Pehredaar Piya Ki is an Indian mystery television serial that was broadcast on Sony TV. It premiered on 17 July and ended on 28 August 2017. After the show was cancelled, it is returning with a leap due to controversies revolving around child marriage. It starred Tejaswi Prakash and Affan Khan in the lead roles.
Plot
It follows the life of a young girl Diya, who fulfills the wish of a dying man on his death bed by taking the responsibility of an orphan boy, Ratan Maan Singh, by marrying him. What follows next is a beautiful bond of friendship between the couple and being there for each other in an platonic way. She then becomes the temporary owner of Maan Singh Heritage Group of Hotels until Ratan is old enough to take over.
Restructured series
Public backlash surrounding the underage marriage of 18-year-old Diya to 9-year-old Ratan prompted producer Shashi Sumeet to end the show and to restructure the idea as a new series, Rishta Likhenge Hum Naya. Affan Khan, who played young Ratan, has been replaced by Rohit Suchanti as an older Ratan. After Pehredaar Piya Ki had aired, an online petition to ban the show was signed by more than 1 lakh people to take action against the show as they believed it was promoting child marriage. The case reached the BCCC, who have asked the makers of the show to change the time slot so the kids couldn't watch it and air it to 10 pm slot along with a disclaimer that it does not promote child marriage. Supporters of the show started the petition too against the ban, to stop targeting the show, which was signed by over 13 thousand supporters. The makers of the show, Sumeet Hukamchand Mittal and Shashi Mittal defended their show by clearing the controversies related to the show by calling a press conference at a suburban hotel in Mumbai. On 19 August 2017, a new promo was released by Sony, that starting from 22 August, the show would air at 10:30 pm IST. On 28 August, Sony TV had confirmed that the show has gone off air as the makers were not happy with the late time slot, as the show was meant for particular audience. Instead of continuing with the show, they decided to end it and focus on their new show instead with a renewed story.
The story of the serial is set in Rajasthan. Tejaswi Prakash is seen in the serial as the female lead, an object of affection of a nine-year-old prince. Currently, it is being shot at various location in Rajasthan including Jaipur and Mandawa. In late August, a casting call was released for a recast of Ratan Singh to play the grown up prince in the new show titled Rishta Likhenge Hum Naya. On September 24, it was announced that Rohit Suchanti has replaced child actor Affan Khan.
