Kasautii Zindagii Kay (2001 TV series)
Kasautii Zindagii Kay () was an Indian Hindi-language television series produced by Ekta Kapoor's Balaji Telefilms on Star Plus. The show starred Shweta Tiwari, Cezzane Khan later replaced by Hiten Tejwani, Ronit Roy and Urvashi Dholakia who portrayed Prerna Sharma, Anurag Basu, Rishabh Bajaj and Komolika Majumdar. The show aired from 29 October 2001 to 28 February 2008. The whole series is digitally available on Disney+ Hotstar.The show was one of the most longest running television show of Star Plus. The show explored the story of the star crossed lovers Anurag and  Prerna. The various stages of their love and life as well as the lives of their children and grandchildren. Plot. Anurag and Prerna fall in love with each other, only for fate to time and again separate them. Komolika and Rishabh Bajaj are vital catalysts in the story. Over a span of eighty years in the show, the story revolves around Anurag, Prerna, and their children Prem, Sneha, and eventually progressing to their grandchildren. Production. Development. Kapoor stated that Anurag was named after her director friend and Prerna was named after her father's friend Prem Chopra's daughter. The  series was filmed at sets in Killick Nixion studio, set number 7 B in Mumbai. In early 2003, a sequence was filmed at Australia. In October 2003, the series had a crossover with "Des Mein Niklla Hoga Chand". In 2005, the series was filmed at Singapore and Malaysia (Episode 708 - Episode 721). In 2007, Khan was replaced by Hiten Tejwani in the series. Cancellation. In November 2007, Kasautii was confirmed going off-air in January 2008. However it ended on 28 February 2008 for which Kapoor stated, "I won't deny that the TRPs of Kasautii… had gone down quite  a bit and moreover, I didn't have a story to tell." Reboot series. A reboot of the show, also titled "Kasautii Zindagii Kay", was aired on Star Plus from 25 September 2018 to 3 October 2020 for two years which did not sustain expected ratings unlike this series. This reboot has been remade in Kannada language on Star Suvarna titled "Premloka". Adaptations. "Kasautii" was dubbed in the local languages of Afghanistan, Sri Lanka and Mauritius and was telecast there. The series became one of the most watched series in Sri Lanka aired on Maharaja TV where it opened with  11.3 TVR in February 2005 and was at 8 TVR on April 2005. Reception. Critics. "Rediff.com" stated, "One nice thing about "Kasauti..." is that all characters in the serial are very strong. Be it the protagonists or antagonists, every character stands on firm ground." Ratings. "Kasautii Zindagii Kay" became the third-longest running and top rated Hindi GEC series after "Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi" and "Kahaani Ghar Ghar Kii"— all three of which were produced by Balaji Telefilms. The show recorded one of the highest TRPs helping StarPlus maintaining its top position. It began with an average ratings  of 4.44 while in 2002, 2003, 2004 it grows to an average TRP of 7.51, 8.83 and 9.14 respectively. Kasautii garnering 9.9 TVR as on 18 November 2003 at third position. The crossover episode between "Des Mein Niklla Hoga Chand" and "Kasautii" during October 2003 garnered 14+ TVR. While in 2005, it maintained its third position with 10.93 TVR while the following year it dropped 8.78 TVR despite maintaining its position. In second week of January 2007, Kasautii continued to be third with a declined rating of 5.6 TVR. Being one of the top-rated Indian television series maintaining  its position in top 10 programs until 2008, it dropped to eleventh position in January 2008 after which it was soon cancelled. Soundtrack. The "Kasautii Zindagii Kay" soundtrack is from the Indian soap opera that has recorded more than fifty tracks during its airing from 2001 to 2008 and won several awards. The show had recorded more than a hundred tracks including some versions of Bollywood hit songs "Kya Pyaar Karoge Mujhse", "Ajeeb Dastan Hai Yeh", "Hum Bewafa Hargiz Na Thay", "Kal Ho Naa Ho, Jiyen To Jiyen Kaisy" and "Do Ajnabi Kidar Ja Rahy Hain". Kasautii Zindagii Kay (2001