Diya Aur Baati Hum

''Diya Aur Baati Hum'' () is an Indian television soap opera that aired on Star Plus from 29 August 2011 to 10 September 2016 completing 1,487 episodes. Produced under Shashi Sumeet Productions. It starred Anas Rashid and Deepika Singh.

Set on the backdrop of Pushkar, ''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 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.

Giving up her education and dreams, Sandhya marries Sooraj. Soon as her truth of being educated and not knowing cooking is revealed, Santosh banishes her. Sooraj stands up for and vows to help Sandhya in becoming the daughter-in-law Santosh wants. After helping Sandhya complete studies, Sooraj convinces Santosh to accept her dreams. Sandhya faces challenges in IPS Academy, establishing as an extraordinary police officer. She fights terrorist leader Raj Kumar, and struggles to balance between her professional duties and domestic responsibilities.

Together with Sooraj, Sandhya forms a relationship with underlying love. She donates one of her kidneys to Santosh battling for life, a fact which the family later learns. Ankur's daughter Bulbul greatly eagers 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.

7 years later

Sandhya, Sooraj and Ved live happily. They find out Vansh never died and was adopted by Ankur, who planned the past things to keep Vansh with them. 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. Owing 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. Laalima falls in love with Sooraj.

But, Sooraj and Sandhya's love wins and Santosh forgives her as Laalima gives up. Later, Sooraj's youngest brother Mohit is shot to death after attempting to molest Laalima by Santoshi. With the help of women's rights activists, Sandhya bails her out.

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. Sooraj meets with an accident and gets stuck in a wheelchair. Sandhya decides to run his confectionary 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.

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 Kothari Rathi: Arvind and Kanchan's daughter; Ankur's sister; Sooraj's wife; Ved, Vansh and Kanak's mother (2011-2016)
* Anas Rashid as Sooraj Rathi: Arun and Santosh's eldest son; Vikram, Mohit and Chavvi's brother; Sandhya's husband; Ved, Vansh and Kanak's father (2011-2016)

Recurring

* Neelu Vaghela as Santosh "Bhaboo" Rathi: Arun's wife; Sooraj, Vikram, Mohit and Chhavi's mother; Mishri, Pari, Golu, Ved, Vansh and Kanak's grandmother. (2011–2016)
* Ashok Lokhande as Arun "Bhabasa" Rathi: Santosh's husband; Sooraj, Vikram, Mohit and Chhavi's father; Mishri, Pari, Golu, Ved, Vansh and Kanak's grandfather (2011–2016)
* Rakesh Kukreti as Arvind Kothari: Kanchan's husband; Ankur and Sandhya's father; Bulbul, Ved, Vansh and Kanak's grandfather (2011)
* Surbhi Tiwari as Kanchan Kothari: Arvind's wife; Ankur and Sandhya's mother; Bulbul, Ved, Vansh and Kanak's grandmother (2011)
* Devyansh Tapuriah as Ved Rathi: Sooraj and Sandhya's elder son; Vansh and Kanak's brother (2015–2016)
* Ricky Patel as Vansh Rathi: Sooraj and Sandhya's younger son; Ankur and Ankita's adopted son; Ved and Kanak's brother (2015–2016)
* Kiara Bhatt as Kanak Rathi: Sooraj and Sandhya's daughter; Ved and Vansh's sister (2016)
* Gautam Gulati / Karan Godhwani as Vikram Rathi: Santosh and Arun's second son; Sooraj, Mohit and Chhavi's brother; Meenakshi's husband; Mishri and Golu's father (2011–2016)
* Kanika Maheshwari as Meenakshi "Meena" Rathi: Uma's daughter; Sudha's sister; Vikram's wife; Mishri and Golu's mother. (2011–2016)
* Reem Sheikh as Mishri Rathi: Vikram and Meenakshi's daughter; Golu's sister. (2015–2016)
* Sadhil Kapoor / Kiran Mohnani as Golu Rathi: Vikram and Meenakshi's son; Mishri's brother. (2015–2016)
* Varun Jain as Mohit Rathi: Santosh and Arun's youngest son; Sooraj, Vikram and Chhavi's brother; Emily's late husband; Pari's father (2011–2015) (Dead)
* 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 (2016)
* Pooja Sharma as Poorvi Rathi: Om's ex-wife; Sparsh's mother.(2016)
* Advait Adi as Sparsh Rathi: Om and Poorvi's son; Emily's step-son; Pari's step-brother (2016)
* Pooja Singh as Emily D'Souza Rathi: David and Angela's daughter; Mark's sister; Mohit's widow; Om's wife; Pari's mother; Sparsh's step-mother (2013–2016)
*Drisha Kalyani as Pari Rathi: Emily and Mohit's daughter; Om's step-daughter; Sparsh's step-sister (2015–2016)
* Sehrish Ali as Chhavi Rathi: Santosh and Arun's daughter; Sooraj, Vikram, Mohit's sister; Dilip's ex-wife (2011–2016)
* Randeep Rai / Kunal Khosla as Aryan "Chotu" Rathi: Rathis' adoptive son; Arzoo's husband (2015–2016)
** Aryan Sharma as Teenage Aryan "Chotu" Rathi (2011–2015)
* Prachi Tehlan as Arzoo Rathi: Resham's granddaughter; Aryan's wife (2016)
* Abhijeet Sooryvanshe as Ashutosh Aggrawal . He is the strongest contestent of Sandhya Rathi in Game show when Shahrukh khan came for Chennai express movie pramotion.
* Rashmi Pitre as Chaturi: Rathi family's household help (2011–2014; 2016)
* Ragini Shah as Mrs. Rathi (Maa Sa): Dado Sa 's wife; Arun's aunt; Sooraj, Vikram, Om, Mohit and Chhavi's grandmother (2012; 2013–2016)
* Deepak Gheewala as Mr. Rathi (Dado Sa): Maa Sa 's husband; Arun's uncle; Sooraj, Vikram, Om, Mohit and Chhavi's grandfather (2012–2013)

Former cast

* Varun Khandelwal as Ankur Kothari: Kanchan and Arvind's son; Sandhya's brother; Ankita's husband; Bulbul's father (2011–2016) (Dead)
* Urmila Nimbalkar / Shubha Uplopwar as Ankita Kothari: Ankur's wife; Bulbul's mother (2011–2016) (Dead)
* Shivshakti Sachdev as Bulbul Kothari: Ankur and Ankita's daughter (2015)
** Lavneet Rajput as Child Bulbul Kothari (2014–2015)
* Unknown as David D'Souza: Angela's husband; Emily and Mark's father; Pari's grandfather (2013–2014)
* Pubali Sanyal as Angela D'Souza: David's wife; Emily and Mark's mother; Pari's grandmother (2013–2015)
* Lavin Gothi as Mark D'Souza: David and Angela's son; Emily's brother; Pari's uncle (2013)
* Urmila Sharma as Daisaa: Rathi's neighbour; Kanha's grandmother (2011–2016)
* Kanishka Soni as Kavita: Daisaa's daughter-in-law; Kanha's mother (2011–2016)
* Ruchi Savarn as Preeti: Sandhya's friend (2011)
* Nupur Alankar as Kisna: Sooraj and Sandhya's matchmaker (2011)
* Helly Shah as Shruti: Chhavi's friend (2011)
* Kiran Bhargava as Malti Agarwal: Owner of the night college where Sandhya studied (2012)
* Gulfam Khan as Uma: Meenakshi and Sudha's mother; Mishri and Golu's grandmother (2011–2012)
* Sneha Verma as Sudha: Uma's daughter; Meenakshi's sister (2012–2014)
* Gaurav Sharma as Rajkumar: Maya's brother; A terrorist (2012, 2014)
* Satyam Seth as Dilip: Chhavi's ex-husband (2012–2015)
* Pallavi Rao as Kajri (2013)
* Eijaz Khan as Abhimanyu Singh (2013)
* Preeti Chaudhary as Kavita Sharma (2013–2014)
* Charu Asopa as Roma Reddy: Terrorist (2014)
* Alan Kapoor as IPS Rahul Kapoor (2014)
* Keith Sequeira as Officer Roy (2014)
* Vindhya Tiwari as Prema: Terrorist (2014)
* Jyoti Sharma as Disha: Terrorist (2014)
* Gurdeep Kohli as Maya / Baijii: Rajkumar's sister; The terrorist leader who hijacks the plane. (2014)
* Arjun Punj as Shalu: One of the passengers in the hijacked plane (2014)
* Manini Mishra as Officer Agrima Singh (2014–15)
* Neil Bhatt as IPS Zakir Siddiqui: Sandhya's friend; Chhavi's ex-lover (2014–2015)
* Rituraj Singh as Mahendra Singh: Kabaddi Coach of Sooraj and his team (2015)
* Ridhi Dogra as Kabaddi Coach Aditi: Sooraj's teacher (2015)
* Jignesh Mehta as Avinash: One of the players in Sooraj's Kabbadi team (2015)
* Vicky Arora as Ratan: One of the players in Sooraj's Kabaddi team (2015)
* Banty Chopra as Lakhan: One of the players in Sooraj's Kabaddi team (2015)
* Sandeep Nahar as Babban: One of the players in Sooraj's Kabaddi team (2015)
* Arun Singh Rana as Prem: Sooraj's Kabaddi Team Captain (2015)
* Aadesh Chaudhary as Chandrashekhar: Leader of terrorist group Garjana Sangh (Chandu) (2015)
* Bharat Singh Jadon as Ashok (2015–2016)
* Amit Dolawat as Himanshu Dubey: Manjari's son (2015)
* Ekta Tiwari as Devi Narayani (2015)
* Vaishali Thakkar