We have exceeded all expectations with Kyunki Rishton Ke Bhi Roop Badalte Hain - Kushagre Dua

 Kyunki Rishton Ke Bhi Roop Badalte Hain - Kushagre Dua

Kushagre Dua, who was replaced in Naagin 7, is now embracing his new role in Kyunki Rishton Ke Bhi Roop Badalte Hain, where he plays the main negative antagonist. This development should inspire pride among fans and industry peers.

  "Balaji Telefilms always takes care of its artists. Producer Ekta Kapoor, who also works out at my gym, called me and mentioned a factor that influenced her decision in Naagin 7. She promised me a good role, and true to her word, I am here. The show has just gone on air," says Kushagre, who has been a part of shows like Mehndi Hai Rachne Waali, Nazar, Ghum Hai Kisikey Pyaar Meiin, and Divya Drishti.  

  Kyunki Rishton 's story is quite different from the Kyunki Saas narrative; it centres on Vrinda's( Tanisha Mehta) and Angad's( Rohit Suchanti) journey, with a backdrop of workplace relationships and love, aiming to connect emotionally and spark curiosity among fans and entertainment enthusiasts."

  "Currently, we don't have any major actors from Kyon Ki joining our cast, but the connection is being shown through phone cuts to build anticipation and connect with viewers," says he

  

Kushagre is very happy with the debut week 1.9 rating. "We have exceeded all expectations, especially considering the late-night 11 PM slot isn't a major rating driver. Post-leap, Jhanak was doing 1.2, so our performance is very encouraging."

  "The makers bet on using Kyon Ki funnelling has worked. "

Here, he added that the makers initially planned Kyunki Rishton as a 2-month experiment, "But with such great numbers, I hope we last for two years. These decisions are beyond our control as artists; all we can do is give our best and trust the process."

"What began as a 15-minute segment has now been extended to 22 minutes, indicating the show's increasing popularity and positive audience response, which bodes well for its future success," says Kushagre, who recently played the lead in the ill -fated Sun Neo show, Beendani  

   Apart from TV, Kushagre is also part of the Amazon MX Player series, Campus  Diaries

Shilpa Shinde Drops Another Bomb on Bhabiji Ghar Par Hain

 Shilpa Shinde has dropped yet another bomb on the Bhabiji Ghar Par Hain! team. She recently went on record stating that the show will shift to an OTT platform

.Buzz suggests that &TV might stop original programming and move existing shows to standalone digital platforms, which could open up exciting new opportunities for the audience.

Shilpa had left the show back in 2016 after accusing producer Sanjay Kohli of sexual harassment. She made a comeback last year following Shubhangi Atre’s exit, who had played Angoori Bhabhi with great aplomb.

However, all this is easier said than done. The revenue models and creative demands of linear TV and digital are fundamentally different, so any shift needs to be handled with full awareness of these challenges.

.Indian TV generally thrives on mass production with daily episodes, while OTT prefers seasonal formats with limited episodes. This means fresh contracts will have to be signed with the entire cast and crew, along with a revised shooting timeline. Actors will naturally reevaluate their terms — both in terms of money and dates

.As a running property that is now over 11 years old, the makers (Edit II) will need to deeply understand the target digital audience’s demographics and preferences to attract fresh viewers. Simply porting the show or relying on catch-up TV won’t be enough in the digital ecosystem.

The core concept of Bhabiji has always carried an adult, naughty undertone, which was heavily suppressed on TV due to strict in-house censorship. On an OTT platform that caters more to Gen Z and younger Gen Y viewers, audiences might expect the humour to be bolder and more direct.

The show should also introduce some fresh faces. Veteran actors like 60-year-old Aasif Sheikh (Vibhuti) and Rohitashv Gour (Tiwari) are starting to look a bit old for the romantic angles. Shilpa Shinde and Vidisha Srivastava still carry the vibe well for forty-plus chemistry

.The outright tanking of the Bhabiji Ghar Par Hain film serves as a stark reminder of the perils of such platform/format jumps

. It would make far more sense to shift the show back to Zee TV as a daily soap and let Shilpa steer it with tried-and-tested storylines.

Kyon Ki spin-off, not to feature Smriti Irani and have a shorter run length?

 

Star Plus, wanting to push the envelope of its # 1 show Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi further, has decided on a 15-minute spin-off titled  "Kyunki Rishton Ke Bhi Roop Badalte Hain," starring Rohit Suchanti and Tanya Mehta

The story will revolve around Angad and Vrinda and will have new cast additions.

Interestingly, the spin-off series will not have the usual 25-minute run length, but only half that; maybe the creators were not sure the numbers would justify the cost of a typical TV episode.

Sources tell us the channel and ph are testing the waters with this format, and if it doesn't work, they will pull the plug.

Although the late-night slot might be a dampener, the fact that it follows Kyon KIat 10.30 gives it a fighting chance, and it also reopens the late-night pm slot, which has given huge hits in the past( Nazar and Kaahin Kissii Roz )

Also, if it works, we might have shorter capsule series. Already, long-format storytelling is on the wane due to shorter attention spans. The new vertical format seems a big draw among cash-rich Gen Zee.

   Smriti Irani will not be a part of the spin-off; here, the challenge will be for the makers to promote the spin-offs sans Smriti, as her insta post suggests

There is no clarity on whether other senior artists, like Amar Upadhayay and Hiten Tejwani, will also be part of Kyunki Rishton Ke Bhi Roop Badalte Hain.

We reached out to Rohit, Tanisha, and the channel for a comment, but could not get through by the time we put this piece to bed.

Let us know in the comments whether you would want to watch Kyonk Ki spin-off sans Smriti, and your take on the shorter run length.

Everybody should get a second chance in life - Iqbal Khan.

 Talented and versatile TV and web actor Iqbal Khan is adding yet another feather to his cap. He is now headlining a Sony SAB TV medical drama titled  Hui Gumm Yaadein.  Ek Doctor, Do Zindagiyaan

Iqbal's character, Dr Dev Mehta, loses eight years of his memory.

" I have never touched this genre before, so I'm really excited about it.

 And, the story about getting second chances in life is very close to my heart. Everybody should get a second chance in life."

 "In fact, life is about a second chance.  The first part is to figure out what's happening. The actual living i is the second part."

Here, Iqbal says his show, while focusing on the medical part, "( we did training to avoid major bloopers), we will not go granular as say, The Good  Doctor." says he

The basis is human emotions, as seen even in the original Italian series, DOC – Nelle tue mani

Iqbal is joined by Gulki Joshi and Poonam Preet, who play his first wife and sister, respectively . " Dr Mehta's memory loss will create a lot of emotional upheaval with the above women in his life"

  Iqbal, who comes from a family of doctors (both his sisters are medical professionals), says," The white coat is a noble profession; doctors save lives daily. But yes, on the daily grind, we TV actors slog even more than the doctor"

"I might have become a doctor, but I did not want to study those thick books. You need to invest five years to complete the studies, then comes the internship and the house job(residency)," added he

Iqbal is not worried about adding masala to give long legs to a limited seresi " We Indians have loads of such stuff to add melodrama, but our producer and the entire team will not do anything which will take away from the original premise. "

  

Iqbal has no problem with the longish format of desi TV;" we need to be thankful to God for the opportunity and do our best," says he

In closing, Iqbal says the biggest challenge for him during the shoot is the high emotional quotient of my character," who is always caring about others. It gets draining to maintain that level day in and day out, but then that is our job as actors to add life to any charcter."

We wish Iqbal all the best for yet another exciting outing in his long, distinguished career. 

Dr. Aarambhi descending into yet another saas- bahu tearjerker?

 Honest admission,  dil vs dimag debate 

Whenever I watch Dr Aarambhi's show on Color's TV, my blood boils because the makers had a lovely chance to make a classy medical show interspersed with women's empowerment tropes, as in the K-drama Dr Cha.

   But unfortunately, our desi makers have reduced this  Aishwarya Khare-led effort into yet another suffering bahu trope. Aarambhi seems to be the most troubled woman on Mother Earth. 

 The lead in Dr Cha too faced a cheating husband, indifferent kids, and an evil MIL, yet it still felt like a human drama. We do meet bad people.   But the FL fought for herself, not just took crap.

There is no saving grace in Vishwas ( Aditya   Redijj); on the other hand, the Korean hubby had some human elements.

Had the story been more multifaceted, it would have given Aishwarya, many more chances to showcase her varied acting chops rather than just one emotion.

  But here's the rub: Aarambhi has opened well, so it means audiences like it. We're in a business, so profit trumps everything.

 So now the makers will further delay the empowerment, and we can't blame them either. Why kill a milch cow?

 The powers that be are right in their thinking that doubting Thomases, like me, dont have numbers behind us. We may cry to the heavens about "decaying" content, yet we are not numerically enough to make any attempt to go beyond the pale.

   There is a lot of money riding on every show, and it's not a vanity effort to please a niche crowd.

 

  If there were a genuine demand for a change show like Anupamaa, it would not be a hit.

 Sony has attempted to change its med drama. Dhadkan  Zindagi was half different. The underlying theme was still women facing a lopsided system; it was an attempt to push evolution, but it did not work.

  Audiences need to accept small incremental changes. Rome was not built in a day.

We touched base with  Aishwarya about the same, and this is what she had to say

I feel that people tend to forget that it's a long-term concept, not a finite series. Things open slowly, is what I feel, and yes, there's trp pressure every week, so each week needs a high point.

Teja- Surbhi Psycho Saiyaan fracas help drive conversation toward the show - producer Saurabh Tewari

 Ever since the news broke that Tejasswi Prakash refused a joint interview with her new Amazon MX show, Psycho Saiyaan co-star Surbhi Chandna, all hell has broken loose between the fandoms, with both at each other's throats.

  Teja fans wonder why their favourite is having a joint interview with someone who only appears in the final episode. Surbhi fans take it as an affront to their stan cred.

   In this situation, we spoke to the producer Saurabh Tewari about the same and quoted verbatim.

Both are brilliant performers. I loved working with both. Any amount of PR is good for the show. In today's crowded market, where multiple shows launch every week, people are talking about the show for its on-screen drama and off-screen tension.

  We dont want to decode what the producer said, fans are free to interpret as they wish

But suffice to say, any buzz on or off screen does help, and in today's attention-deficit viewer ecosystem, any buzz that fires the fandom ideally should lead to more views

Surbhi, on her part, called the situation unfortunate but refused to comment (smart answer). So far, Teja has kept her counsel.

Will Saurabh's answer end the debate or inflame the matter further?

Psycho Saiyaan, which has just dropped on OTT, is a romantic thriller with a political angle, starring Ravi Kishan, Anud Singh Dhakka, Ashwini Kalsekar,, Tejasswi, and Surbhi.

  Surbhi might play a pivotal role in season 2 if it happens. Saurabh has spoken well about both his casts. 

Talks are on for CID 3- Shivaji Satam

 There might be good news for CID fans: your favourite crime show might return for a third season. According to sources, talks are on between the production house (Banijay Asia), the channel (Sony TV and Netflix), and the concerned actors. 

 When we spoke to veteran actor  Shivaji Satam( ACP Pradyuman), he confirmed that talks are on;" We are ready. Once we get the go-ahead, we will land up on set."

  He rejected the March shoot talk as a rumour;" It might take a couple of months, or even more, as a lot of preparation is needed. "

 "We also need to work out a date with Dayanand Shetty( Inspector  Daya), who has turned producer, so if everything works out, CID 3 might go on the floor with the rains."

 Shivajaji further refused to comment on ratings;"  These technical/financial things are the production house and the channel's remit. As an actor, for me, my barometer is the public; even today, school kids rush up to me for autographs and selfies 

  It is no small feat to remain relevant for over 25 years. Here, I will credit God for having given me a blessing and a team that alway has each other's back.   We are like family."

 In closing, Shivaji missed his dear friend and former producer, BP  Singh, who is currently unwell.

"Everyone remembers him as DCP Chitorole; his facial expression was really funny. I remember telling him, BP, you aren't overdoing it, but he would always say, I am catering to Indians, not Hollywood," and was he right? No wonder our show is a classic hit not only in  India but even overseas, courtesy Netflix."

 CID first started in 1998 and ran uninterrupted till 2018 on Sony TV. It then returned in late 2024 for a second season, running until 14th  December 2025.