Iss Pyaar Ko Kya Naam Doon?

Iss Pyaar Ko Kya Naam Doon? is the story of Arnav Singh Raizada and Khushi Kumari Gupta. Arnav and Khushi come from two different worlds. Arnav is the shrewd and suave owner of AR Designs while Khushi is the daughter of a humble halwai. When their paths cross, their lives change forever. 


Khushi Kumari Gupta is a simple girl with simple dreams. She will do anything to make her family. Her family is all that matters to her. She is a bubbly, fun-loving character. Even though she is young, she is mature beyond her years. She is the adopted daughter of Shashi and Garima. After Garima's sister and bother-in-law pass away in a car accident, Garima and Shashi adopt Khushi. She is forever thankful that she has parents like Sashi and Garima who love her so dearly. Khushi also has an older sister, Payal, who she considers as her closest confidant. They are more like friends than sisters. 


Arnav Singh Raizada is an arrogant and shrewd businessman. He believes that money is everything. He believes that the best way to motivate people to get things done is by offering them riches. He is a cold-hearted individual. Feelings mean nothing to him. The only person he loves dearly is his older sister Anjali. During Anjali's wedding, their mother commits suicide. Soon after, their father too commits suicide. The death of their parents, brings them together and forces Arnav to become the way he is. After the death of their parents, Arnav and Anjali are sent to live with their maternal grandmother.  They live in the Raizada mansion in Delhi with their maternal grandmother, uncle and cousin.


Arnav and Khushi meet for the first time in Lucknow. Arnav's company plans a huge fashion show to showcase their designs. Due to a misunderstanding, Arnav thinks Khushi has been sent to ruin his show by a rival. He has her locked in a room till the fashion show ends. Later, he questions her hoping to find out who sent her and why. She tells him that she has nothing to do with his show and came to the venue for another reason. She tells him that her sister is getting married and that she has some important works to do. It so happens that Payal's fiance and his mother are living in the same hotel where Arnav's company staged the fashion show. On the eve of the wedding, Payal's fiance's mother asked for an enormous dowry. Khushi hoped to speak to Payal's fiance before the wedding to straighten things out. But because she was locked in a room by Arnav's men she wasn't able to speak to Payal's fiance and the wedding gets cancelled. 

After Arnav publicly humiliates Khushi, she and her sister are forced to leave Lucknow. They move to Delhi along with their aunt and start looking for work. Khushi meets a man named Shyam in Lucknow who promises to help her find work in Delhi. Once they move to Delhi, he even becomes a paying guest at her aunty's house. He sets up an interview for a secretary for the CEO of a big design firm. When she goes for the interview, she is shocked that her boss is actually Arnav. Arnav constantly humiliates and belittles Khushi and they constantly argue. Finally both of them come to an agreement - If Khushi resigns her job before a certain date, she will have to pay him a huge sum of money. Arnav takes advantage of Khushi's helplessness and makes her do impossible tasks. Khushi is forced to oblige because of the needs of her family. Finally, when Khushi has had it she goes to Arnav's house and yells at him. She quits and tells him that she doesn't owe him anything. 


Khushi is finally glad that she will never have to face Arnav Singh Raizada ever again. But fate had other plans. Arnav's grandmother finds out about his girlfriend. Arnav had a very westernized girlfriend named Lavanya. his grandmother refuses to accept her because of her lack of Indian virtues. Anjali comes up with a plan to bring in Khushi to train Lavanya. When Khushi refuses, Anjali tells her that she will have to pay Arnav a sum because she did not adhere to the terms of their contract. Khushi is hurt and once again forced to work of the Raizadas. Khushi reluctantly starts training Lavanya. She teaches her about the Ramayan and the Mahabharat. She tells her stories about the various Gods and Goddesses. She teaches her different embroidery techniques that are common in Lucknow as Arnav's family is also from Lucknow. She even teaches her how to cook. During this process, Lavanya and Khushi become close friends. Also Arnav starts to realize that Khushi has an effect on him. To hurt Khushi, Arnav declares that he will get engaged to Lavanya. He tells Khushi that she will be in charge of all of his engagement preparations. 

Khushi's aunty is very impressed by Shyam. Shyam is a lawyer and promises to help her with her pension papers. Slowly but surely Khushi's aunty wonders if Shyam would be a good match for Khushi. She tells Khushi's parents about Shyam and tells them about how good he is. When Shashi and Garima come to Delhi, they too are initially impressed by Shyam but soon Sashi becomes suspicious of Shyam. He questions Shyam about his family and doesn't quite trust him. He starts following Shyam and find out that he is married! But before he can tell anyone about Shyam's truth, Shyam hurts him and  nearly kills him. With Shashi's health declining, Khushi is forced to get engaged to Shyam even though she does not love him. Khushi initially keeps the news of her engagement a secret. But when Arnav finds out, he is hurt. He notices that she is not happy and keeps insulting her about it. 

Arnav notices that his cousin, Aaskash, is in love with Khushi's sister Payal. When he tells Khushi about it, they devise a plan to bring Aakash and Payal together. Once they proclaim their love for each other, Arnav and Khushi tell their respective families. Aakash's mother Manorama is not happy with Payal. She always wanted a rich girl to be her daughter-in-law. Finally Arnav convinces her to accept Payal and she agrees for the wedding. The rest of family is very pleased by Aakash's choice and accept Payal whole heartedly. Arnav also apologizes to Payal for breaking up her first wedding. Payal forgives him and thanks his for bringing her and Aakash together.


During the festivities, Khushi finds out that Shyam is married to Anjali. She is shocked by his deceit and is confused by whether or not she should tell the family. She feels like if she tells the Raizadas, Payal will have to face another broken relationship. Payal assures her that if Aakash truly loves her then  he will not break their relationship. Khushi breaks her engagement and decides not to disclose Shyam's truth to the Raizadas. She tells Shyam that she will give him a chance to change. Arnav notices that Khushi is unhappy. Lavanya starts to notice that Arnav cares for Khushi more than he cares for her. She also notices that Khushi too cares for him. She realizes that they are in love. She tells Arnav that she cannot marry him. Arnav too realizes that he was never in love with Lavanya. They break up and Lavanya leaves for London.

Khushi and Arnav become engrossed with wedding preparations. Slowly but surely, Arnav realizes that he is in love with Khushi. Just when he plans to tell her his feelings, he sees Khushi and Shyam together. He misunderstands the situation and thinks that Khushi is having an affair with Shyam. He confronts Shyam. Shyam realizes that he does not know the truth and tells him that he has been having an affair with Khushi. Arnav tries to tell Anjali the truth about Shyam but before her can tell her anything she tells him that she is pregnant. To save Anjali's marriage, he forces Khushi to marry him for 6 months.


After marriage, Arnav treats Khushi very poorly. He constantly insults her and berates her. Khushi cannot understand why Arnav is suddenly behaving so rudely with her. Finally Arnav tells her that he knows about her affair with Shyam. When she tells him the truth, he does not believe her. She promises him that she will find a way to prove her innocence to him. She goes to Shyam and tells him that he has to tell Arnav the truth. Shyam agrees to one condition - he tells Khushi that she has to get Arnav's signatures on some papers. Khushi agrees but Shyam manipulates her into getting Arnav's signatures on a will which states that in the event of Arnav's death all of his property will be given to Shyam. After Khushi gives him the papers, Shyam has Arnav kidnapped. Khushi realizes that Shyam is behind Arnav's kidnapping and sets out to find proof against Shyam. Khushi is able to save Arnav and she reveals the truth to him. Arnav believes her and kicks Shyam out of the house upsetting Anjali.

Shyam does not accept defeat. He finds Arnav's paternal grandmother, Dadiji, and convinces her that Khushi conspired to have him thrown out of the house. He tells her that she should go to the Raizada mansion and set things right for Anjali. So after years of a self-imposed exile, she sets foot into the Raizada mansion. She instantly forms a dislike to Khushi and every one wonders why. She insists that Arnav and Khushi did not get married in a traditional way. She states that until Arnav and Khushi follow all the rituals and rites, Khushi cannot live in the Raizada mansion along with Arnav. So Khushi is forced to leave the Raizada mansion until they formally get married once again. Dadiji helps Anjali secretly meet Shyam. But when she is not able to do anything to bring Shyam back into the house, he devises and devious plan. He purposely leaves a live wire exposed on the stair rails. Anjali hurst herself and touches a live wire. As a result she has a miscarriage and goes into depression. Khushi realizes that Shyam is the only one who can help Anjali get better. She brings him back into the house going against Arnav. Because of Shyam's constant presence, Anjali starts recovering.

Once Anjali starts felling better, Arnav insists that wedding preparations start. Shyam notices that Garima keeps hiding from Dadiji. He later discovers that Arnav's mother committed suicide because of her husband's infidelity. He discovers that Arnav's father had an affair with none other than Garima. He plans to use this newfound knowledge to finally breakup Arnav and Khushi for good. When Dadiji tells Arnav the truth about Garima, he is in shock. He is hurt and confused. But just when Shyam starts to celebrate his victory, Arnav shows up and tells everyone that he wants to marry Khushi. He tells Dadiji that her son was just as wrong as Garima and she shouldn't blame Khushi for what happened. So finally amidst much drama, Arnav and Khushi finally get married. After marriage, Arnav find out that Shyam was responsible for Anjali's miscarriage. Arnav and Khushi expose Shyam to the entire family and he is thrown out of their lives for good.


Just when everything was getting back to normal, Aarav steps into the lives of Khushi and Arnav. Aarav is an 8 year old little boy who is exactly like Arnav in every way. Just like Arnav, Aarav likes to garden and play basketball. He is quiet and does not like wasting his time. Also like Arnav, Aarav likes playing chess and enjoys watching football. Khushi is worried when all the other members of the family keep commenting on their similarity. Aarav's mother, Sheetal happens to be one of Arnav's friends from his university days. Khushi later finds out that Arnav and Sheetal used to date. She wonders if Aarav is Arnav's son. She secretly gets a DNA test done but Arnav finds the results and asks her why she did it. He questions her and she tells him that she trusts him and destroys the results. Later she confronts Sheetal and Sheetal tells her that Aarav is indeed Arnav's son. It is later revealed that Sheetal is not Aarav's mother. Sheetal plans revenge against Arnav and finds Aarav at an orphanage. She trains him to become just like Arnav. When Arnav reveals the truth to the family, Arnav and Khushi decide to adopt Aarav. Towards the end of IPKKND, Khushi goes on a journey of self-discovery. She participates in the Mrs India contest and needless to say she wins it.

I discovered IPKKND a little late. When I started watching the show, it strongly reminded me of Geet. Both shows had simple girls and shrewd businessmen as their main characters. But the similarity ends there. I liked the positivity of Khushi's character. She found happiness in the saddest of situations. She'd be hurt one moment and immediately she'd be smiling again. Barun Sobti and Sanaya Irani became instant superstars after IPKKND. When Barun decided to leave the show, the channel decided to pull the plug on the show and it ended abruptly. I have to say though, towards the end, the story suffered quite a bit. After the Dadiji and Shyam drama, the Sheetal track seemed too be rushed. I have to confess I didn't really watch the show regularly after the whole Mrs. India track started. In fact I was shocked when I found out that IPKKND ended.  A show that gained so much popularity in so little time ended so abruptly. Just goes to show that anything can happen in Telly World!

Let me leave you with the last scene of IPKKND...



Click here to watch snippets of all episodes of Iss Pyaar Ko Kya Naam Doon?

Click here for my Top 10 Favorite Scenes...

Click here to watch the entire series. (Works only for those of you in India)

Click here to read my post about Shyam Manohar Jha aka the Snake...

Click here to watch Iss Pyaar Ko Kya Naam Doon? Ek Jashn...


No comments:

Post a Comment