The Indian small screen has been entertaining the audience from times immemorial. From a rung of emotions to hidden logical scenarios, they have been around for quite longer than you think. They have successfully glued their viewers emotionally into their slots. The fact that some of these serials have been seamlessly running for years now is it even surprising considering the increase in the number of viewers, fitting into all there barriers, without any particular sequence, we have ten such longest running Hindi TV serials which have been run for generations.
Top 10 Longest Running Hindi TV Serials in India
Balika Vadhu
Installed in the Rajasthan scenario, baika vadhu portrays the scrambled journey of a character, a child bride, named “aanandi”, a journey of atrocities from her childhood to adult hood in a glimpse. Aanandi had to fit herself into the ruthless customs, married off at the mere age of 8. This serial signifies the struggles faced by children who are forced into child marriage and have to face its repulsion the rest of their lives. This hindi TV serial ended at a whooping aisle of 2245 episodes.
Total Episodes: 2245
Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashma
This serial is one of the longest run television shows under the banner of Neela Tele films. It covers relevant social issues in a humorous way. This show stepped the limca book of world record after successfully completing the mark of 1700th episode as the longest running comedy show. The show is based on the column ‘Duniya Ne Oondha Chashma’ written by the journalist Taarak Mehta for a Gujarati weekly magazine called Chitralekha.
Total Episodes: 2956*
Diya Aur Baati Hum
This serial depicted the journey of Sandhya, an aspiring IPS officer, and her husband Sooraj, who supports her ambitions. The show focused on women’s empowerment and familial relationships.
Total Episodes: 1487
Saath Nibhaana Saathiya
This is an emotional Indian drama revolving around two sisters married off to the same Indian household, that is, “the Modi’s”. Despite of being ultimately famous among the Indian audience, the TV show ran for around 1865 episodes, which was the best running show on star plus of that time pertaining to numerous generations it catered around.
Total Episodes: 1865
CID
“CID” was a crime investigation series that kept audiences hooked for two decades with its intriguing mysteries and the tagline “Daya, darwaza tod do” becoming an iconic phrase.
Total Episodes: 1547
Kahaani Ghar Ghar Ki
This is a production under Ekta Kapoor, under the banner of Balaji Tele Films. This TV show is a portrayal of two evident characters Parvati and Om Agarwal, living in a marwadi joint family. They are considered to be the Rama and Sita of the Agarwal family and is based on the struggles they face under the bandwagon of a joint family. This story ends with a sweet note of the winning of good over evil on the auspicious occasion of dusheera, with a count of 1611 episodes in total.
Total Episodes: 1611
Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai
Under the banner of director’s cut production, premiered on the 12th of January 2009, this is the fourth longest running Indian television soap opera. Akshara and Naitik the two main characters get married through an arranged marriage scenario trying to strike their balance through their family values, beliefs and the circumstances prevailed. This TV serial has over 3155 episodes and has also won many awards.
Total Episodes: 3155*
Kyun Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi
This is another production under the banner of balaji tele films. This was aired from 3 July 2000 to 6 November 2008 on star plus. Pertaining to family drama, it revolves over the three daughter in laws who try to control the whole house, which creates chaos for their wise and otherwise kind hearted mother in law “Amba”. This TV show premiered for over 1833 episodes and won the hearts of many of its audience.
Total Episodes: 1833
Sasural Simar Ka
This was aired on the colours TV under the production house of Rashmi Sharma telefilms. The story revolves around the characters, basically of two sisters Vrindavan, Simar and Roli who marry Prem and Siddhant who are the sons of the Bharadwaj respectively, and how they become the perfect daughter-in-laws of Bharadwaj household by managing numerously stiff situations, solving various problems and fighting against the evil who come in defence of their family. This went on for around 2063 episodes and received huge response from the Indian audience.
Total Episodes: 2063
Yeh Hai Mohabbatein
This is an emotional love, drama sequence under the banner of Balaji Telefilms which premiered from the 3rd of December 2003 completing over 1895 episodes. The plot is seemingly based on Manju Kapur’s novel, Custody. This is a love story between Raman and Ishitha. Their bond, struggles and acceptance towards destiny, bought together by a character named Ruhi, who is the daughter from his ex-wife.
Total Episodes: 1895
Kumkum Bhagya
Again under the production house of Balaji Telefilms, we have Kumkum bhagya. It was premiered on the 15th of April 2014 on Zee TV and is still under production (as of 26 July 2020). This is a modern day love story of a humble teacher Pragya and a rock star Abhi who are destined to be together against all odds and under any circumstances. The plot of the TV show focuses on the lives of the two girls, about their dreams, hopes and aspirations as a whole.
Total Episodes: 1622
Uttaran
Aired on the colours TV from the 1st December to the 16th of January 2015, it is one of the longest television series by episode count and the third longest-running Indian television series under the Colours TV banner. Uttaran is a simple plot two friends from different social and economic backgrounds, Ichha Bharti a maid-servant’s daughter, and Tapasya Thakur, the child of a wealthy landlord. Ichha is kind, caring and helpful, while her counterpart Tapasya is spoilt brat, selfish and extremely jealous. This serial has around 1549 episodes in total.
Total Episodes: 1549
In spite of the number of episodes these hindi TV serials have catered to, the fan following under this bandwagon is humongous, some are even under production keeping the larger part of the population entertained. Considering the time span for most of these TV shown, a few of them have also become a legacy, are still watched and adored. We hope you like the curated list of longest running hindi TV serials. Which is your favourite among the list.
