora: Pragya, Preeta and Bulbul's sister (2017–2018)
* Dheeraj Dhoopar as Karan Luthra: Abhi's friend; later Preeta's husband; Pihu's adoptive father and Kavya's father (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 Shristi's father; Kiara, Prachi, Rhea and Kavya's grandfather; Pihu's adoptive grandfather (2017)

Guest appearances

* Shraddha Kapoor and Sidharth Malhotra to promote Ek Villain (2014)
* Samrat (Mohit Malik) & Urmi (Neha Marda) from Doli Armaano Ki, Rachna ( Mahima Makwana) & K.T (Piyush Sahdev) from Sapne Suhane Ladakpan Ke and Kamlaben ( Shilpa Shirodkar) from Ek Mutthi Aasmaan as guests in Abhi-Pragya wedding reception (2014)
* Arjun ( Rithvik Dhanjani) and Poorvi (Asha Negi) from Pavitra Rishta (2015)
* Pratyusha Banerjee, Shweta Tiwari, Kamla (Rinku Karmarkar) & Kartik ( Ankush Arora) from Yeh Vaada Raha, Siddharth ( Ravi Dubey) & Roshni ( Nia Sharma) from Jamai Raja, Mouni Roy & Karishma Tanna, Rithvik Dhanjani Karanvir Bohra & Neil Bhatt, Yuvi (Zain Imam) Twinkle (Jasmin Bhasin) & Kunj ( Sidhant Gupta) from Tashan-e-Ishq and Jeetendra to celebrate Deva Shree Ganesha Utsav (2015)
* Salman Khan and Sonam Kapoor to promote Prem Ratan Dhan Payo (2015)
* Survi (Sonal Vengurlekar) from Yeh Vaada Raha and Twinkle (Jasmin Bhasin) from Tashan-e-Ishq (2015)
* Shah Rukh Khan, Kajol, Varun Dhawan and Kriti Sanon to promote Dilwale (2015)
* Survi (Sonal Vengurlekar) and Kartik ( Ankush Arora) from Yeh Vaada Raha (2015)
* Leela (Vaishnavi Macdonald) and Twinkle (Jasmin Bhasin) from Tashan-e-Ishq (2016)
* Siddharth ( Ravi Dubey) & Roshni ( Nia Sharma) from Jamai Raja, Bhagwandas ( Rajesh Kumar) & Vindhwasni (Disha Savla) from Neeli Chatri Waale, Aditya Narayan, Mahi ( Shritama Mukherjee) Yuvraj (Zain Imam) Twinkle (Jasmin Bhasin) & Kunj ( Sidhant Gupta) from Tashan-e-Ishq, Gauri ( Fenil Umrigar) Yug (Rohan Gandotra) & Kaali (Simran Pareenja) from Kaala Teeka, Malay ( Vin Rana) from Vishkanya Ek Anokhi Prem Kahani, Mouni Roy & Rithvik Dhanjani, Swasti Nitya Kartikey Raj & Preetjyot Singh from India's Best Dramebaaz, Vrushika Mehta, Sanam (Surbhi Jyoti) & Aahil ( Karanvir Bohra) from Qubool Hai, Pari ( Hiba Nawab) & Satyendra ( Pearl V Puri) from Meri Saasu Maa and Survi (Sonal Vengurlekar) & Kartik ( Ankush Arora) from Yeh Vaada Raha to celebrate Holi Ke Rang (2016)
* Nargis Fakhri, Emraan Hashmi and Prachi Desai to promote Azhar (2016)
* Krystle D'Souza to promote Brahmarakshas (2016)
* Devoleena Bhattacharjee as Gopi from Saath Nibhana Saathiya (2016)
* Riteish Deshmukh
* Rani Mukerjee
* Irrfan Khan
* Sridevi
* Rakul Preet Singh
* Tusshar Kapoor
* Aftab Shivdasani
* Sushant Singh Rajput
* Shubham Choudhury
* Asha Negi
* Nia Sharma
* Disha Parmar
* Arjun Kapoor
* Dipika Kakar
* Ram (Ankit Siwach) Siya ( Garima Singh Rathore) & Mohini ( Reyhna Pandit) from Manmohini, Shantanu (Avinash Mishra) & Asmita (Vrushika Mehta) from Yeh Teri Galiyan, Amruta Khanvilkar & Debina Bonnerjee, Karan (Dheeraj Dhoopar) Preeta ( Shraddha Arya) Sameer (Abhishek Kapur) Srishti (Anjum Fakih) Rishabh (Manit Joura) & Sherlyn ( Ruhi Chaturvedi) from Kundali Bhagya, Guddan (Kanika Mann) & Akshat (Nishant Singh Malkani) from Guddan Tumse Na Ho Payega, Shoaib Ibrahim & Karan Tacker and Karishma Tanna to celebrate Pyaar Ka Jashn (2019)
* Ayushmann Khurrana, Nushrat Bharucha, Jeetendra, I am hip hop, Surbhi Jyoti, Randhir ( Param Singh) & Anshul (Ankit Mohan) from Haiwaan, Shamita Shetty, Karan (Dheeraj Dhoopar) & Preeta ( Shraddha Arya) from Kundali Bhagya, Rithvik Dhanjani, Deepika Singh & Karan Wahi to celebrate Lambodaray Janm Utsav (2019)
* Nandita ( Sakshi Tanwar) and Meghan (Palomi Ghosh) to Promote Mission Over Mars (2019)
* Guddi ( Ali Asgar) to promote Movie Masti With Maniesh Paul (2019)
* Taapsee Pannu and Bhumi Pednekar to promote Saand Ki Aankh (2019)
* Amrita ( Anushka Ranjan) and Tarini ( Krystle D'Souza) to promote Fittrat (2019)
* Sameera (Harleen Sethi) and Veer (Vikrant Massey) to promote ( Broken But Beautiful) season 2 (2019)
* Taapsee Pannu to promote Thappad (2020)
* Kalyani (Reem Shaikh) and Malhar ( Sehban Azim) from Tujhse Hai Raabta (2020)
* Rani Kuranj Rajawat ( Anushka Sen) to promote Apna Time Bhi Aayega (2020)
* Bhaskar Shetty ( Angad Bedi) to promote Mum Bhai (2020)
* Surbhi Jyoti, Karan (Dheeraj Dhoopar) Preeta ( Shraddha Arya) Srishti (Anjum Fakih) & Rishabh (Manit Joura) from Kundali Bhagya, Deepika Singh, Krystle D'Souza, V Unbeatable & Dipali Borkar, Agastya (Savi Thakur) & Guddan (Kanika Mann) from Guddan Tumse Na Ho Payega and Shantanu (Avinash Mishra) & Asmita (Vrushika Mehta) from Yeh Teri Galiyan to celebrate Jashna Milan Ka - Diwali (2020)
* Lakshmi Bajwa ( Aishwarya Khare) to promote Bhagya Lakshmi (2021)
* Diya Mukherjee (Aanchal Goswami) to promote Rishton Ka Manjha (2021)
* Shoaib Ibrahim & Megha Ray, Adaa Khan & Karan Wahi, Karan (Dheeraj Dhoopar) & Preeta ( Shraddha Arya), Kanika Mann & Vrushika Mehta, Rishabh (Manit Joura) & Nishant Singh Malkani, Lakshmi ( Aishwarya Khare) & Rishi (Rohit Suchanti) and Deepika Singh & Ayush (Aman Gandhi) to celebrate Pyaar Waali Holi(2022)
* Lakshmi ( Aishwarya Khare), Rishi (Rohit Suchanti), Ayush (Aman Gandhi), Malishka (Maera Mishra) and Balwinder (Ankit Bhatia) from Bhagya Lakshmi for Holi Mahasangam (2022)
* Radha (Neeharika Roy) to promote Pyaar Ka Pehla Naam Radha Mohan

Production

Development

The series is a love story 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''. 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".

Speaking of his comeback as an actor, Shabbir Ahluwalia, the protagonist of the show says, "With me producing shows, it was getting very difficult to manage time for acting assignments. But now, I have decided to concentrate on acting. You cannot be away from what you love doing for long. The role appealed to me a great deal. This is the first time that I will be playing a rockstar on television and in order to look my part, I had to ensure that I did not just get my costume and look right, but also get that attitude right that is required to portray a rockstar onscreen."

Filming

The production and airing of the show was halted indefinitely in late March 2020 due to the COVID-19 outbreak in India. Because of the outbreak, the filming of television series and films was halted on 19 March 2020 and expected to resume on 1 April 2020 but could not and the series was last broadcast on 24 March 2020 when the remaining episodes were aired. After three months, the production and filming of the series resumed on 29 June 2020 and airing to resume from 13 July 2020.

Casting

Shabbir Ahluwalia, 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. Mrunal Thakur was selected to portray the second leading role of Bulbul while Arjit Taneja was cast opposite her. In May 2014, Shikha Singh entered the show as the main antagonist Alia Mehra, 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 in September 2014. 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.

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. 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 2019, a twenty-year leap was introduced 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 wasn't happy playing a negative role anymore and Pooja Banerjee replaced Singh as Rhea. In February 2022, Pooja Banerjee quit the show because she is in the last month of her pregnancy and her due date is March, and she was replaced by Tina Ann Philip.

Distribution

The series was released on 15 April 2014 on Zee TV. The series also airs on Zee TV HD and Zee TV Asia.

Spin-off

Kundali Bhagya

A spin-off series ''Kundali Bhagya'' premiered on 12 July 2017. The series narrates the story of Pragya's two sisters, Preeta and Srishti and their attempt to find their mother Sarla and how they meet the rich and famous Luthra family. The show stars Supriya Shukla, Shraddha Arya, Dheeraj Dhoopar, Anjum Fakih and Shakti Arora.

Bhagya Lakshmi

A similar series '' Bhagya Lakshmi'' premiered on 3 August 2021. It traces the love story of Lakshmi and Rishi. It stars Aishwarya Khare and Rohit Suchanti.

Reception

Critical reception

The show climbed to Top 5 most-watched shows across all GEC's. After only a few weeks of its launch and was touted as the biggest fiction launch of 2014. The serial is very popular among Indian women. 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.

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.

Criticism

The show has often been criticised for its repetitive storyline and showcasing unusual and logicless plots. The writers of the show have received widespread criticism on social media platforms for showcasing unusual drama, bigamy and violating law and orders in the show.

Awards and nominations

Soundtrack

The ''Kumkun Bhagya'' Soundtrack was written by Nawab Arzoo and composed by Lalit Sen. Lalit Sen had composed the original songs and background score for the show. "Allah Waariyan" is not the song of this show but it was the theme song of Abhi and Pragya. The first original song of the show is "O Rabba Ki Karaan", audience loved the song. The sad version of this song are also released with the title "Tum Ko Mera Dard Dikhna" and "Har Ke Bhi Jitna Hai Pyaar" sung by Kashi Malik. Meherbaanon Ka Shukriya Song was released on the occasion of completing 1000 episodes and for thanking the audience for the love and support.

References

External links

Official website
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2014 Indian television series debuts
Balaji Telefilms television series
Hindi-language television shows
Indian drama television series
Indian television soap operas
Television shows set in Mumbai
Zee TV original programming
Television shows set in Delhi