Overview
Bade Achhe Lagte Hain is an Indian Hindi-language television drama franchise produced by Balaji Telefilms, the production house founded by Ekta Kapoor and Shobha Kapoor. The franchise centres on the romantic and married life of a middle-aged couple, an unusual premise for Indian prime-time soap opera, which traditionally focuses on younger protagonists or joint-family conflicts. The title is drawn from the popular Hindi film song "Bade Achhe Lagte Hain" from the 1976 film Balika Badhu.
Key facts
| Genre | Romantic drama, family drama |
|---|---|
| Original language | Hindi |
| Country of origin | India |
| Producer | Balaji Telefilms (Ekta Kapoor, Shobha Kapoor) |
| Original network | Sony Entertainment Television |
| First series premiere | 30 May 2011 |
| First series finale | 10 July 2014 |
| Second series premiere | 30 August 2021 |
| Lead pair (Series 1) | Ram Kapoor and Sakshi Tanwar |
| Lead pair (Series 2) | Nakuul Mehta and Disha Parmar |
Background
By the late 2000s, Indian general entertainment channels were dominated by saas-bahu sagas centred on younger brides and joint-family power struggles. Balaji Telefilms, which had defined that genre with shows such as Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi and Kahaani Ghar Ghar Kii, sought to reposition itself with a story focused on adult romance, late marriage, and companionship. The result was Bade Achhe Lagte Hain, conceived around the courtship and arranged marriage of Ram Kapoor, a wealthy Mumbai businessman in his early forties, and Priya Sharma, an unmarried schoolteacher in her late thirties.
Series 1 (2011–2014)
The original series premiered on Sony Entertainment Television on 30 May 2011. It starred Ram Kapoor as Ram Kapoor and Sakshi Tanwar as Priya Sharma, with a supporting cast that included Chetan Hansraj, Ali Asgar, Amita Udgata, Shahbaz Khan, Achint Kaur and others playing members of their extended families. The narrative began with Ram and Priya being introduced through a marriage proposal arranged by their families, and progressed through their initial discomfort, growing affection, marriage, and subsequent domestic and business conflicts. Later seasons of the show introduced their daughter Pihu and explored a generational time leap.
The pairing of Ram Kapoor and Sakshi Tanwar was widely credited with the show's success and became one of the most recognised on-screen couples on Indian television in the early 2010s. The series ran for over 700 episodes before concluding on 10 July 2014.
Series 2 (2021–2022)
A second installment, often referred to as Bade Achhe Lagte Hain 2, premiered on Sony Entertainment Television on 30 August 2021. It was again produced by Balaji Telefilms and featured a fresh lead pair, Nakuul Mehta as Ram Kapoor and Disha Parmar as Priya Sood. While retaining the central conceit of an arranged marriage between mature, established professionals in Mumbai, the second series rebooted the storyline with new characters and family backgrounds rather than continuing the original narrative. The show concluded in late 2022.
Series 3 (2024)
A third installment, Bade Achhe Lagte Hain 3, was produced by Balaji Telefilms and premiered in 2024 with Nakuul Mehta reprising a Ram-named lead role opposite Terence Lewis and a new female lead. The third series likewise rebooted the premise rather than continuing earlier storylines.
Production and themes
The franchise is notable within Indian television for several reasons:
- It centred its romantic narrative on protagonists older than the genre's norm, with the original Series 1 leads portraying characters in their late thirties and early forties.
- It depicted post-marital romance, sexuality and emotional intimacy between a married couple in a manner more explicit than was typical for Hindi prime-time television at the time of its first run.
- It was set largely in an upper-middle-class urban Mumbai milieu, with corporate and domestic settings rather than the rural or feudal-haveli backdrops favoured by many contemporaneous serials.
Reception and significance
The original series achieved strong viewership ratings on Sony Entertainment Television and contributed to the channel's prime-time line-up during the early 2010s. Ram Kapoor and Sakshi Tanwar received multiple Indian Television Academy Awards and Star Parivaar Awards nominations and wins for their performances. The show is frequently cited in Indian television criticism as a notable example of a successful soap opera built around mature romance, and it influenced subsequent attempts by Hindi general entertainment channels to develop content for older protagonists.