Kundali Bhagya

Main

• Shraddha Arya as Dr. Preeta Arora Luthra: A physiotherapist; Sarla and Raghuveer's second daughter; Karan's wife; Rishabh's ex wife; Kavya, Rajveer, and Shaurya's mother (2017–2024)
• Dheeraj Dhoopar / Shakti Arora / Shakti Anand as Karan Luthra: A cricketer; Rakhi and Mahesh's younger son; Preeta's husband; Kavya, Rajveer, and Shaurya's father (2017–2022) / (2022–2023) / (2023–2024)
• Manit Joura as Rishabh Luthra: Rakhi and Mahesh's elder son; Karan's elder brother; Sherlyn and Preeta's ex-husband; Kavya's step father (2017–2024)
• Paras Kalnawat as Rajveer "Rudra" Luthra: Preeta and Karan's elder twin son; Shaurya's twin brother; Kavya's brother; Palki's love interest and fiancé (2023–2024)
• Baseer Ali as Shaurya Luthra: A rap artist; Preeta and Karan's younger twin son; Rajveer's twin brother; Kavya's twin brother; Shanaya's fiancé; Palki's one sided lover (2023–2024)
• Sana Sayyad / Adrija Roy as Dr. Palki Khurana: Shailendra and Daljeet's eldest daughter; Rajveer's love interest and fiancée (2023–2024) / (2024)

Recurring

• Vijay Kashyap as Raghuveer Arora: Daljeet's son; Sarla's husband; Pragya, Bulbul, Preeta and Srishti's father (2017)
• Supriya Shukla as Sarla Arora: Raghuveer's widow; Pragya, Bulbul, Preeta and Srishti's mother (2017–2022)
• Madhu Raja as Daljeet Arora: Matriarch of the Arora family; Raghuveer's mother; Preeta and Srishti's grandmother (2017–2023)
• Jasjeet Babbar / Mehnaaz Shroff as Janki: The Aroras' house help and caretaker (2017–2021) / (2021–2023)
• Neelam Mehra as Bani Luthra: Matriarch of the Luthra family; Mahesh, Suresh, and Kareena's mother; Rishabh, Karan, Ruchika, Kritika, and Sameer's grandmother; Kavya, Rajveer, and Shaurya's great grandmother (2017–2024)
• Naveen Saini as Mahesh Luthra: Bani's elder son; Rakhi's husband; Rishabh, Karan, and Ruchika's father (2017–2024)
• Anisha Hinduja as Rakhi Luthra: Mahesh's wife; Rishabh, Karan, and Ruchika's mother (2017–2024)
• Pyumori Mehta Ghosh / Usha Bachani as Kareena Luthra: Bani's daughter; Kritika's mother (2017) / (2017–2024)
• Saptrishi Ghosh as Suresh Luthra: Bani's younger son; Parminder's husband (2021)
• Shravani Goswami as Parminder "Pammi" Luthra: Suresh's wife (2021)
• Anjum Fakih as Srishti Arora Luthra: Raghuveer and Sarla's younger daughter; Preeta's sister; Sameer's wife; Rajveer's foster mother (2017–2023)
• Abhishek Kapoor as Sameer "Sammy" Luthra: Rishabh and Karan's cousin; Srishti's husband (2017–2023)
• Twinkle Vashisht as Kritika "Kriti" Luthra: Kareena's daughter; Rishabh and Karan's cousin (2017–2024)
• Mrinal Singh Lal as Ruchika Luthra: Mahesh and Rakhi's daughter; Rishabh and Karan's sister (2017)
• Mrinal Navell Chandra as Kavya "Kavu" Luthra: Preeta and Karan's daughter; Rajveer and Shaurya's sister; (2023–2024)
  • Ananya Gambhir as young Kavya (2022–2023)
• Niya Sharma / Ira Sone / Akanksha Juneja as Nidhi "Nidz" Hinduja Luthra: Anjali's elder sister; Arjun's widow; Aarohi's best friend; later associated with the Luthra family (2022) / (2023) / (2023–2024)
• Swarna Pandey as Pihu Luthra: Preeta and Karan's adoptive daughter; Kavya, Rajveer, and Shaurya's adoptive sister (2021)
• Ruhi Chaturvedi as Sherlyn Khurana Malhotra: Sanjana's daughter; Rishabh and Prithvi's ex wife; Shelly's mother (2017–2023; 2024)
• Sanjay Gagnani as Prithvi Malhotra: Pawan's brother; Sherlyn's ex-husband; Shelly's father (2017–2023)
• Ashish Trivedi as Shelly "Varun Gill" Malhotra: Sherlyn and Prithvi's son; Kavya's ex-fiancé (2023–2024)
• Ankit Gupta as Pawan Malhotra: Prithvi's younger brother (2020–2021)
• Sanjana Phadke as Sanjana Khurana: Sherlyn's mother; Kareena's friend (2017–2022; 2024)
• Charanjit Kaur as Sukhwinder Khurana: Shailendra and Gurpreet's mother; Palki, Shanaya, and Mahi's grandmother (2024)
• Farukh Saeed as Shailendra Khurana: Sukhwinder's son; Gurpreet's brother; Daljeet's husband; Palki, Shanaya, and Mahi's father (2023)
• Roma Bali as Daljeet Khurana: Shailendra's wife; Palki, Shanaya, and Mahi's mother (2023–2024)
• Rose Sardana as Mahi Khurana: Shailendra and Daljeet's daughter (2023)
• Shalini Mahal as Shanaya "Sona" Khurana: Shailendra and Daljeet's daughter; Shaurya's fiancée (2023–2024)
• Niju Machhan as Gurpreet Khurana Bajwa: Sukhwinder's daughter; Shailendra's sister; Mohit's mother (2023–2024)
• Sohil Singh Jhuti as Mohit Bajwa: Gurpreet's son; Palki, Shanaya, and Mahi's cousin (2023–2024)
• Gayatri Soham / Naina Gupta / Mayanka Sharma Patel as Dr. Roma Gill: Gautam's wife; Shelly's fake mother (2023) / (2024) / (2024)
• Farooq Khan / Rajesh Sharma as Gautam Gill: Shelly's fake father (2023) / (2024)
• Guneet Sharma as Rahul Gill: Son of Gautam and Roma; Shelly's fake brother (2023)
• Sahil Phull as Deepak: Preeta's ex-fiancé (2017)
• Shyn Khurana as Malishka: Karan's ex-girlfriend (2017)
• Roma Arora as Sofia: Karan's former girlfriend (2017–2018)
• Kajal Jain as Aliya Malhotra: Shelly's wife (2024)
• Mahira Sharma as Monisha Sharma: Karan's ex-fiancée (2018–2019)
• Aman Gandhi as Ritvik: Monisha's boyfriend; Prithvi's friend (2018)
• Swati Kapoor as Mahira Khanna: Ramona's daughter; Karan's obsessive lover and ex-fiancée (2019–2021)
• Kasturi Banerjee / Geetanjali Mishra as Ramona Khanna: Mahira's mother (2019–2020) / (2020–2021)
• Akshay Raj Jawrani as Shiv: Karan's friend; one-sided lover of Preeta (2019)
• Aashish Mehrotra / Mukul Harish / Naveen Sharma as Akshay Ahuja: Mr. and Mrs. Ahuja's son; Ruchika's boyfriend; Megha's husband (2017) / (2018) / (2021)
• Girish Thapar as Mr. Ahuja: Akshay's father (2017–2018; 2021)
• Parveen Kaur as Mrs. Ahuja: Akshay's mother (2017–2018; 2021)
• Ruchita Anchor as Megha Ahuja: Akshay's wife (2021)
• Mansi Srivastava as Sonakshi Raichand: Yashvardhan's daughter; Karan's college friend and obsessive lover (2021)
• Hemant Choudhary as Yashvardhan Raichand: Sonakshi's father (2021)
• Giriraj Kabra as Rajat Bedi: Sonakshi's fiancé (2021)
• Sonal Vengurlekar as Anjali Hinduja: Nidhi's younger sister; Karan's obsessive lover; Rajveer's kidnapper (2022–2023)
• Rishika Nag as Natasha Khurana / Payal: A con woman; Sherlyn's fake cousin (2021–2022; 2023)
• Vipin Sharma as Nagre: Prithvi's advocate (2021–2022)
• Pankaj Bijlani as Inspector Surya: Yash's father; Karan's rival; Narcotics Bureau officer (2023–2024)
• Saif Moin Khan as Anshuman Pandey: Karan's business rival (2024)
• Pulkit Jain as Sunny: Shaurya's childhood friend (2024)

Filming

The production and airing of the show was halted indefinitely in late March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.^[11] Due to 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.^[12][13][14] After three months, the production and filming of the series resumed on 29 June 2020 and broadcast to resume from 13 July 2020.^[15][16][17]

Casting

In January 2022, Supriya Shukla who played Sarla Arora, quit the show, saying, "I had done everything as Sarla but there was not much left for me to do".^[18] In June of the same year, actor Dheeraj Dhoopar, who played Karan Luthra, also quit the series for personal reasons and was replaced by Shakti Arora.^[19][20]

In January 2023, a twenty-year generation leap and a new generation of leads were announced.^[21] Arora, who replaced Dhoopar as Karan, quit owing to the generation leap, stating he didn't want to play a father to grown-ups and wanted to explore other things.^[22][23] Arora was then replaced by Shakti Anand after the leap.^[24][25] Sanjay Gagnani, who portrayed Prithvi Malhotra, also announced his decisions to quit the series as he wanted to take up new opportunities.^[26] Shraddha Arya, who portrays Preeta Luthra, decided to continue as a mother to the new generation. Later in March 2023, Sonal Vengurlekar, playing Anjali Hinduja, also announced her decision to quit after the generation leap because she didn't wanted to age onscreen.^[27] Ruhi Chaturvedi, who portrayed Sherlyn Khurana, also quit right before leap as she wanted to explore more as an actress. However from June 2024 she made her appearance once again as Sherlyn.^[28]

Paras Kalnawat and Sana Sayyad were introduced as new leads with Kalnawat as one of Preeta's twin sons, Rajveer Arora Luthra and Sayyad as Dr. Palki Khurana^[29] while debutante Baseer Ali was cast as negative lead and another twin son of Preeta, Shaurya Luthra.^[30][31][32] In the same month, Rose Sardana was cast to play Mahi Khurana, Palki's sister.^[33]

In May 2023, Anjum Fakih portraying Srishti Arora, who had initially taken a break from the show for participating in Fear Factor: Khatron Ke Khiladi 13, later confirmed quitting as her role was no longer challenging after the leap,^[34] but also said that she will return if the story requires her character,^[35] and she reprised her role in July 2023, post her stint in the adventure-based reality show.^[36] However she permanently quit the series in October 2023 to explore new projects by calling it the most difficult decision, and the storyline showcased Srishti ending up in coma with severe facial and physical burns due to Nidhi's murder attempt on her.^[37][38]

Later Abhishek Kapoor who portrayed Sameer Luthra too quit the series to try new spaces as an actor.^[39] In June 2023, Ira Sone portraying Nidhi quit the series and Akanksha Juneja replaced her.^[40] Later in the following month, Mrinal Navell Chandra was cast to play grown-up Kavya Luthra replacing Ananya Gambhir who played Kavya's younger version,^[41] while Aashish Trivedi was cast opposite her as Varun Gill and Guneet Sharma was cast to play his brother Rahul. But later on in June 2024 Varun's character was revealed to be Prithvi and Sherlyn's son Shelly Malhotra.^[42][43] In the following month, Shalini Mahal joined the cast as Palki's sister Shanaya Khurana.^[44]

In February 2024, Manit Joura portraying Rishabh Luthra quit after being a part of the show for seven long years saying that he realized his journey in the show was over and an intelligent actor knows where to stop.^[45] While Rajesh Sharma replaced Farooq Khan as Goutam Gill in same month.^[46] In May 2024, Sana Sayyad portraying Palki quit the series due to her pregnancy^[47][48] and Adrija Roy stepped into her shoes opposite Paras Kalnawat.^[49][7][50] In same month Baseer Ali playing Shaurya Luthra was rumoured to quit the show but the actor denied so. However he confirmed about him serving his notice period required prior quitting the series in following month.^[51][52] The following month Mayanka Sharma Patel replaced Naina Gupta as Roma Gill who earlier replaced Gayatri Soham in February 2024.^[53] Meanwhile Sanjana Phadke too reprised her role of Sanjana Khurana in same month after 2 years hiatus.^[54]

Cancellation

On 19 November 2024, it was announced that the show would go off-air after a run of seven and a half years, with the final episode airing on 6 December 2024, hours after Shraddha Arya confirmed quitting the show due to her due date approaching.^[55][8] Actors Shakti Anand and Paras Kalnawat revealed that it was a '"sudden and shocking move by the channel and production house", and that they were not informed or prepared for this decision until the last moment.^[9]

Impact

Kundali Bhagya is the second longest-running Indian television series of Zee TV after its sister show, Kumkum Bhagya.^[4][56] It took its generation leap on 16 March 2023 and completed its 1500 episodes on 10 April 2023.^[4]

Anjum Fakih's character was slated to be negative after three months from the day of premiere of the show, but the love of audience to her positive character made the production revoke their decision.^[57]

Ratings

Kundali Bhagya maintained a consistent viewership profile on Zee TV, regularly leading the Hindi General Entertainment Channel (GEC) landscape. The series premiered on July 12, 2017,^[58] with an initial Television Rating Point of 2.9, making it one of the network's highest-rated fiction launches in that time slot.^[59][60] The show went on to become the most popular show within a month and also topped the TRP charts for several years.^[61][62] Driven by the core storyline and the initial pairing of Dheeraj Dhoopar and Shraddha Arya, the program reached the number one rank nationwide within its first month of broadcast.^[63][64] Following the resumption of television production after the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown in July 2020, the series immediately reclaimed the top position on television, placing ahead of its sister series Kumkum Bhagya, which occupied the second position.^[65][66][67]

Between 2018 and late 2020, the series frequently ranked as the highest-rated Hindi fiction show on Indian television,^[68][69] maintaining a stable weekly average of 3.5 TRP, with high-drama wedding episodes peaking at 3.8 TRP.^[70][71] Following late 2020, the show faced increased competition from newly launched soaps on rival networks, specifically Star Plus's daily drama Anupamaa, which assumed the top spot.^[72] Despite this, the program maintained a steady presence on the charts, frequently securing the second position nationwide with stable ratings ranging between 2.8 and 3.1 TRP,^[73] while continuing to outperform Kumkum Bhagya.^{[74][75][76][77][78]}

To refresh the long-running storytelling arcs, the production house introduced narrative transitions.^[79] A 5-year leap in 2021^[80] and a subsequent 2-year jump in 2022^[81][82]—accompanied by casting changes including the introduction of Shakti Arora,^[83][84] initially stabilized the show's metrics within a 2.2 to 2.5 TRP range, achieving a top-five rank.^[85][86][87] In March 2023, the show executed a major 20-year second-generation leap, shifting the primary focus onto characters played by Paras Kalnawat, Baseer Ali, and Sana Sayyad.^[88] Following this transition and the eventual departures of original lead actors, the show experienced a gradual shift in urban audience retention, settling into a 1.5 to 1.9 TRP range during its multi-cast adjustments.^{[89][90][91][92]} By late 2023, the series averaged 1.8 TRP and moved to the number ten position overall.^[93][94] Due to programming reschedule, the network later shifted the series from its original 9:30 p.m. slot into a 10:00 p.m. time slot.^[95][96] The brand equity kept the show within a top-ten placement before concluding its nearly 8 year run of 2000+ episodes.^[97][98]