(From left) Srishty Rode, Karan V. Grover and Rubina Dilaik at the launch of Punarvivaah (Sudeshna Banerjee)

If you have missed a couple of episodes in between, you are likely to be surprised on tuning in this week to Punarvivaah, Zee TV’s popular soap on remarriage. There is no Yash, no Aarti, none of the Sindhias. Instead, settling down in their house in Bhopal are the unfamiliar Sarita and Raaj.

What happened? Well, the channel has taken the novel step of concluding the story that ran for 325 episodes since February 2012 but retaining the title for a new story with a fresh cast which is shooting on the same set on Mumbai’s Mira Road.

“We had launched punarvivaah (remarriage) as a theme and done a lot to generate public debate on the issue. We feel there is more to be said on the subject. But since the story of Yash (Gurmeet Chaudhary) and Aarti (Kratika Sengar) has reached its logical conclusion, we did not want to drag it,” says Ajay Bhalwankar, the channel’s content head.

So Yash hands over the keys of the house to a certain Sarita as the packers take away the Sindhia family’s belongings to another city where they are supposed to shift. “We are not replacing Yash and Aarti. We are not competing with them,” chorus the new leads of Punarvivaah. Their characters may be new names but they are familiar faces for TV soap audiences.

The new story is of Divya, a popular television actress who has placed her career and responsibilities to her family over her love. Her spurned love Raaj has settled down with the girl chosen by his family, resulting in a loveless marriage. The neglected wife is Sarita. “This experiment might start a trend of shows having new seasons,” says Bhalwankar.

Rubina Dilaik, better known to Zee audiences as chhoti bahu in the soap of the same name, returns as Divya. Karan V. Grover, the endearing Karan of Yahaan Main Ghar Ghar Kheli, is Raaj who is married to Sarita played by Srishty Rode, the intrepid Shobha of Zee’s quasi-historical saga Shobha Somnath Ki.

Sudeshna Banerjee

Punarvivaah airs Monday to Friday at 10.30pm on Zee TV