Samay Shah

Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah, abbreviated as TMKOC, is an Indian sitcom based on the weekly column Duniya Ne Undha Chasma by Tarak Mehta in Chitralekha magazine.

It is produced by Asit Kumarr Modi.

It premiered on 28 July 2008, airs on Sony SAB, and is also digitally available on SonyLIV.

The series takes place at the Gokuldham Co-operative Housing Society, an apartment complex in Powder Gali, Film City Road, Goregaon East, Mumbai, and focuses on the members of Gokuldham Society who come from different backgrounds.

Gokuldham is also referred to as "Mini India" or "the 8th wonder in the show."

The residents of Gokuldham are shown facing many problems and finding solutions for those problems.

The show also occasionally highlights social issues.

Most of the episodes are based on Jethalal being stuck in a problem and Taarak Mehta, his best friend, whom he calls his "Fire Brigade", rescues him.

Society members live like a family and help each other with their problems, to promote unity in diversity.

The members of Gokuldham celebrate all the festivals and organize various events.

In 2010, the cast of Khichdi made a special appearance to promote their film Khichdi: The Movie.

In that same year, Indira Krishnan appeared as Krishnaben to promote her show Krishnaben Khakhrawala.

During the same period, it was revealed that it was originally planned for two years and might have gone off-air in 2010 itself as stated by the original plan.

In the special episode "Anand Ka Safar", it paid tribute to Rajesh Khanna, airing in July 2012 in which the cast members danced to Khanna's songs.

When completing 1000 episodes on 6 November 2012, Asit Kumarr Modi stated that it took eight years to get the show on air:

Crossover episodes with C.I.D. named "Mahasangam" aired in July 2014 in which CID visits Gokuldham Society to solve a murder mystery case.

Sumeet Raghavan, Rupali Bhosale and Punit Talreja from Badi Doooor Se Aaye Hai appeared in an episode in 2015.

An animated series based on the characters of the Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah titled Taarak Mehta Kka Chhota Chashmah aired on Sony YAY! since 19 April 2021.

The producers initially approached the StarPlus and Zee TV channels, to host the series.

However, when they rejected their offer, Sony SAB decided to accept the script.

The filming for the series takes place in Film City in Mumbai.

External filming for specific scenes has taken place in locations, for example: Gujarat, New Delhi, Goa and in overseas locations such as London, Brussels, Paris, Hong Kong and Singapore.

In February 2015, Joshi, Vakani, and Lodha hosted the red carpet at the 60th Britannia Filmfare Awards to promote the Clean India campaign.

In the first week of 2017, the show stood in the fourth position with 6,004 TVT ratings.

In the fourth week, the show entered the top five and stood in the fifth position with 6,059 TVT ratings.

In March 2017, the show remained within the top five shows urban-rural metrics.

From 19 June to 25 June 2017, the show stood at the top spot with 6,092 TVT ratings.

Just next week, the show stood at third spot with 6,049 TVT ratings.

It is the longest-running scripted show on Indian television.

In the first week of 2018, the show topped the chart with 6961 TVT ratings.

From 14 October to 20 October 2019, the show stood at the first position with 7952 TVT ratings.

From March to June 2020, filming shut down in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown in India.

The show started broadcasting its new episodes from 22 July 2020.

The series was also dubbed in Telugu as Tarak Mama Ayyo Rama for ETV Plus and Marathi as Gokuldhamchi Duniyadari for Fakt Marathi.

From 13 July to 19 July 2020, the show emerged as the number one show after the COVID-19 lockdown with 6477 TVT ratings.

The show faced a controversy in 2020 when Neha Mehta left the show, stating that: "I do feel that in many areas discipline and decorum was not maintained on the sets."

In 2022, she claimed that producers of the show have not cleared her dues after leaving the show.

Neela Film Productions issued a statement: "We consider our artist as our family. We have contacted Neha Mehta multiple times to complete the formalities with us. Unfortunately, she has been reluctant to sign the exit documents without which we cannot do a full and final settlement as per company policy. She also stopped responding to all our communication from past 2 years and she left the show without meeting us. We wish she would have replied to our emails instead of making false accusations about the makers that have given her 12 years of fame and career. We reserve our rights for appropriate action."

Shailesh Lodha left the show in 2022, and sued the makers of the show for being underpaid in 2023.

In May 2023, Monika Bhadoriya accused Asit Kumarr Modi and project head Sohail Ramani of encouraging a hostile workplace.