Diya Aur Baati Hum


Diya Aur Baati Hum is an Indian television soap opera that aired on StarPlus from 29 August 2011 to 10 September 2016 comprising 1,487 episodes. It was produced under Shashi Sumeet Productions starring Anas Rashid and Deepika Singh.
Set on the backdrop of Pushkar, Rajasthan, Diya Aur Baati Hum focused on breaking the stereotypical image of women in rural India by showing the inspirational journey of Sandhya Rathi, whose ambition is to become an IPS officer. She achieves her goal with the help of her husband, Sooraj, by going against all odds.
A sequel series, Tu Sooraj Main Saanjh, Piyaji starring Rhea Sharma and Avinesh Rekhi, aired from 3 April 2017 to 1 June 2018.

Plot

Ambitious and educated, Sandhya Kothari aspires to fulfill her dream of being an IPS officer for her father Arvind. Sooraj Rathi, a partially-educated and simple young master-confectioner is the perfect elder heir to his middle-class traditional family in Pushkar, Rajasthan. Later, Sandhya is shattered as her parents die in a terrorist attack. Her brother Ankur fixes her marriage to Sooraj whose strict mother, Santosh, wants a simple and uneducated daughter-in-law, with the excellent skills of a housewife. So, Ankur lies about Sandhya's education level and hides the truth about Sooraj to her.
Giving up her education and dreams, Sandhya marries Sooraj. Learning the truth about Ankur's lies Sandhya is disappointed and her distant behaviour confuses Sooraj. Despite initial struggles she gradually bonds with Sooraj seeing his Kind and patient nature. As soon as her truth of being educated and not knowing household skills is revealed, Santosh hates her. Sooraj stands up for her and vows to help Sandhya become the daughter-in-law Santosh wants. Sandhya goes through many troubles but manages to win Santosh's acceptance and with time falls in love with Sooraj. She helps Sooraj win an international cooking competition in Singapore and manages to save Pushkar from a terrorist attack. She forgives Ankur who in order to rectify his mistake helps Sooraj learn about Sandhya's IPS dreams. Despite Santosh being against it Sooraj helps her complete her studies and after facing various challenges manages to convince Santosh to accept her dreams.
Sandhya faces challenges in IPS Academy, establishing as an extraordinary police officer. She struggles to balance between her professional duties and domestic responsibilities but with Sooraj help she is successful. Together with Sooraj, Sandhya forms a relationship with underlying love which is put to test after battling Raj Kumar but emerge victorious. She donates one of her kidneys to Santosh battling for life after the attack, a fact which the family later learns. Ankur's daughter Bulbul greatly wishes for a sibling but his wife Ankita miscarries and is unable to conceive again. Sandhya, expecting twins, decides to give their one twin to Ankita. Eventually, she delivers twin sons Ved and Vansh who get kidnapped. In the rescue, Ved is saved and the unfound Vansh is presumed dead, shattering all. A police officer saves and returns Vansh though promptly. Ankur ends his relationship with Sandhya and takes Vansh with him feeling that Vansh can never be truly theirs otherwise.

7 years later

Sandhya, Sooraj and Ved live happily. They cross paths with Vansh who studies in the same school as Ved. Bulbul who is unaware of the past attempts to reunite the families after realizing the truth and with the help of Santosh is successful. Ankur realizes his mistakes and reunites with Sandhya. As Sooraj dreams of opening a big hotel and works for it with Sandhya, she is appointed for an extremely perilous mission Mahabhali, to defeat a dangerous terrorist in his territory in West Bengal, faking her identity as Sagarika. Sandhya leaves and enacts to be presumed dead in a train accident. Sooraj loses his dreams and mental stability due to this shock. Due to his condition, Santosh starts hating Sandhya.
Santosh wants Sooraj to marry Laalima Agarwal, who she believes will be able to help him recover. Sandhya battles with the difficulties of Mahabhali and finally sabotages their plan, but her identity is exposed. The terrorists capture and almost torture her to death. Sooraj finds out Sandhya is alive, and joins her on the mission to help. They complete the mission and return home. Santosh refuses to forgive Sandhya and Laalima who has fallen in love with Sooraj lies that she is his wife.
Eventually Sooraj and Sandhya's love wins and Santosh forgives her. Sooraj reveals to Laalima that he knew her truth all along but didn't expose her as he respects her greatly leading to Laalima realizing her mistakes. Later, Sooraj's youngest brother Mohit is killed after attempting to molest Laalima by Santosh. With the help of women's rights activists, Sandhya bails her out. The Rathi family celebrate Laalima and Pramod's wedding.
Santhosh hates Pakistan because of a tragic accident on the border which took her younger brother's life when they were children. Not knowing Arzoo is from Pakistan, she fixes her alliance with Aryan. At first, Sandhya suspects Arzoo of being a terrorist.
Later, Sandhya not only saves Arzoo from the terrible misunderstanding but also helps her get accepted by Santosh. Sandhya and Sooraj battle superstition and later help expose Poorvi's crimes. Sooraj meets with an accident and gets stuck in a wheelchair. Sandhya decides to run his confectionery shop by leaving her job, much to Sooraj, and the family's displeasure.
As Sandhya delivers a daughter named Kanak, Sooraj overcomes his disability and is able to walk to run his shop. Sandhya gets a proposal from commissioner and joins the police again before meeting IPS Arpita Khanna, who considers Sandhya as her rival at first but later becomes among her best allies and assists her in solving various cases.
Soon, Vansh discovers the truth about his birth parents but hates them for giving him away. Four terrorists kill Ankur and Ankita and also take the residents of the Rathis' neighborhood hostage, including them. Sandhya and Sooraj bravely rescue the civilians.
Upon seeing his parents' selflessness and courage, Vansh forgives them and the family is reunited, but not for long. Sandhya and Sooraj unsuccessfully try a trap for the terrorists and punish them. The leader kidnaps Kanak and makes Sandhya and Sooraj eat bomb pills.
Sandhya and Sooraj bid their farewell to family and others by jumping into the river before exploding. Sandhya's mangal sutra and Sooraj's chain becomes entangled in the water before the setting Sun, highlighting that even death cannot separate them.

Cast

Main

  • Deepika Singh as IPS Sandhya Rathi : Arvind and Kanchan's daughter; Ankur's sister; Sooraj's wife; Ved, Vansh and Kanak's mother
  • Anas Rashid as Sooraj Rathi: Arun and Santosh's eldest son; Vikram, Mohit and Chavvi's brother; Aryan' adoptive brother; Om's cousin; Sandhya's husband; Ved, Vansh and Kanak's father
  • * Runav Shah as Toddler Sooraj
  • Neelu Vaghela as Santosh "Bhaboo" Rathi: Arun's wife; Sooraj, Vikram, Mohit and Chhavi's mother; Aryan's adoptive mother; Mishri, Pari, Golu, Ved, Vansh and Kanak's grandmother.

    Recurring

  • Ashok Lokhande as Arun "Bhabasa" Rathi: Santosh's husband; Sooraj, Vikram, Mohit and Chhavi's father; Aryan's adoptive father; Mishri, Pari, Golu, Ved, Vansh and Kanak's grandfather
  • Rakesh Kukreti as Arvind Kothari: Kanchan's husband; Ankur and Sandhya's father; Bulbul, Ved, Vansh and Kanak's grandfather
  • Surbhi Tiwari as Kanchan Kothari: Arvind's wife; Ankur and Sandhya's mother; Bulbul, Ved, Vansh and Kanak's grandmother
  • Devyansh Tapuriah as Ved Rathi: Sooraj and Sandhya's elder son; Vansh and Kanak's brother; Bulbul, Mishri, Pari, Golu and Sparsh's cousin
  • Ricky Patel as Vansh Rathi: Sooraj and Sandhya's younger son; Ankur and Ankita's foster son; Ved and Kanak's brother; Bulbul, Mishri, Pari, Golu and Sparsh's cousin
  • Kiara Bhatt as Kanak Rathi: Sooraj and Sandhya's daughter; Ved and Vansh's sister; Bulbul, Mishri, Pari, Golu and Sparsh's cousin
  • Gautam Gulati / Abeer Singh Godhwani as Vikram Rathi: Santosh and Arun's second son; Sooraj, Mohit and Chhavi's brother;Aryan's adoptive brother; Om's cousin; Meenakshi's husband; Mishri and Golu's father /
  • Kanika Maheshwari as Meenakshi "Meena" Rathi: Uma's daughter; Sudha's sister; Vikram's wife; Mishri and Golu's mother.
  • Reem Sheikh as Mishri Rathi: Vikram and Meenakshi's daughter; Golu's sister; Pari, Ved, Vansh, Sparsh and Kanak's cousin.
  • Sadhil Kapoor / Kiran Mohnani as Golu Rathi: Vikram and Meenakshi's son; Mishri's brother; Pari, Ved, Vansh, Sparsh and Kanak's cousin.
  • Varun Jain as Mohit Rathi: Santosh and Arun's youngest son; Sooraj, Vikram and Chhavi's brother; Aryan's adoptive brother; Om's cousin; Emily's first husband; Pari's father
  • Ragini Shah as Krishna Rathi : Dado Sa's wife; Matriarch of Rathi family; Arun's mother; Sooraj, Vikram, Om, Mohit and Chhavi's grandmother; Mishri, Pari, Golu, Ved, Vansh, Sparsh and Kanak's great-grandmother
  • Pooja Singh as Emily Rathi : David and Angela's daughter; Mark's sister; Mohit's widow; Om's second wife; Pari's mother; Sparsh's step-mother
  • Drisha Kalyani as Pari Rathi: Emily and Mohit's daughter; Om's step-daughter; Sparsh's step-sister; Mishri, Golu, Ved, Vansh and Kanak's cousin
  • Abhinav Shukla as Om Rathi: Sooraj, Vikram, Mohit and Chhavi's cousin; Poorvi's ex-husband; Emily's husband; Sparsh's father; Pari's step-father
  • Pooja Sharma as Poorvi Rathi: Om's ex-wife; Sparsh's mother.
  • Advait Adi as Sparsh Rathi: Om and Poorvi's son; Emily's step-son; Pari's step-brother; Mishri, Golu, Ved, Vansh and Kanak's cousin
  • Sehrish Ali as Chhavi Rathi: Santosh and Arun's daughter; Sooraj, Vikram, Mohit's sister; Om's cousin; Aryan's adoptive brother; Dilip's ex-wife
  • Randeep Rai / Kunal Khosla as Aryan "Chotu" Rathi: Rathis' adopted son; Arzoo's husband
  • * Aryan Sharma as Teenage Aryan "Chotu" Rathi
  • Prachi Tehlan as Arzoo Rathi: Resham's granddaughter; Aryan's wife
  • Abhijeet Sooryvanshe as Ashutosh Aggrawal: Sandhya's contestant
  • Rashmi Pitre as Chaturi: Rathi family's former household help, Bholaram's wife
  • Deepak Gheewala as Mr. Rathi : Maa Sa's husband; Arun's father; Sooraj, Vikram, Om, Mohit and Chhavi's grandfather; Mishri, Pari, Golu, Ved, Vansh, Sparsh and Kanak's great-grandfather
  • Varun Khandelwal as Ankur Kothari: Kanchan and Arvind's son; Sandhya's brother; Ankita's husband; Bulbul's father; Vansh's foster father
  • Urmila Nimbalkar / Shubha Uplopwar as Ankita Kothari: Ankur's wife; Bulbul's mother; Vansh's foster mother
  • Shivshakti Sachdev as Bulbul Kothari: Ankur and Ankita's daughter; Ved, Vansh and Kanak's cousin
  • * Lavneet Rajput as Child Bulbul Kothari
  • Pubali Sanyal as Angela D'Souza: David's wife; Emily and Mark's mother; Pari's grandmother
  • Lavin Gothi as Mark D'Souza: David and Angela's son; Emily's brother; Pari's uncle
  • Urmila Sharma as Daisaa: Rathi's neighbour and Santosh friend; Kanha's grandmother
  • Kanishka Soni as Kavita: Daisaa's daughter-in-law; Kanha's mother
  • Ruchi Savarn as Preeti: Sandhya's friend
  • Nupur Alankar as Kisna: Sooraj and Sandhya's matchmaker
  • Helly Shah as Shruti: Chhavi's friend
  • Kiran Bhargava as Malti Agarwal: Owner of the night college where Sandhya studied
  • Gulfam Khan as Uma: Meenakshi and Sudha's mother; Mishri and Golu's grandmother
  • Lahiru Dilshan Dharmasena as Sri lankan chef : Sooraj's friend at worlds best cook competition in Singappore
  • Sneha Verma as Sudha: Uma's daughter; Meenakshi's sister
  • Gaurav Sharma as Rajkumar: Maya's brother; A terrorist
  • Satyam Seth as Dilip: Chhavi's ex-husband
  • Pallavi Rao as Kajri
  • Eijaz Khan as Abhimanyu Singh
  • Preeti Chaudhary as Kavita Sharma: Sooraj ex-fiancé, former politician
  • Charu Asopa as Roma Reddy: Sandhya's former friend, Rahul's ex-girlfriend,Terrorist
  • Alan Kapoor as IPS Rahul Kapoor: Sandhya's friend, Roma's ex-boyfriend
  • Keith Sequeira as Officer Roy
  • Vindhya Tiwari as Prema: Terrorist
  • Jyoti Sharma as Disha: Terrorist
  • Gurdeep Kohli as Maya / Baijii: Rajkumar's sister; The terrorist leader who hijacks the plane
  • Arjun Punj as IPS Arjun Chaudhary
  • Sonam Lamba as Shalu: One of the passengers in the hijacked plane
  • Manini Mishra as Officer Agrima Singh: Sandhya's former mentor
  • Neil Bhatt as IPS Zakir Siddiqui: Sandhya and Sooraj's best friend.
  • Jiten Lalwani as National Investigation Bureau officer Bharat Kapoor
  • Rituraj Singh as Mahendra Singh: Kabaddi Coach of Sooraj and his team
  • Ridhi Dogra as Kabaddi Coach Aditi: Sooraj's teacher
  • Jignesh Mehta as Avinash: One of the players in Sooraj's Kabbadi team
  • Vicky Arora as Ratan: One of the players in Sooraj's Kabaddi team
  • Banty Chopra as Lakhan: One of the players in Sooraj's Kabaddi team
  • Sandeep Nahar as Babban: One of the players in Sooraj's Kabaddi team
  • Arun Singh Rana as Prem: Sooraj's Kabaddi Team Captain
  • Aadesh Chaudhary as Chandrashekhar: Leader of terrorist group Garjana Sangh
  • Bharat Singh Jadon as Ashok
  • Amit Dolawat as Himanshu Dubey: Manjari's son
  • Ekta Tiwari as Devi Narayani
  • Vaishali Thakkar as Manjari: Himanshu's mother
  • Shalini Arora as Yashoda
  • Shefali Sharma as Laalima Agarwal: Lokesh's sister; Sooraj's ex-fiancé; Pramod's wife
  • Akshay Batchu as Lokesh Agarwal: Laalima's brother
  • Sarwar Ahuja as IPS Satyadev Tripathi: Head investigator of Mohit's murder case
  • Joyoshree Arora as Resham: Arzoo's grandmother
  • Rukhsar Rehman as Mehak
  • Deepraj Rana as Gul Mohammad
  • Anshul Trivedi as Amit
  • Vishal Jethwa as Chhota Packet: The leader of the terrorist group who subjugate Hanuman street
  • Rishina Kandhari as Arpita Khanna: Sandhya's co-officer
  • Akhil Kataria as PP
  • Ashish Chaudhary as Jimmy