1. Plot
    Season 1  Season 2  Seven years after Ranaji and Gayatri's death  12 years later  Several days later  After 4 months  15 years after Rani's death  Season 3 

2. Cast
    Guest appearances 

3. Production
     Development and premiere   Casting 

4. Reception

5. Accolades

6. International broadcast

7. References

8. External links

• Drashti Dhami as Rani Gayatri Devi
• Siddhant Karnick as Rana Indravadan Singh Deo
• Eisha Singh as Rani Rajveer Singh/Naina Rajveer Singh
• Sartaj Gill Kunwar Rajveer Singh/Raj Chauhan
• Priya Tandon as Swarnalekha Lakshyaraj Singh

Ek Tha Raja Ek Thi Rani (English: There Was Once A King, There Was Once A Queen) is an Indian television period drama that officially aired on Zee TV. It premiered on 27 July 2015.^[1][2] The show initially focussed on the love story of Rani Gayatri (Drashti Dhami) and Ranaji (Siddhant Karnick) (Season 1). However, due to the deaths of their characters, the show focussed on Rani (Eisha Singh), their daughter and their son-in law, Raja (Sartaj Gill). However, the character of Rani also died and her look alike was introduced as Naina (also led by Eisha Singh). But again the main characters were killed (Raja and Naina died). But the show retained its main lead as it was shown that Raja and Rani has re-taken births as Raj and Rani respectively.The show went off air on 4 July 2017. The show previously took a seven leap, followed by a 12 years leap, followed by a 4 months leap, followed by 10 years leap and ended by several years leap

Plot

Season 1

Ek Tha Raja Ek Thi Rani is the set in the 1940s. Gayatri is the daughter of a rich zameendar, who is considered manglik by the people. On the other hand, Rana Indravadhan Singh is the king of Amerkot, who is in trauma due to losing his first wife, Rani Sulakshana. Ranaji' mother, Rajmata Priyamvada has a debt to pay with Gayatri's father, so she gives an offer to marry Gayatri & Ranaji. Ranaji unwantedly marries Gayatri.

After marriage, Ranaji and Gayatri slowly start to get together. But then, enters a number of villains like Badi Rani Maa, fake Sulakshana, Avdesh, Rageshowri and so on. Later in the story due to Badi Rani Maa & Rageshowri, Ranaji marries Rageshowri and he loses his memory and forgets Gayatri. To get back Ranaji's love, Gayatri disguises as Savitri. After struggling a lot, she succeeds, and Ranaji gets his memory back.

But the vengeful Badi Rani Maa brings Kaal, a jungle man and he kills Ranaji. Gayatri vows revenge but still she is killed by Badi Rani Maa after giving birth to a baby girl. Rajmata runs away with the baby girl. Ranaji and Gayatri are united in heaven.

Season 2

Seven years after Ranaji and Gayatri's death

Gayatri's and Ranaji's daughter, Rani grows up and she is taken care by Rajmata and Lakhan. She goes to the royal palace to work as a servant and there she befriends Raja, Jeevan and Bindu. Raja and Jeevan are Kaal's sons and Bindu is Swarnalekha and Lakhan's unaware daughter. Kaal has now become the King. But their friendship is broken by the misunderstandings created by Badi Rani Maa. Soon, Raja and Rani get separated during their childhood. Rani leaves Amerkot along with Rajmata after the deaths of Lakhan and his love, Swarnalekha planeed by, BRM.

12 years later

Raja and Rani meet again in college. This time, when Raja meets Rani, he starts to create trouble for her as he believes that Rani was responsible for sending him to a boarding school. Still, their hate doesn't last long and they fall in love. On the day of wedding, Raja finds out that Rani is Ranaji and Gayatri's daughter and they were murdered by Kaal and Badi Rani Maa. Both of them get married.

After marriage, they continue their romance and the villains like Jeevan, Bindu and Badi Rani Maa makes their life difficult. Raja imprisons Kaal and also Badi Rani Maa dies, while trying to kill Rani. Bindu is also arrested.Also Jeevan suicides due to losing his love, Rani. Rani punishes her parent's criminals.

Several days later

Now, Nawaq Iqbal Khan has entered their life bringing a new challenge for Raja and Rani. Iqbal falls for Rani and troubles Raja to separate Rani. He shoots Raja and he falls down a cliff.

After 4 months

Raja returns. He was saved by Bindu. But when Raja returns, he sees Rani and Iqbal together. It is then revealed that Rani is pretending to love Iqbal to avenge for Raja's death unknowing that Raja is actually alive. Meanwhile, Raja plans to seek revenge from Rani and Iqbal and he decides to disguise himself as Angad, Bindu's husband. But Rani soon recognizes him. Iqbal continues to plot against them and finally Raja starts to hate Rani.Iqbal takes Rani along with him in his car to see the weak "Raja". But on seeing the opportunity, Rani started misguiding the car by holding Iqbal's hand who was driving and this lead to cause a fatal accident. Iqbal dies whereas Rani was severely injured and was taken to a nearby hospital where she soon dies. Raja was also there unknowing that Rani was also there. But Raja falls in a bad company of Dons and still thinks that Rani deceived him and he does not know that she is already dead.

15 years after Rani's death

Raja is now a don in Mumbai. A new girl, Naina, who is look-a-like of Rani enters. Raja starts to live with Laila, who is the daughter of a don and Raja has promised that he will take care of Laila. Naina is a junior artist in films and lives with her mother and sister. Raja thinks that Naina is Rani and starts to hate her. Naina, on the other hand, is liked by Vijay, a police. However Raja comes to know that Rani is dead and that Naina is her look-alike but still dislike her as her face reminds her of Rani whom he thinks betrayed him in love. However he realises that Naina is not Rani and start talking normally to him. The show continues with the friendship and love triangle of Naina, Raja and Laila. When, Raja and Laila are about to get married, Raja says he don't want to marry Laila. Naina loves Raja. This makes Laila think that Naina has brainwashed Raja. So she turns negative towards Naina. Naina also encounters Rani's spirit, who wants to unite Naina and Raja and also wants to tell Raja that she was innocent and loved only him not Iqbal. Naina succeeds in telling Raja that Rani was innocent and truly loved him and she had sacrificed her life for him by dying. Raja starts liking Naina.

Also, Vijay tries to rape Naina and he breaks her legs. Raja and Vijay have a fight, where Vijay is stabbed by Trishula of Goddess Durga. But Laila makes a fake news that Naina is characterless. To protect Naina, Raja marries her. This makes Laila to hate Naina.

Laila decides to avenge Raja and Naina. The atrocities range from pushing Naina into the well to leaving her alone in a lake full of crocodiles. In the end, Laila dies.

Raja thinks he's getting a fresh start in his life and starts loving Naina and takes her on a honeymoon to Goa. Here, he meets Rani's spirit who now become Rani's ghost and has turned dark. Rani wants Raja back and is ready to do anything for it. Raja asks Naina to pack and they leave only to find Rani at their home. It is shown that Rani is working under Badi Rani Maa's spirit(BRM). BRM laters reveals that since her body was not cremated, her baba gifted her a new body. She is a dakini now.

All the inhabitants of the palace come to know of the return of Rani and BRM. All their efforts to send Rani back are in vain. Finally, after a lot of suffering, Rani is told by Raja that she means a lot to him. That he married Naina with her permission and would die and come with her. This makes Rani to attain salvation. They also manage to trick BRM into believing that Rajmata burnt herself alive. Upon finding the truth, BRM comes back and manages to kill both Raja and Naina. But she slips and touches their blood causing her to lose her powers.

Baba tells Rajmata that Raja-Rani will return to prove that nothing is stronger than the power of true love.

Season 3

Soon it comes true by showing that Raja and Rani has re-taken birth as Raj-Rani respectively.

Raj is appointed the bodyguard of Rani much to her dislike. She tries to send him out of the house but fails to do so. When her marriage to Kundan is fixed, she asks Raj to kidnap her. He also happens to be controlled by Anandi (Rani's bua). During this time, Raj-Rani end up at Ameerkot and Rani feels a connection to the place. She finds Rani Gayatri's (Dhrasti Dhami) diary and pursues Raj. But Raj denies love for her. Raj is then told to kill Rani to save his brother Dev held captive by Anandi. Raj confesses this to Rani but does not reveal Anandi's name.

At home, Rani fakes her marriage to Raj and eventually manages to save both Raj and Dev. It is revealed that Anandi also killed her brother, Rani's father. Rani tells Suminda that she will marry Kundan. Anandi has come out of jail. Kundan wishes to get Rani's money for his London life and plans to leave her behind while Anandi wants Rani's property. Rani has also signed the papers.

But Raj has come to know that Kundun was pretending so he told Rani but Rani doesn't understood him.Raj then reveals the truth of Kundun.Rani's mother thanks Raj and on the other hand Rani and Raj fall in love with each other.Rani's mother gives three months to Raja to claim that he loves Rani.Rani again wants to go to Ameerkot and forces Raj to accompany her.They saw Baari Maa along with a picture of (Raja and Rani).They get shocked and saw the picture to Rani's mother and they got panic that what is happening.Suddenly Rajmata came there and tell that this is ponarjanam of Raja and Rani.

Cast

• Drashti Dhami as Gayatri/Rani Gayatri Devi / Savitri (Dead) (Season 1) (2015–16)^[3][4]
• Siddhant Karnick as Maharaja Sir Sawai (Rana Indravadan Singh Deo)(Dead) (Season 1) (2015–16)^[5]
• Eisha Singh as Rani Rajveer Singh, Rani Gayatri and Ranaji's daughter (née Rani Gayatri Devi)/Rani Chauhan (Rani 's second birth)/Naina Rajveer Singh (Rani look's alike) (Seasons 2–3) (2016–17)^[6][7]
• Sartaj Gill as Raj/Raja/Kunwar Rajveer Singh, Rani's husband and Rani Gayatri and Ranaji's son in-law (Seasons 2–3) (2016–17)
• Anita Raj as Rajmata Priyamvada Devvadan Singh Deo (Seasons 1–3) (2015–17)
• Surekha Sikri as Badi Rani Maa Bhagyavanti Singh Deo and her spirit (Dakini) (Seasons 1–3) (2015–17)
• Moon Banerrjee as Sethani Damyanti Devi, Gayatri's mother (Season 1) (2015–16)
• Anjum Fakih as Rani Rageshwari Singh 3rd Wife of Rana Indravadan, Married twice to him Dead (Season 1–2) (2015–16)
• Akshay Anand as Kunwar Chandravadan Singh Deo (Season 1–2) (2015–16)
• Parul Chaudhary as Kunwarani Kokila Chandravadan Singh Deo (Season 1–2) (2015–16)
• Puneet Sharma as Lakhan (Dead) (Season 1–2) (2015–16)
• Priya Tandon as Choti Kunwarani Swarnalekha Lakshyaraj Singh Deo (Dead) (Season 1–2) (2015–16)
• Ritesh M M Shukla as Bhuvan kaka (Season 3) (2017)
• Akash Talwar as Kunder (Season 3) (2017)
• Usha Bachani as Anandi (Season 3) (2017)
• Dolly Sohi as Sunanda Chauhan (Season 3) (2017)
• Pragya Sethi as Preeti (Season 3) (2017)
• Suyyash Rai as Vijay (Dead) (Season 2) (2017)
• Mohammad Iqbal Khan as Nawab Iqbal Khan (Dead) (Season 2) (2016–17)
• Neha Mishra as Meenu/Gayatri's friend (Season 2) (2016–17)
• Shivangi Sharma/Purva Parag as Rani Ambika Singh (Season 2) (2016–17)
• Sudesh Berry as Don (Dead) (Season 2) (2017)
• Poonam Preet as Kunwari Bindu Singh Deo/Lovely (Season 2) (2016–17)
• Deepshikha Nagpal as Abida, Iqbal's step mother (Season 2) (2017)
• Chetan Hansraj as Maharaja Kaal Singh (Season 1–2) (2016)
• Zaan Khan as Kunwar Jeevan Singh/Jeeves (Season 2) (2016)
• Mahima Joshi as (child) Kunwari Rani Gayatri Indravadan Singh Deo/Rani (Season 2) (2016)
• Sagar Hingonia as (child) Raja / Kunwar Rajveer Singh (Season 2) (2016)
• Vijay Kalvani as Vice Principal Mr. Chaubey/Chilgoza (Season 2) (2016)
• Jayna Tida as Rani Sulakshana Indravadan Singh Deo (1st wife of Rana Indravadhan) (Dead) (Season 1) (2015)
• Ajay Arya as Lakshyaraj Chandravadan Singh Deo (Dead) (Season 1) (2015–16)
• Astha Agarwal as Jhumki (Fake Sulakshana. 1st wife of Rana Indravadan) (Season 1) (2015)
• Vineet Sharma as Sartaj (Season 1) (2015)
• Amar Deep Garg as Bhairav Yogi
• Abhiram Nain as Avdesh Singh Chauhan (Dead) (Season 1) (2016)
• Darshan Jariwala as Seth Govinddas (Season 1) (2015)

Guest appearances

• Mouni Roy, Dance Performance in New Year Special (2016)
• Karan Wahi, Dance Performance (2016)
• Rashami Desai, Dance Performance (2016)
• Sonal Vengurlekar, Ranaji's friend and also to promote her show, Yeh Vaada Raha (TV series) in which she has retaken birth as Survi.(Dead)
• Ankush Arora, Ranaji's friend's lover and also to promote his show, Yeh Vaada Raha (TV series) along with Sonal Vergunlekar in which he rebirths as Karthik

Production

The show is produced by Sunjoy Wadhwa, Sphere Origins.

Development and premiere

The show premiered at 09:30 pm (IST) on Monday on 27 July 2015 on Zee TV and airs every Monday to Friday, moving the show Qubool Hai to 07:30 pm, fortifying the early primetime band.^[8][9][10]

Talking about introducing a fresh concept on primetime, Zee TV's business head, Mr. Pradeep Hejmadi said,“Even when it comes to genres such as history and mythology, a most fascinating period that remains unexplored by Indian television is the pre-Independence era. This vibrant period of India’s history that saw a great upheaval also saw intense drama unfold in the lives of the royalty of the princely states. Behind empty walls of grandeur and fake displays of splendor was hidden the truth of erosion of wealth, insecurities, succumbing to British dominion, depression and bankruptcy. Ek Tha Raja Ek Thi Rani is a story of love set against this most interesting canvas. It aims to give viewers an up close and personal view of the lifestyles and some of the most closely guarded secrets of the rich and royal of the 1940s. It is a work of fiction that draws inspiration from the lives of the royalty of that period."^[11]

Producers Sunjoy and Comall Wadhwa of Sphere Origins further add, “The idea has been to look back at a glorious period of history for inspiration and churn out a timeless masterpiece that will entertain and enthrall TV audiences. The most daunting task at hand has been the re-creation of the pre-Independence era and the majestic lifestyles of the kings and queens of the princely states. Enormous research has gone to ensure authentic representation of the era and to create magic on screen. We have on board an ensemble of extremely impressive actors who beautifully fit the parts they are playing. The show will definitely turn out to be a clutter-breaker and hopefully, the biggest fiction show of the year.”

Casting

Popular TV Actress, Drashti Dhami was roped in the play the lead as Gayatri.^[12] Speaking about her comeback to television post her last show Madhubala – Ek Ishq Ek Junoon, she said “I do feel a little under pressure since ‘Madhubala’ was such a success. But I am also looking forward to seeing my fans’ reaction to my new show. Even my family and friends are very excited,” “It found it difficult to speak in the dialect which people spoke at that time. That was challenging. Other than that, I did not have any issues with the role,”^[13]

Siddhant Karnick was roped to play the male lead opposite Drashti. The show also had other notable cast including Anita Raj, Moon Banerjee, Priya Tandon and Surekha Sikri who was seen in Balika Vadhu, Ajay Arya. In December 2015, Abhinam Nain entered the show. Later Anjum Fakih entered as the Main Antagonist as Rageshwari.

In May 2016, Drashti and Sidhant left the show as the show was gearing up for a leap. After Eisha Singh and Sartaj Gill enterecas the new Rani-Raja.

Reception

The show began with good ratings and became one of the most watched shows across all GEC's and was one of the top ten serials of 2015. Later due to poor repetitive tracks the TRPs dropped and it was scheduled to go off air. These were the rumours by people that the show will be go to off air.^[14] The track of both leading pair Drashti Dhami and Siddhant Karnick will be ending in serial and both decided to quit the show because of the leap is taken.^[15] Then the season 2 start with good trp and the show highlight was the main lead chemistry.

The show was confirmed to go off air in April 2017 but got a 2-month extension and ended on 4 July.

Accolades

• Indian Television Academy Awards - Best Actress in a Negative Role - Won^[16][17]

International broadcast

In Pakistan, it airs on Geo Kahkashkouani. In Mauritius, it airs on MBC Digital 4. In South Africa it airs on Zee World. In the Arab world, it airs on Zee Alwan. In Germany it airs on Zee.One.

The series is broadcast in Indonesia by ANTV since 23 July 2018.^[18]

References

External links

• Official Website
• Official Fanpage of the show
• [https://m.facebook.com/groups/572034556305306?ref=bookmarks/Full Episodes of Ek Tha Raja Ek Thi Rani]

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