Director: Shreyansh Pandey, Abhay Raut
Screenwriter: Durgesh Singh, Vidit Tripathi
Cast: Jameel Khan, Geetanjali Kulkarni, Anant V Joshi, Harsh Mayar, Sunita Rajwar, Gopal Datt
Platform: Sony LIV
Season – 5
Episode – 7
 
Some shows entertain you. Some shows impress you. And then there’s Gullak—a series that quietly settles into your life like an old family photo album, returning every few years with new stories and familiar faces. Season 5 of SonyLIV’s beloved middle-class drama doesn’t attempt to reinvent itself, nor does it chase larger stakes. Instead, it continues doing what it has always done best: finding extraordinary emotions in ordinary lives.
 
The Mishra family returns with the same warmth, humor, and emotional authenticity that made the series a household favorite. Santosh Mishra (Jameel Khan) and Shanti Mishra (Geetanjali Kulkarni) remain the emotional anchors of the show, portraying the struggles and joys of middle-class parenthood with remarkable sincerity. Their performances feel less like acting and more like observing real people through a living room window. Every conversation, argument, and compromise carries the weight of years spent building this family together.
 
What makes Season 5 particularly interesting is its focus on change. The children are no longer children, and adulthood has begun knocking on every door of the Mishra household. The concerns are bigger, the choices more complicated, and the emotional consequences harder to ignore. Yet the show never loses sight of its identity. Whether it's a discussion about repainting the house, adjusting to new technology, or navigating shifting family dynamics, Gullak continues to find meaning in life's seemingly insignificant moments.
 
One of the season's biggest strengths is its expanded focus on supporting characters. Sunita Rajwar's Bittu Ki Mummy receives some of the strongest material this time around, and she makes every scene count. Her storyline adds fresh emotional layers to the narrative while maintaining the grounded realism that defines the series. The supporting cast, as always, helps create the feeling of a lived-in neighborhood where every family has its own joys, disappointments, and secrets.
 
However, Season 5 also faces its most noticeable challenge—the recasting of Annu Mishra. Anantvijay Joshi steps into a role previously played by Vaibhav Raj Gupta, and while he captures the character's spirit reasonably well, the transition isn't seamless. For long-time viewers, the emotional attachment to the original portrayal makes the change difficult to ignore. It is less a reflection of the new actor's performance and more a testament to how deeply audiences had connected with the character over previous seasons.
 
The writing, too, occasionally shows signs of fatigue. While the series remains heartfelt and emotionally intelligent, some storylines feel stretched beyond their natural length. Certain conflicts unfold predictably, and a few parallel tracks lack the depth that earlier seasons managed effortlessly. There are moments when the show seems aware of the formula that made it successful and leans on it a little too heavily. As a result, some of the emotional beats feel designed rather than discovered.
 
Yet even at its most familiar, Gullak possesses a rare sincerity that most family dramas struggle to achieve. It never relies on exaggerated conflicts, manipulative twists, or unnecessary melodrama. Instead, it trusts conversations, relationships, and everyday struggles to carry the narrative. That trust continues to pay off. While the season may not reach the emotional highs of the franchise's finest moments, it remains comforting, relatable, and deeply human.
 
Ultimately, Gullak Season 5 feels like revisiting an old neighborhood after years away. Some things have changed, some faces look different, and a few stories feel repetitive—but the warmth remains intact. It may not be the series at its absolute best, but even a slightly uneven Gullak offers more heart than most family dramas manage in their entirety.