Kumkum Bhagya

Main

• Sriti Jha as Pragya Arora Mehra: Sarla and Raghuveer's eldest daughter; (2014–2021, 2023)
• Shabir Ahluwalia as Abhishek "Abhi" Mehra: Santoshi and Prem's son; (2014–2021, 2023)
• Mugdha Chaphekar as Prachi Arora Kohli (Prachi Mehra): Pragya and Abhi's second daughter; (2019–2024)
• Krishna Kaul as Ranbir Kohli aka Krishna "KK" Kakkar: Pallavi and Vikram's son; (2019–2024)
• Rachi Sharma as Poorvi "Pihu" Kohli Malhotra: Ranbir and Prachi's younger daughter; (2023–present)
• Abrar Qazi as Rajvansh "RV" Malhotra: Harman and Harleen's younger son; (2023–2025)
• Pranali Rathod as Prarthana Malhotra: Poorvi and Rajvansh's daughter; (2025–present)
• Akshay Bindra as Rounak Thakur: Smita's son; Sneha's brother; (2025–present)

Recurring

• Mrunal Thakur as Bulbul Arora Khanna: Sarla and Raghuveer's third daughter; (2014–2016)
• Arjit Taneja as Purab Khanna: Abhi's best friend, (2014–2016)
  • Vin Rana replaced Taneja as Purab (2016–2021)
• Madhurima Tuli as Tanushree "Tanu" Mehta: Alia's best friend; (2014)
  • Leena Jumani replaced Tuli as Tanu (2014–2021)
• Supriya Shukla as Sarla Arora: Raghuveer's widow; (2014–2018)
• Madhu Raja as Daljeet Kaur Arora: Raghuveer's mother; (2014–2018)
• Jasjeet Babbar as Janki: The Aroras' handmaiden; Poorvi's mother (2014–2018)
• Kanupriya Pandit as Sweety: Pragya and Bulbul's aunt (2014)
• Faisal Rashid as Suresh Shrivastav: Rachna's brother; (2014–2015)
• Daljeet Soundh as Daljeet Kaur Mehra: Matriarch of the Mehra family; (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; (2014–2020)
  • Reyhna Malhotra replaced Singh as Alia (2020–2023)
• Shivaani Sopuri as Parminder "Pammi" Kaur Mehra: Ajay's wife; (2014–2021)
• Ajay Trehan as Ajay Mehra: Daljeet's elder son; (2014–2020)
• Ankit Mohan as Akash Mehra: Parminder and Ajay's younger son; (2014–2016)
• Aditi Rathore as Rachna Shrivastav Mehra: Suresh's sister; (2014–2016)
• Zarina Khan as Inderjit Kaur Suri: Daljeet and Swarni's sister; (2014–2020)
• Radha Israni as Swarni Dasi: Abhi, Alia, Raj and Akash's grand-aunt; (2014–2018)
  • Asha Sharma replaced Israni as Swarni (2018–2020)
• Anurag Sharma as Raj Mehra: Parminder and Ajay's elder son; (2014–2021)
• Samikssha Batnagar as Mitali Mehra: Raj's wife; (2014)
  • Swati Anand replaced Batnagar as Mitali (2014–2021)
• 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 (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 (2018–2019)
• Vedansh Jaju as Sunny Khanna: Purab and Disha's son; Aryan's half-brother (2018–2019)
• Richa Rathore as Neha "Babli" Mehra: Mitali and Raj's daughter; Bunty's sister; Tarun's wife (2018)
• Abeer Adil as Tarun: King's cousin; Neha's husband (2018–2019)
• Roma Bali as Tarun's mother: King's aunt (2018–2019)
• Naina Singh/Pooja Banerjee/Tina Philip as Rhea Mehra: Pragya and Abhi's daughter; Kiara and Prachi's sister; Siddharth and Ranbir's ex-wife (2019–2020)
• Mehul Kajaria/Rushad Rana as Vikram Kohli: Daljeet's eldest son; Vikrant and Arun's brother; Pallavi's husband; Ranbir and Mishti's father (2019–2021)/(2021-2023)
• Khyati Keswani as Pallavi Kohli: Vikram's wife; Ranbir and Mishti's mother (2019–2023)
• Kiran Bhargava/Smita Shetty as Daljeet "Dida" Kohli: Vikram, Vikrant and Arun's mother; Ranbir, Mishti, Siddharth and Mihika's grandmother (2019–2022)/(2022-2023)
• Pooja Singh as Mishti Kohli: Vikram and Pallavi's daughter; Ranbir's sister (2019)
• Jaanvi Sangwan as Beeji: A nurse who took Pragya in after the latter's exile; Shahana's paternal grandmother (2019)
• Aparna Mishra as Shahana Sharma: Beeji's granddaughter; Pragya's niece-figure; Prachi's sister-figure; Aryan's love interest (2019–2023)
• Zeeshan Khan/Pulkit Bangia/Naveen Sharma as Aryan Khanna: Alia and Purab's son; Sunny's half-brother; Ranbir's best friend; Shahana's love interest (2019–2021)/(2022-2023)/(2023)
• 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 (2019–2022)
• 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)
• Gautam Nain as Rishi Dhaval: Sarita's grandson (2019)
• Kajal Chauhan as Priyanka Rane: Abhi's friend's daughter; Rishi's obsessive lover (2019)
• Sonali Joshi as Chief Minister Vasudha (2019)
• Ribbhu Mehra as Ritik: Disha's friend and secret lover (2019)
• Farida Dadi as Baljeet Mehra: Abhi, Raj, Akash and Alia's grand-aunt (2020–2021/2023)
• Rose Khan as Maya Choubey: Ranbir's ex-fiancée (2020)
• Manish Khanna as Dushyant Singh Choubey: 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)
• 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; 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)
• Mimicharve Khadse as Mauli: a girl whom Prachi loved as her own after she lost Panchi (2023)
• Aalisha Panwar as Kaya Malhotra: Ranbir's former boss and Prachi's friend (2023)
• Simran Budharup/Jyothsna Channdola Singh as Khushi "Panchi" Kohli Randhawa: Ranbir and Prachi's elder daughter; Poorvi's sister; RV's ex-fiancée; Arman's wife (2023–2024)/(2024-2025)
  • Trisha Rohatgi as child Khushi (2023)
• Abhishek Malik as Akshay Tandon: Ashok's son; Manpreet's stepson; Mihika's brother; Prachi's fake husband (2023)
• Aafreen Dabestani as Mihika Tandon: Ashok's daughter; Manpreet's stepdaughter; Akshay's sister; Ranbir's fake fiancée (2023)
• Mallika Nayak as Manpreet Tandon: Ashok's second wife; Akshay and Mihika's stepmother; Prachi’s mother-figure (2023–2024)
• Kaushal Kapoor as Ashok Tandon: Prachi's former boss and father figure; Vishakha's brother; Manpreet's husband; Akshay and Mihika's father (2023–2024)
• Utkarsha Naik as Vishakha Tandon: Ashok's sister; Divya's mother (2023–2024)
• 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 (2023–2024)
• Purvi Pawar as Neha Tandon: Akshay, Mihika, Abhay and Divya's cousin (2023)
• Sparsh Kotwal as Abhay Tandon: Akshay, Mihika, Neha and Divya's cousin (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)
• Ipsita Jena as Priya: Prachi's assistant (2023)
• Sanchita Ugale as Diya Tandon: Divya’s daughter; Poorvi's best friend; Soham's ex–fiancée; Yug's love-interest (2023–2025)
• Vishal Solanki as Jasbeer: Poorvi's one sided lover (2023-2025)
• Arjun Shekhawat as Ashutosh: Poorvi’s ex-fiancé (2023–2024)
• Imran Khan as Harman Malhotra: Rajvansh and Vikrant's father; Harleen's husband (2023–2025)
• Pyumori Mehta Ghosh as Harleen Malhotra: Rajvansh and Vikrant's mother; Harman's wife (2023–2025)
• Kirti Sualy as Rajvansh's grandmother (2023–2025)
• Susheel Parashar as Rajvansh's grandfather (2023–2025)
• Preet Kaur Nayak as Dipika Malhotra: Monisha's sister; Dushyant and Roshni's elder daughter; Vikrant’s wife (2023–2025)
• Rahul Ram Manchanda as Vikrant Malhotra: Harleen and Harman's son; Rajvansh's brother; Dipika's husband (2023–2025)
• Priti Gandwani as Rajvansh's aunt
• Anuj Khurana as Rajvansh's uncle
• Nakul Ulja as Yug Malhotra: Rajvansh’s cousin; Diya’s love interest (2023–2025)
• Kavita Banerjee as Trishna Jaiswal: Krishna's wife (2024)
• Ajay Sharma as Gajendra Jaiswal; Trishna’s father (2024)
• Hetal Yadav as Rajni Jaiswal; Trishna's mother (2024)
• Hemant Choudhary as Amar Dayal; Jaiswal's political rival (2024)
• Srishti Jain as Monisha: Dipika's sister; Dushyant and Roshni's daughter; Rajvansh's ex-fiancée and one-sided obsessive lover (2024–2025)
• Bhawana Aneja as Roshni: Dushyant's wife; Dipika and Monisha's mother (2024–2025)
• Aakash Talwar as Arman Randhawa: Khushi's husband (2024–2025)
• Parimal Bhattacharya as Kishan Parikh: Seema's husband; Gayatri's father; Prarthana's adoptive father (2025-present)
• Vandana Mittal as Seema Parikh: Kishan's wife; Gayatri's mother; Prarthana's adoptive mother (2025-present)
• Phalguni Sharma/Honeyy Soni as Gayatri Parikh: Kishan and Seema's daughter; Prarthana's adoptive sister (2025/2025-present)
• Hina Dani as Baa: Kanti, Devang, Hitesh and Kinjal's mother (2025-present)
• Vijhay Badlaani as Kanti Zaveri: Devang, Hitesh and Kinjal's brother; Smita's husband; Raunak and Sneha's father (2025-present)
• Gurdip Punjj as Smita Zaveri: Kanti's wife; Raunak and Sneha's mother (2025-present)
• Isha Pandhe as Sneha Zaveri: Kanti and Smita's daughter; Raunak's sister (2025-present)
• Nitin Vakharia as Devang Zaveri: Kanti, Hitesh and Kinjal's brother; Shubhvi's husband; Tanuj, Sejal and Arjun's father (2025-present)
• Bhavwini Gandhi as Shubhvi Zaveri: Devang's wife; Tanuj, Sejal and Arjun's mother (2025-present)
• Abhay Bhadoriya as Tanuj Zaveri: Devang and Shubhvi's son; Sejal and Arjun's brother (2025-present)
• Hanisha Gehlot as Sejal Zaveri: Devang and Shubhvi's daughter; Tanuj and Arjun's sister (2025-present)
• Mohit Jaswani as Arjun Zaveri: Devang and Shubhvi's son; Tanuj and Sejal's brother (2025-present)
• Parri Galaa as Kinjal Zaveri: Kanti, Hitesh and Devang's sister; Hitenkumar's wife; Harsh and Kirtan's mother (2025-present)
• Kalpesh Patel as Hitenkumar: Kinjal's husband; Harsh and Kirtan's father (2025-present)
• Vedaant Saluja as Harsh: Kinjal and Hitenkumar's son; Kirtan's brother (2025-present)
• Ahnaf F Khatri as Kirtan: Kinjal and Hitenkumar's son; Harsh's brother (2025-present)
• Unknown as Vihaan: Sneha's ex-fiance (2025-present)
• Aarchi Sachdeva as Payal Shah: Praful and Ketki's daughter; Raunak's suitor (2025-present)
• Rashika Matharu as Ketki Shah: Praful's wife; Payal's mother; Smita's friend (2025-present)
• Unknown as Praful Shah: Ketki's husband; Payal's father (2025-present)
• Unknown as Bhavesh: Prarthana's suitor (2025-present)
• Rita Sharma Gupta as Daxa: Bhavesh's mother (2025-present)
• Aryan Rajput as Mayank: Raunak's friend (2025-present)

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]

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 the 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]

Kundali Bhagya

A spin-off series Kundali Bhagya premiered on 12 July 2017 and ran till 6 December 2024. The series narrated 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 starred Supriya Shukla, Shraddha Arya, Dheeraj Dhoopar, Manit Joura, Anjum Fakih, Shakti Arora, Shakti Anand, Paras Kalnawat, Sana Sayyad, Baseer Ali and Adrija Roy.^[25][26][27]

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.^[28][29]

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.^[30]

The show climbed to Top 5 most-watched shows across all GECs, after only a few weeks of its launch.^[31] It was touted as the biggest fiction launch of 2014.^[32] 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.^[33] Actor Kartik Aaryan also watched the show during the lockdown.^[34][35]