 Kkusum was the popular daily that used to be aired on Sony Television at 9:00pm and portrayed the life of an ordinary girl struggling against the odds of life. It debuted in the month of May in the year 2001 and ended on 30th November 2005. The depiction of the ideal Indian women who values the interests of their family more than their personal affairs was simply remarkable. The plot of the whole serial revolves around an ordinary girl who hails from a middle class background and whose upbringing has instilled in her the determination to be strong enough to face any adversities in life and at the same time not to loose her self-respect.
The whole story is centered on this girl called Kkusum who upholds family values and dutifully marries a man named Abhay Kapoor who belongs to a rich family. Before the matrimonial alliance she was not aware of the flirtatious nature of her husband and also about the pre-marital flings that she was involved in. She is also married to this guy because she has an auspicious effect of Eternal Luck on him, which will in turn nullify an unlucky, evil effect in the horoscope of Abhay, which might also result in his death. Soon after marriage she finds out that her husband has cheated on her by having an affair with Esha Singhania who happens to be her best friend.Deeply dejected by this incident Kkusum is forced to leave Abhay and stay in her maternal abode. It is at this point in her life that a lovable character named Siddharth enters in her life and she once again finds a purpose for which can live her life. This marks her second birth in the serial. After a considerable span of time Kkusum gets married to Siddharth and makes a happy beginning. She does not have any feelings for him in the initial stages. When she finds that Abhay is trying to get back into her life by forceful means she clings to Siddharth for support and at this time it is his loving support which makes her gain her mental strength and fight against the odds in her life. Abhay at this time is shown as a negative character but gradually begins to change once she finds Kkusum is happily married and would not tolerate any nonsense attitude from him. He no longer tries to ruin their marriage and moves out from their life. Soon after this there is another turning point in this serial when Siddharth unfortunately dies in a tragic car accident. This marks the end of second phase in Kkusum's life and gets remarried to Abhay. Soon after this she looses her child due to a miscarriage and despite to give the family an heir she brings in a Mahi who is a gypsy to be the surrogate mother. Mahi on the other hand feels attracted to Abhay and falls in love with him as well as his riches. She makes circumstances worse by creating lot of misunderstandings and compels Kkusum to leave home. On her way she realizes that she is pregnant but does not draws her steps back. Instead she dedicates the next 18 years of life to bring up her daughter Kumud and inculcate in her the idealistic values. Her mother is her only support at this time. On the other hand Abhay brings up her daughter Kali with the help of Mahi but she grows up to be a spoiled brat. It is Kali who forces Abhay to get remarried to Mahi but destiny again something else stored for him and he comes in face to face with Kkusum. But this time it is a bit too late in life. Kali and Kumud grow up despising each other to the core. Garv and Kshitij appear in the scene at this time. While Kshitij and Kumud fall in love with each other, Garv falls for Kali but she somehow does not show any interest in him in the initial stages.  It is then that Kshitij is detected with brain tumor and he decides to part ways with Kumud, who is already pregnant with his child. On the day of the marriage he comes to know that it was the mistake of the doctor and that the reports of some other person was exchanged with him. She rushes to the marriage spot but then it was too late. Kumud ends up tying the knot with Garv.
This also brings Kali to realization that he has lost Garv forever and she jolts back into the scene to get him back in her life. At this juncture Kkusum was just a helpless visitor watching Kali trying all sorts of evil means to get Garv back while Kumud tries to save her married life. The two sisters again come to loggerheads again and this time Kkusum decides to take charge of the whole situation and bring it back to normal. Strangely in this situation Kkusum also sees Mahi committing suicide and then come back to life after a short span. This is the time when Kkusum is charged for murdering Mahi and while running away from the police hurts herself badly and needs plastic surgery to recover from the bruises. This is the time when a new actress also replaces her. 
The next significant turn comes in this serial when Abhay becomes ill and is reduced to an age of 5 playing and roaming all about like a baby. Seeking the help of a friend called Abhinav, Kkusum takes Abhay to Malaysia to help him recover there but gets trapped in as the person who has the same face and was a serial killer. She is forced to murder a person, which ultimately she does not have to and is relieved from the case. Everything turns out to be right after this until the day they are about to return from Malaysia. She gets caught with drugs in her luggage and is detained in Malaysia with 5 years long imprisonment.
Meanwhile Abhay gets very angry with Kkusum for leaving him at such a crucial stage in his life and he along with her family disowns him for having betrayed him by running away with Abhinav. After this Abhay in extreme rage walks out of his home and crashes his car into a lorry which ultimately brings about his death. When Kkusum returns to India after a span of five years she comes to know the real causes behind it and tries to persuade the family of Abhay and they finally agree. After that Kkusum is diagnosed with a heart problem and gets Kumud remarried soon. She dies in her sleep on the same day. Following this Kumud gives birth to a baby daughter whom they name after Kkusum. Soon after this show comes to an abrupt conclusion and is replaced by another daily.  Nausheen Sardar Ali which infact was also resposible for the sudden fame and recognition of the actor first played the role of Kkusum. She shot to popularity with this daily and later on appeared in many other dailies. The fact that she could relate herself very well to the character helped her a lot in establishing her acting skills in this soap. After Nausheen, the audience saw another two replacements in the lead character of Kkusum, first by Manasi Joshi Roy and then by Shilpa Saklani. This show ran for four long years and had gained a very high TRP. But due to some unavoidable reasons the show was taken off the air in November 2005. It is known from a reliable source that the Balaji Productions decided to call it off because of its falling popularity, although the ratings of this serial were quite high.
According to the actors of this serial this happened to be the turning points of their character. The way the story unfolds, the manner in which each character brought out the joys mingled with pathos, the strong family values and bonding gave the youngsters an altogether different outlook. It has even created a wave in the hearts of the old by the way belief in God and due respect was given to the traditional customs and values. The serial is also remarkable in the way it has depicted the determination and struggle with which the lead character has faced the adversities of life. The tragedies of her life were stated as eternal as one gave way to the other but she never let that ruin her will power. The family values instilled in her were maintained till the last day of her life and she instilled the same in her future generation. Her daughter also followed her footsteps. This serial also reflected a moral lesson and such serials will continue to inspire and enlighten the audiences about the rich culture and traditions of the Indian subcontinent. |
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