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Kumkum Bhagya

Indian drama television series

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Kumkum Bhagya
Genre	Drama Romance
Created by	Ekta Kapoor
Based on	Sense and Sensibility byJane Austen[1]
Developed by	Ekta Kapoor
Written by	Story Anil Nagpal Screenplay Anil Nagpal Mrinal Tripathi Dialogues Dheeraj Sarna Vikash tiwari
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	Sriti Jha Shabir Ahluwalia Mugdha Chaphekar Krishna Kaul Rachi Sharma Abrar Qazi
Theme music composer	Lalit Sen Nawab Arzoo
Opening theme	"Kumkum Bhagya"
Country of origin	India
Original language	Hindi
No. of seasons	3
No. of episodes	2,725
Production
Producers	Ekta Kapoor Shobha Kapoor
Cinematography	Sanjay Memane Anil Katke
Original release
Network	Zee TV
Release	15 April 2014 (2014-04-15) – present
Related
Kundali Bhagya Bhagya Lakshmi

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]

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.

One month later

Abhi is shown to still be waiting for Pragya's return, but tries to cheer up his family. Alia and Tanu live in a small house, but later move back in the Mehra Mansion when they come across a villager, Munni, who is Pragya's doppelganger. They hire Munni to pose as Pragya to which Munni reluctantly agrees as she is need of money for her nephew's treatment. Abhi, though suspicious at first, allows them to stay and believes “Pragya has lost her memory”. Purab, who had gone away for business, meets a villager, Disha, who had saved him from being attacked. They later escape the village to Mumbai and get married with Sarla, Kulpreet, and Abhi's blessing. Purab tells Disha that he is still in love with Bulbul, which she respects, but Purab later falls in love with her. It is later revealed that Pragya is alive and was in a coma. She returns home, shocked to find Abhi remarried, but relieved upon learning the truth from Munni, and they switch places.

Alia and Tanu notice Munni's changed behaviour and think she has turned on them. They expose her as an impostor, and Pragya goes along with their plan, only to save Munni's niece and nephew, as Munni had gotten in an accident. Purab, Disha, and Abhi decide to find out the truth and they succeed. Due to a misunderstanding created by Dushyant's widow, Simonika, Abhi blames Pragya for Kulpreet's death, and they get separated, but unknown to both of them, she was pregnant with their baby at that time.

7 years later

Pragya now has a daughter with Abhi named Kiara. She is living with King Singh, a famous rapper in London, who has one sided romantic feelings for her. Purab and Disha also have a son, Sunny. Abhi has married Tanu but still misses Pragya. Later, Pragya comes back to Delhi and after a series of events, Abhi and Pragya reconcile. Pragya gets pregnant again and she gives birth to fraternal twin girls. Kiara is killed by Tanu's ex-boyfriend, Nikhil. King Singh returns to London. Pragya and Abhi are heartbroken and blame each other for Kiara's death and separate, with Pragya taking the elder twin while Abhi keeps the younger one.

20 years later

Pragya and Abhi's twins, Prachi and Rhea have now grown up. Pragya resides in Hoshiarpur with her daughter Prachi, Beeji (a stranger who took Pragya and Prachi in) and Beeji's granddaughter, Shahana. A love triangle is formed between Prachi, Rhea and Abhi's friend's son, Ranbir Kohli, who is the college heartthrob. Ranbir, who was attracted to Rhea, proposes her but Rhea asks him to pretend to be in love with Prachi and later break her heart, to prove his love for her. Prachi is the replica of Pragya who is sweet, caring and honest whereas Rhea turns out to be a selfish spoilt brat, with a good side to her, but grows cunning with Alia's manipulation. She develops a close bond with Pragya and so does Prachi with Abhi. Rhea has a disliking towards Prachi, but grows to hate her with Alia's manipulation and encouragement. Later, Ranbir pretends to be in love with Prachi but they both fall in love for real, after many incidents. Purab and Disha are revealed to have separated in the 20 years after a misunderstanding created by Alia who has always been obsessed with Purab.

Purab and Alia are married and have a son, Aryan. Abhi and Pragya finally reunite with their daughters. Tanu returns and later marries Abhi who was supposed to marry Pragya. Rhea blackmails Prachi to stay away from Ranbir otherwise she won't let Abhi and Pragya reunite. For Pragya's happiness, Prachi decides to sacrifice her love and breaks up with Ranbir. Rhea and Ranbir's alliance is fixed, but after the truth comes out, Ranbir and Prachi finally give in to their love and secretly marry with only Pragya's blessings, leaving Rhea heartbroken. Abhi misunderstands Pragya and accuses her of favouring Prachi over Rhea and going behind his back, and cuts ties with her. The Kohlis disown the newly married couple. Pragya gets into an accident and is presumed dead.

2 years later

Pragya returns from Australia seeking vengeance on 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 be accepted back in the Kohli mansion. Rhea marries Siddharth, Ranbir's elder cousin brother. Purab finally cuts ties and divorces Alia. Abhi and Pragya mend their relationship but suffer a tragic accident, falling into comas. Ranbir accuses Prachi of extramarital affair with Siddharth due to a misunderstanding created by Rhea and they separate.

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 due to Rhea's fake suicide drama and Ranbir thinks Prachi has moved on. However, their marriage is invalid. 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.

Prachi finally succeeds in her mission and Ranbir marries her for a second time. Rhea and Alia are exposed and thrown out of Kohli house, and Ranbir and Rhea divorce. Rhea apologises for her past actions and leaves Delhi. Alia kills Abhi and Pragya in their coma. Alia is punished for her crimes and is sent for 14 years imprisonment. Prachi gives birth to a baby girl, Panchi. Alia runs away from prison and later kidnaps Panchi for revenge. She accidentally throws her in river and Panchi is presumed to be dead. Ranbir and Prachi blame each other for their daughter's death and separate. Prachi meets with an accident and is assumed to be dead.

6 years later

Prachi and Panchi are revealed to be alive, which the Kohlis are not aware of. Prachi now lives in Bangalore and leads a happy life with Baljeet Dadi and Shahana. She has become a strict businesswoman working as a manager in a renowned company. The Kohlis however, are now on the verge of bankruptcy. Prachi and Ranbir constantly miss Panchi. On the other hand, Panchi, renamed Khushi, who is now being adopted by a woman named Laali and leads a difficult life selling flowers at street for a living. Ranbir now works at a company owned by a businessman.

Prachi arrives in Delhi for work. Ranbir and Prachi meets Khushi unaware that Khushi is their long lost daughter Panchi and they develop a close bond with her. Prachi and Ranbir finally meet, but Prachi still holds a grudge. Akshay, who is the son of Prachi's boss Ashok Tandon (who becomes a father to Prachi), and a friend of hers who supported her over these six years, completes his studies in London and returns to India, and it is revealed he is in love with Prachi. Meanwhile, Rhea who has turned over a new leaf, returns to Delhi. Ranbir and Prachi want to adopt Khushi. They both individually soon find out that Khushi is their long-lost daughter. Khushi too finds out who her parents are. However, the orphanage does not let Prachi and Ranbir take Khushi away as they are unmarried. Thus, in order for them to win their daughter and stop the other from adopting her, they have no choice but to marry Akshay and Rhea.

Meanwhile, Alia returns again to seek revenge. She succeeds in manipulating Rhea again who grows further obsessed with Ranbir. As the marriage preparations begin, Ranbir realises he cannot marry Rhea as he still loves Prachi. He leaves her and runs to stop Prachi marrying Akshay but fails. Prachi and Akshay get married which leaves Ranbir devastated. He turns to alcohol and soon meets Akshay's sister, Mihika. It is revealed that Akshay and Prachi faked their marriage as Akshay only wants to marry Prachi when she is ready. Ranbir promises revenge on Prachi and challenges her that he will return to her life once again.

3 months later

Ranbir has left his family home in the last three months after expelling Alia and Rhea again. Prachi is living a happy, peaceful life with her new family after she and Akshay gain custody of Khushi and she sends her to London for better studies. Coincidentally, Ranbir soon enters in Tandon mansion as Mihika's fake lover (a ploy by them both after Mihika's real lover dumped her). Prachi is shocked to see Ranbir in her new home but the latter realises Prachi's marriage is not as it seems. He decides to stay and learn the truth. Mihika falls in love with Ranbir and grows obsessed with him. Prachi and Ranbir’s truth is out but the family forgive their past for their children’s love. But Akshay and Mihika are disturbed by Prachi and Ranbir’s relationship and they try to harm the other. Prachi and Ranbir sort their misunderstandings and remarry. Akshay is accidentally killed by Mihika when he tries to stop her from killing Prachi and Ranbir is blamed for his death. Weeks later, Prachi is revealed to be pregnant but unfortunately does not get to tell Ranbir as the court sentences him to death but the police vehicle by which Ranbir was getting shifted falls into a ditch, catching fire. Ranbir is declared and presumed to be dead by everyone.

20 years later

Ranbir and Prachi’s second daughter, Poorvi, is now grown up. Prachi and Poorvi live with the Tandon family who now have a poor financial condition and thus they moved from their mansion in Delhi to a small house in Mumbai. They have a catering business named "Kumkum Bhagya" through which they run the house. Panchi "Khushi" is now married into a rich family and considers Prachi to be the reason behind Ranbir and Akshay's deaths, and shows discomfort for their poor lifestyle.

Mihika had lost her mental balance after Ranbir's death and is revealed to be in a mental asylum. Ranbir is revealed to be alive in London and is now a rich business tycoon, known by the name, Krishna Kakkar. In a flashback, it’s shown how Ranbir survived the blast and returned home until he saw a misunderstanding on the funeral which lead him to believe Prachi loved Akshay and mourned his death instead. Angry and sad, Ranbir left from there without anyone knowing.

Rajvansh “RV” Malhotra is a rich business tycoon who is business rivals with Krishna Kakkar. RV soon meets Poorvi after saving her from her obsessed lover and he takes an immediate attraction to her. Meanwhile, Krishna returns to Mumbai for a contract, thinking Prachi is in Delhi. Krishna soon crosses paths with Poorvi, not knowing that’s his daughter and they start to share a loving bond as Krishna misses Khushi.

Poorvi is engaged to a man named, Ashutosh whom Poorvi has chosen for her family’s sake. However, Poorvi falls in love with RV and her engagement breaks as Ashutosh shames the family uncoincidentally. The family prepares for RV and Poorvi’s wedding. On their wedding date, Poorvi is kidnapped by Jasbir. Jasbir kidnaps Prachi too so he can forcibly marry Poorvi. Nonetheless, RV saves Poorvi and they end up getting married.

In a turn of events, Khushi is kidnapped from Poorvi’s wedding. It appears as if RV is going to save her, but it is revealed that he kidnapped her. RV wants revenge against Khushi, who ditched him for a richer man, Armaan, as RV was poor.

In a flashback, it is shown that Khushi used to intern in the same company that RV used to work at, and RV fell in love at first sight. Their relationship developed further and RV even proposed marriage to her, which she accepted reluctantly. Khushi eventually became a model at Armaan’s company and pretended to not know RV. On her wedding day, she accused RV of molestation and called Armaan for help. The police came and arrested RV. His entire family was humiliated by society for his false accusation. Not only that, but his dad suffered a heart attack and his brother lost his job. After that, RV worked hard abroad to earn so much money and vowed to seek vengeance against Khushi for the betrayal and hurt his family and he faced.

RV had kept an eye on Khushi for the past one year. When he discovered that Khushi is closest to her sister and loves her the most, RV decided to seek revenge against Khushi by using Poorvi. His family is also involved in this revenge plan. RV threatens Khushi to expose the latter's truth to Poorvi and her family to make them to suffer in the same way as his family suffered. His family humiliates Poorvi and Monisha, his ex fiancé helps RV in his every plan to oust Poorvi. Poorvi learns about RV And Monisha's truth and is heartbroken. RV, Monisha and his family decide to leave Poorvi in her neighborhood and not to bring her back forever and this would be perceived as RV left Poorvi by the society thereby completing their revenge as the neighborhood of her family humilates Poorvi and her family. RV's family and Monisha successfully complete their revenge and his family puts a grand party and fixes RV and Monisha's marriage as their celebration.

Poorvi is heartbroken after this as Khushi decided to teach RV a lesson by receiving a restraining letter from court to RV and orders him to stay away from Poorvi and she makes him to believe that Poorvi is going to marry someone. RV misunderstands that Poorvi had moved on as Poorvi's best friend Diya's marriage is fixed by a man named, Soham. RV misunderstands that Poorvi is going to marry Soham. Poorvi returns back to Malhotra’s mansion and fights back which angers the family members.

Meanwhile, Ranbir is shown with a new family whom their daughter, Trishna “Tashu” saved from an accident 20 years ago when Ranbir became an alcoholic after Prachi’s ‘betrayal’. Trishna saved Ranbir and brought him back to her family whom they helped Ranbir and thus he became Krishna Kakkar. Trishna loves Ranbir whilst he is indebted to her. They are getting married due to defaming rumour spread about the Jaiswals by their rival, Amar Dayal thus to prevent any further shame, the family decide to get Trishna and Ranbir married. Ranbir sees this as an opportunity to forget about Prachi. Trishna meets and becomes good friends with Prachi after she saves her from some goons. Trishna invites Prachi to her wedding whilst Krishna also invites Poorvi. Krishna is kidnapped by Amar Dayal but Prachi saves him unbeknownst to him. Krishna and Trishna marry.

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)
• 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)
• Kaurwakee Vasistha as Kiara Mehra: Pragya and Abhi's eldest daughter; Prachi and Rhea's sister; Bunty, Neha, Bittu and Aryan's cousin (2018–2019)
• Vedaansh 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)
• Khyaati 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 Kumaarr 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)

Guest appearances

Production

Development

Kumkum Bhagya has moved beyond the confines of a TV show to become an integral part of our viewers' lives. Over the past couple of years, Abhi, Pragya and their undeniable chemistry has appealed to viewer sensibilities, making the show the undisputed leader of the Hindi television space.

— Zee TV's Deputy Business Head, Deepak Rajadhyaksha about Kumkum Bhagya

The series is a love story^[5] 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.^[6] 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.^[7]

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.^[8] 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.^[9][10][11] After three months, the production and filming of the series resumed on 29 June 2020 and airing resumed on 13 July 2020.^[12][13][14]

Casting

Shabbir Ahluwalia,^[15] 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.^[15] Mrunal Thakur was selected to portray the second leading role of Bulbul^[16] while Arjit Taneja was cast opposite her.^[16][17] In May 2014, Shikha Singh entered the show as the main antagonist Alia Mehra,^[17][18][19] 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.^[20] 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.^[21]

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.^[22] 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.^[23]

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.^[24] 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.^[25]

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.^[26]

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 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 and Baseer Ali.^[27][28][29]

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.^[30][31]

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.^[32]

The show climbed to Top 5 most-watched shows across all GECs, after only a few weeks of its launch.^[33] It was touted as the biggest fiction launch of 2014.^[34] 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.^[35] Actor Kartik Aaryan also watched the show during the lockdown.^[36][37]

Awards and nominations

Soundtrack

The Kumkum 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 original sound track but it was the theme song of Abhi and Pragya. The first original song of the show is "O Rabba Ki Karaan". 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

• Media from Commons

Quotations from Wikiquote

Data from Wikidata

• Official website
• Kumkum BhagyaatIMDb
• Iniya Iru MalargalatIMDb