Abhhishekam (Telugu) is the longest running serial in the history of Indian television with 3,100+ episodes as of December 2018 (still running). India's first soap opera was Hum Log, which concluded with 154 episodes. Indian soap dramas have 5/6 episodes per week running all year long, spanning across many years.

Indian soap dramas are different from the usual format of the English dramas/series.