Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai

Naitik recovers from coma and struggle to bond with his young, mischievous son Naksh. Nikhil divorces a pregnant Rashmi. Soon, the family has to face Gayatri's death after which, Rashmi gives birth to a daughter whom she names Gayatri after her mother and Rajshekhar's remarriage to a divorcee Devyani who has two children-Naman and Muskaan.

Despite Naksh suffering from diabetes, he wins in a football match. Anshuman and Jasmeet as well as Naman and Karishma get married. Nandini gives birth to Anmol elsewhere Akshara and Naitik have a daughter Naira. Naksh who loves his sister-Naira so much that he also bunk his school for her. Soon, Muskaan and Alok marry while Mahendra Pratap dies and Kaveri blames Akshara for the same and banishes her. Naitik and Akshara along with their children move out.

They relocate to Cape Town in South Africa and have been living there since. Naksh returns to Udaipur and convinces Kaveri to forgive an innocent Akshara, and thus the family return and reunite. Rashmi marries Sameer and her daughter Gayatri accepts him.

Naksh falls in love with Tara. Due to her brother Sangram, Akshara falls into a pond and is saved by Naitik, but suffers temporary blindness and recovers soon.[7] It is revealed that Kuhu is the daughter of Shaurya and Sneha, Naitik's employee, due to past extramarital affair. The family disowns Shaurya but later accepts him. Then, Ananya and Ranveer get married. Naksh breaks his wedding because of Tara's prenup. On the other hand, fearing of wrongly blamed for her friend Sukanya's death, even by Akshara and scared of imprisonment, Naira escapes Udaipur.

Naira lives in an orphanage in Rishikesh and has grown up as headstrong but insecure and arrogant where she meets Kartik Goenka, a young and positive man. Akshara reaches there to fund the orphanage and finds Naira there. She brings her back on the pretext of saving her orphanage. Naira begins to accept her family except Akshara. Kartik arrives Udaipur as Naitik's employee where a love triangle is formed between him, Gayatri and Naira. Kartik realises his love for Naira while Gayatri for Kartik. Yash and Rose get married as eventually, Naira accepts Akshara.

Akshara, Kartik, Naira and Gayatri save Naitik who was kidnapped and attempted to be killed by Naman. Later, Kartik confesses his love for Naira but she runs away. Soon, Naman's misdeed is revealed to the family except Mishti and everyone disowns him and hands him to police.

Naira is confused about her love but later realises her love for Kartik and confess it as Gayatri sacrifices her love for her. Akshara is killed in a sudden car crash caused by Kartik's cousin Mansi for which Kartik is blamed. The Singhanias and Maheshwaris disown Kartik but soon they realise that he is not at fault and bails him.

Few months later, Kartik and Naira get married in a grand ceremony. Kartik hates his father Manish and his step mother Suvarna as he remarried her after his mother's death and in fact believes he was responsible for the same. Everyone soon learns that Mansi is the cause of Akshara's death but with the heavy heart Naksh-Naira takes the case back and the families reconcile. Later, the family get Naksh and Keerti married after Aditya's misdeeds come into light. Initially marrying for Naira's sake, he gradually starts loving Keerti. It is also revealed that Shubham is Suvarna and Manish's son. Naira fulfills her parents dream of opening a dance academy. Shubham dies due to overdose of drugs and Naira is blamed for hiding his drug addiction. Naira leaves as Kartik and Suvarna do not trust her. Thus, Kartik and Naira get separated.

Naira along with Naitik lives in Mumbai. Coincidentally, Kartik becomes professor for the same class which Naira signs up. Eventually, Anmol and Mansi get married as Kartik-Naira get divorced. But soon both as well as Suvarna realise their mistakes and reunite.

Naira soon undergoes a surgery for a brain clot and remarries Kartik. Keerti and Naira are later both revealed to be pregnant. They meet with an accident when Keerti slips into coma. Both undergo delivery while Naira's baby girl is informed dead after which Kartik swaps the babies. As Keerti wakes up from coma, the family finds it out and confronts him. Naira ultimately loses her memory but finally regains memory and they reunite.

Further, Samarth falls for a pregnant Gayatri and marries her after Vivaan's death. Naira now enters the business after Manish's heartattack. Kartik feels insecure of Naira's busy routine. Naira finds out she is pregnant. On his misunderstanding and questions about her relation with Mihir, Naira rebukes him and storms out of the house without informing him of her pregnancy and meets with an accident and is assumed dead by the family.

Naira lives in Goa with their son Kairav, while Kartik has found solace in his nephew Vansh. Eventually, as Kartik marries Vedika, everyone learns that Naira is alive and Kairav is their son. In spite of trying to get away from each other, Kartik and Naira come close which irks Vedik Soon they realise their love and reunite and Vedika prepares for divorce from Kartik. After all her attemps to take Naira's place, she realises her mistakes and leaves the family. Luv, Kush and Abhishek's misdeeds of molesting Trisha is revealed and they get arrested. Soon, Kartik learns that his and Naira's daughter is alive, who was earlier thought dead soon after the birth, and searches her.

The shooting of the show began on 11 September 2008.[34] It was launched at Rambagh Palace in Jaipur, Rajasthan.[35] In January 2009, the series was mainly promoted through a campaign at six main cities by Star Plus along with Jagran Solutions.[36] A contest was held in the country among over 1000 married couples out of which fifty of them were selected through events like quizzes and on air test on radios. They were made to remarry with the rituals along with the games and events held in Rambagh Palace.[37]

On January 2010, a sequence was shot without any dialogue, with only background music used during dramatic scenes when the Singhania family learn that the character Akshara motivates the love between her sister in law Nandhini and Naitik's friend Mohit, against them.[38]

In January 2013, Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai was sent notice by channel for its ending due to decreasing ratings. However it received extension till June 2013 while the ratings rose and the decision of ending was dropped.[39] Besides, twice again it received notice for ending but soon when the ratings increased after it, the plan was dropped and the series continued.[40]

During November 2014 end, lead Hina Khan could not be able to attend her shooting for few days due to her other work schedules and the track was altered for her absence.[41] In December 2014, a scene where characters Naman and Karishma kiss was cut from the broadcast to avoid offending the show's audience.[42]

The show took its first leap of 4 years on 30 November 2012 post the car accident of Naitik as he slips into coma.[43] It then took a leap of 10 years on 30 March 2015 after Kaveri banishing Akshara from the house owing to Mahendra Pratap's death.[44] Then a leap of some years was taken on 16 May 2016 post teenage Naira running away from her home fearing imprisonment.[45][46] Another leap of 2 years was taken on 21 May 2018 after Shubam's death as Suvarna ousts her.[47] It took a leap of 5 years on 7 June 2019 after Naira leaves the Goenka house on Kartik's misconception about her.[48]

The 10 year leap in March 2015 was slightly delayed as the casting of adult Naksh was not finalised. Producers auditioned over 200 people before choosing Rohan Mehra.[49] In April 2016, both Hina Khan and Karan Mehra refused to play the role as in-laws after the on-going wedding track of their onscreen son Naksh and Tara. Thus, the track was altered such that the wedding was called off.[50]

During January 2017, at the filming of pre wedding sequences of the lead characters Naira and Kartik, fire broke out on the sets due to a short circuit.[51] Common people were auditioned at Delhi during February 4 and 5, 2017 and cast for Baraathi in Naira and Kartik's weeding.[52]

Speaking about Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai's success producer Rajan Shahi said, "Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai doing well is something we have to strive for each and every day. When a show completes this number of episodes, it becomes a challenge as to how to sustain the show. There are so many topics to choose from and there are so many relationships, so that becomes a major challenge, to keep the freshness alive. Drama, intrigue, etc is just a part of storytelling but to still keep the essence alive that is the challenge, it is always a day to day battle."[53] He also quoted that the elaborate festival celebrations shown is the strength of the series.[54]

Speaking about the introduction of transition in the story from Akshara and Naitik to Naira and Kartik, Shahi said, "We were losing out on the young audience when things were going sweet between (original protagonists) Akshara and Naitik. With the introduction of Kartik and Naira -- a couple that is imperfect, makes mistake and learns from the mistakes -- the audience again found a connection with the on-screen characters. That is how our show has stood strong against the test of time."[55] In May 2017 Shahi stated: "With due respect to both the actors, it is a fact that after Karan left, we could consolidate our position and the TRPs actually increased. After Hina’s exit too, the show has grown. This is not to say that they did not contribute to the show, but we were not able to shoot when those two were a part of the show as they had so much baggage. There were just two-three hours of shooting with the lead actors. Now, even if we are given a choice, the writers wouldn’t want Akshara back."[56] For his above statement both Khan and Mehra expressed their displeasure where Khan stated: "During that time, he went on record to praise both of us for our dedication and professionalism. And honestly, we were probably the only lead pair on television who continued to be with the show for eight consecutive years. Despite the work pressure, disagreements and other work opportunities, we continued to stay loyal to the show and supported the producer. But now that we are not doing the show, he’s very conveniently contradicting his own statements." and Mehra stated: "If he is saying that I worked for two-three hours, he is referring to someone else because my attendance register is the proof. Also, I gave my notice period in advance. I don’t know who he has a grudge against and why is he saying it now? I was thanked by the channel and Rajan sir when I quit, so I don’t understand how this has emerged now."[56]

Hina Khan was selected to play the role of Akshara, making her acting debut.[57][58] Khan stated that she knew nothing about acting while signing the series quoting, "I didn't learn acting from anywhere. I think it's because of luck that I landed up in TV. Even after that I had to do a lot of hard work It was more difficult for me when I began acting and straight away I had to perform. I never got to learn."[59] Karan Tacker was initially roped for the role of Naitik, but was replaced by Karan Mehra a day away the promo shoot as Tacker became skeptical who also makes his acting debut.[60] Speaking about it producer Rajan Shahi said, “Karan (Tacker) refused to be a part of the show a day and a half prior to shooting the promo. I needed to hunt for a new face on immediate basis. I accidentally met Karan Mehra, a real life replica of my fictitious character Naitik.”[61]

In June 2016, Karan Mehra quit the show owing health issues.[62] Two sequences were shot before his exit: one was his death track and other was his kidnap track and decision was made to take the story with the kidnapping track.[63] Then, he was replaced by Vishal Singh in August 2019, making his entry with the Kidnap sequence in Switzerland.[64][65] Soon, in November 2016, Hina Khan quit as her character became monotonous for her and she was shown killed in a car accident.[66] Then, parallel lead Shivangi Joshi playing Naira and recurring one Mohsin Khan playing Kartik, who entered in May 2016, became the leads of the show and the character Naitik became a recurring one since.[5]

In 2012, Sanjay Gandhi playing Mahendra quit due to the issues between him and his co-actors Sonali Verma and Sandeep Mehta who was then replaced by Abhijit Lahiri.[67] The latter also quit after the death of his character in March 2015.[68] In 2012, Urmila Sharma was replaced by Sunitha Rao as Rukmini.[69][70] In December 2013, Sonali Verma playing Gayathri Singhania quit owing to her marriage and her character was shown dead after a fall from a cliff.[71]

In December 2014, Ather Habib playing Shaurya quit as he felt nothing more was there to explore in his character and was replaced by Yash Gera.[72] Gera also quit in 2017 due to the same reason as that of Habib.[73] He was replaced by Sameer Sharma in the spin-off series.[74] In 2015, Aman Sharma playing Anshuman quit as he wanted to search for better opportunities and was replaced by Dheeraj Gumbar who also later quit in 2016.[75]

In 2015, Ayush Agarwal quit due to personal reasons and was replaced by Shamik Abbas. In May 2016, Umang Jain playing Tara and her on-screen family members quit as the story started to focus on other tracks after the cancellation of her and Naksh's (Rohan Mehra) wedding in the show as Hina Khan playing Akshara refused playing the role of a mother in law.[76]

In September 2016, Rohan Mehra playing Naksh quit to participate in Bigg Boss and was replaced by Rishi Dev.[77] Dev also quit in December 2018 as he wished to focus on his YouTube channel and was replaced by Shehzad Shaikh.[78][79] In September 2017, Kanchi Singh playing Gayatri Deora quit as her character was sidelined and was replaced by Deblina Chatterjee in November 2018.[80][81]

Anshul Pandey playing Naman quit in October 2016 who was replaced by Jay Pathak in the spin-off series.[82] In January 2018, Priyanka Udhwani playing Karishma quit as nothing was left for her character.[83] In July 2018, Vaishnavi Rao was cast as Manasi which was earlier played by Shreya Sharma as the makers considered the former better for the role.[84]

Parul Chauhan quit in April 2019 as she doesn't want to play a grandmother and was replaced by Niyati Joshi as Suvarna.[85][86] As the story was about to take a leap, in May 2019, Mohena Kumari Singh playing Keerti quit owing to her wedding.[87] Deblina Chatterjee playing Gayathri quit as she was not interested in playing a mother and was replaced by Simran Khanna.[88][89] Sreshth Saxena and Shubh Saxena were made to quit due to the leap.[90] Shaurya Shah who entered in June 2019 as Kairav quit the following month owing to his health issues and was immediately replaced by Tanmay Rishi.[91][92]

In January 2020, Anmol Jyotir who played teenage Nishanth Maheshwari till 2017 was cast along with Apoorva Jyotir to play Kush and Luv.[93]

The series is mainly filmed in the Film City at Goregaon in Mumbai.[94][95] As it based on the families in Udaipur of Rajasthan, some scenes were also filmed there.[96][97] In December 2013, a sequence was shot at Wai.[98] Some sequences were also filmed in Rishikesh during 2016 and March 2018.[99][100] In March 2017, the wedding track of Kartik and Naira was filmed in a grand manner in Bikaner, Rajasthan.[101]

Besides, it was also filmed in various foreign locations including Bangkok in 2014, Cape Town in 2015, Hong Kong in 2015, Switzerland in 2016 and Greece in 2017.[102][103][104][105][106]

Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai has had several crossover episodes with various shows. On 28 December 2009, the show had a crossover with Sapna Babul Ka...Bidaai. On 24 August 2012, the show had a crossover episode with Diya Aur Baati Hum.[107] On 3 March 2016, actress Deepika Singh as Sandhya from Diya Aur Baati Hum made an entry during Naira's kidnap sequence.[108]

The series initially aired from Monday to Thursdays during the prime time slot of 9:30 pm (IST) and was later extended to Friday. On October 2009, it aired throughout the week owing good ratings untill November 2009.[109][110] During 2014, it was extended untill Saturday and soon reduced back to Friday again.[111] Sometimes, some of the episodes were aired as special episodes for an hour during Saturdays.[112]

The series which was in a continuous production since its premiere was halted indefinitely on March 2020.[113] Owing Covid-19 outbreak, the filming of the television series and films were halted on 19 March 2020, expected to resume the works from 1 April 2020 and the series airing was halted on 25 March 2020 after the bank episodes got over.[114][115] However, later on imposing the nationwide lockdown, which was extending with the increasing cases, filming could not be resumed since March end.[116] After three months, the shooting of the series resumed on 26 June 2020.[117]

A special segment named Rishton Ka Utsav[118][119] aired from 26 November 2018 to 5 December 2018 where Kartik and Naira organize a unique festival which brings all generations with most of the family members of the show through all these years come together and celebrate their reunion.[120] This segment also marked the entry of Deblina Chatterjee as Gayatri Deora replacing Kanchi Singh who quit the show in 2017.[81]

Shoma Munshi in their book Prime Time Soap Operas on Indian Television said the show has "simplicity and highly emotional content" and was noted for placing female characters in the historical tradition of a large joint family.[128]

The Indian Express stated, "Simple story, simple treatment, easy pace, small tiffs, grouse, grief, happiness, sadness, celebrations, rituals, customs but no melodrama and no scheming and plotting….that's every day life beautifully captured and which pleases eyes, ears and other senses. Not that it has not resorted to TRP gimmicks like misunderstanding, pregnancy and miscarriage to come out of its lows, but the show has chronicled post-marriage journey of an arranged married couple quite well."[129] They also quoted, "There is a sense of positivity and reality in the show, that no other serial offers on the small screen."[124]

Praising the two shows Bidaii and Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai of Rajan Shahi's Director's Kut Production as game changers of Starplus which do not have excessive camera moves and mother in law - daughter in law melodramas unlike previously aired dramas, The Times of India stated, "The shows adequately highlighted the quintessential emotions with loads of romanticism and simplicity in story-telling."[130]

Speaking on the success of the series, The New Indian Express said, "Like most successful television series in our country, "Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai" has always banked heavily on the great Indian family. However, the show, along with its cast, has changed over the decade, to accommodate changing times. Perhaps that is where the winning formula lies -- in retaining its old core values in an ever-changing set-up."[131]

It scored a rating of 7.9 TVR in its launch episode with more than 14 million viewers and garnered about 30 million viewership in the opening week.[132] Owing to this, it was acclaimed as the best primetime fiction launch during that time.[133] Since it premiere, Yeh Rishta mostly maintained its position in top 10 Hindi shows.[133][134][130]

In March 2009 overall, it averaged between 4 to 5 TVR occupying third position in most watched Hindi GEC shows while in the week ending 14 March 2009, it garnered 6.4 TVR becoming most watched.[132][135][136] When the nine year dominant number one position of StarPlus channel was beaten by Colors TV channel in week ending 11 April 2009, Sapna Babul Ka... Bidaai and Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai were the top watched Hindi shows with 7.4 and 7 TVR.[137] In early June it was the most watched Hindi GEC with 5.88 TVR.[138] It averaged 5.3 TVR between May end and June end occupying second position in Hindi GEC.[139]

In week 36 2009, it topped the list with 7.2 TVR.[140] Overall, in 2009, the average TVR of the series was 6.1 with an average time of 16.9 minutes spent per episode with an overall reach of 86.6 million viewership in the year.[141]

In 2009, during the IPL match broadcast, the series was still one of the most watched Indian television program than the IPL averaging more than about 5 TVR while IPL averaged more than about 4 TVR.[142] In week 6, 2010, it occupied fourth position with 6.5 TVR.[143] But, before IPL match was about to broadcast, it garnered 6.8 TVR while however decreased during IPL airing to 5.3 TVR in April 2010 with IPL being most watched.[144] In week ending 26 June 2010, it garnered a peak of 6.99 TVR while it averaged 6.2 TVR in that week with the special episode aired on Saturday getting 4.2 TVR.[145] In week 26 of 2010, it occupied second position with 7 TVR.[146] During week ending 25 September 2010, it occupied fourth position with about 5 TVR.[147] As in October 2010, it averaged 3.7 to 4.5 TVR, occupying third position.[133]

It became the second most watched Indian Hindi television show of 2011.[148] In January 2012 end, it occupied first position while in early February, it was beaten by Saath Nibhana Saathiya with 0.1 TVR difference.[149] During IPL premiere in week 14 of 2012, it garnered 3.13 TVR, being pushed down to tenth position with the top positions occupied by the matchs.[150] In week 22, during IPL finale broadcast, it garnered 3.7 TVR with fourth position in top 10 Hindi GECs of the week.[151] In last two weeks of 2012, it occupied second position and third position with 4.6 TVR.[152][153] Overall in the year 2011 and 2012, it mostly averaged between 4 and 5 TVR, being one of the most watched Hindi television series.[154] In 2012, the average overall rating of the series was 5.2 TVR.[155]

During first week in 2013, it was in second position with 4.6 TVR.[156] In week 7 2013, it was second most watched Hindi GEC with 4.3 TVR.[157] During March 2013, it occupied sixth position with a trp of 2.6.[158] In September 2013, it occupied sixth position with 6587 TVTs (Television Viewership In Thousands) (6.5 million viewership).[159] In 2013, it was the third most watched Indian Hindi television show overall with an average of 7 million viewership and a peak viewership of 8.9 million.[160] In week 23 and 24 2013, it garnered 3.1 and 3.5 TVR.[161] As in August 2013, it was in fifth position with a trp of 3.0 and 6749 TVTs.[162][163] In week 50, 2013 it occupied the fifth position in most watched hindi GEC with a TRP of 3.9.[164]

In week 24 2015, it occupied fourth position with 3.40 TVR and the following week, it occupied third position with 4.04 TVR.[165][166]

After the death of the character Akshara in November 2016, the ratings of the show which went down since few months, started to revive. During September to November 2016, it had a viewership averaged 4.9 million and was even out of top ten shows in urban. Post Akshara's death track, when the story started focussing on Naira and Kartik, the viewership increased gradually again, entering the top three shows back during March 2017 while it averaged 7 million viewership in urban.[167] In August 2018, the ratings of the show spiked becoming the second most watched Hindi show in urban averaging 8 million impressions during Naira and Kartik's divorce track.[168]

Pankhuri Awasthi who entered as Vedika in June 2019 received many hatred from the audience due to her gray character[169] who was shown as hurdle between the reunion of the lead characters Kartik (Mohsin Khan) and Naira (Shivangi Joshi).[170][171] Hashtag #RIPdirectorskutproduction started to trend in social medias after Kartik and Vedika's marriage track.[172] Despite these, the show maintained the top spot in its urban viewership during this track and remained in top three shows overall.[173][174][175]

It became the most watched Indian Hindi show on the digital platform Hotstar during 2019.[176]