Zabranjena ljubav explained

Genre:Soap opera
Director:Berislav Makarović
Ljubo Lasić
Jure Pervanje
Boštjan Vrhovec
Nikola Ivanda
Siniša Bajt
Milivoj Puhlovski
Mirna Miličić
Country:Croatia
Language:Croatian
Num Seasons:4
Num Episodes:805
Executive Producer:Tomaž Lehpamer
Milo Grisogono
Sanja Tucman
Producer:Sue Green
Andrej Kregar
Location:Zagreb
Camera:Multi-camera
Runtime:25 minutes
Company:Fremantle Media
Network:RTL Televizija

Zabranjena ljubav (lit. "Forbidden Love", commonly abbreviated to ZLJ) is a Croatian daytime soap opera about the lives and loves of both young and older characters, focused on Zagreb, capital city of Croatia. Actors Mario Valentić, Antonija Šola, Nada Rocco, Dejan Marcikić and Anita Berisha (last one with some months of break) were the only remaining original cast members until the final episode.

About show

The soap tackles controversial issues, such as incest, rape, homosexuality, adultery, and deadly diseases. The viewers of this soap are varied, ranging from small children to senior citizens.

Zabranjena ljubav is a remake of Australian soap opera Sons and Daughters, initially based on that serial's original story and character outlines, before diverging as the new series progressed.

In April 2008, RTL Televizija announced that the highly popular soap opera would end its run after 4 years that fall in its time slot 7:30 PM. A total of 805 episodes were filmed, but on the 4 April 2008, channel RTL canceled broadcasting after 759 episodes. The rest of episodes were shown only in Autumn 2011, with the series finale aired on November 3, 2011.

Besides its native Croatia, Zabranjena ljubav was also broadcast in Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia and Serbia.

With 805 episodes, the series held the title of longest TV series ever filmed in former Yugoslavia for 18 years, until September 2023 when it was overtaken by Serbian soap opera Igra sudbine.

History

The original story begins by introducing a handsome 22-year-old Danijel Lončar (Zoran Pribičević) coming home to Zagreb, on his 22nd birthday, after losing his job in Italy. At the railway station, he bumps into a beautiful girl. They both feel immediate attraction. Danijel doesn’t even get the chance to ask for her name as they are greeted by their friends and family.

The girl is Petra Novak (Anita Berisha) who also returned home, after studying photography in London, funny enough, on a present-day she also celebrates her 22nd birthday.

It soon transpires that Danijel and Petra were twins separated at birth. Danijel had initially been raised by the wise Nada Horvat (Nada Rocco) before returning to his father Josip Lončar (Drazen Mikulić), and Petra raised by her mother Viktorija Novak (Sanja Vejnović) who had married into money to a rich aristocrate widower Stjepan Novak (Velimir Čokljat).

The parents of the twins had each married other people and raised families which had other adult children. The Lončar family comprised Danijel's father Josip Lončar, a construction worker; and Josip's wife Biserka Lončar (Vanja Matujec), a warm-hearted, down-to-earth housewife. Their children were Iva Lončar (Marija Kobić) and Matija (Filip Riđički), Iva had just started a romantic involvement with Igor Carević (Dejan Marcikić) and Matija started seeing his class member Lana Kos (Petra Kurtela). Petra had grown up with her mother Viktorija (Sanja Vejnović), Viktorija's husband Stjepan who was a successful wineyard owner and businessman, and Stjepan's son from an earlier marriage, the spiteful Borna Novak (Mario Valentić).

After Danijel's investigation into Petra's whereabouts, he slowly enters the world of the powerful Novak family by landing a job as a gardener, not knowing he is working for his biological mother, nor that he has fallen in love with his own sister.

Other major characters include Lidija Bauer (Katija Zubčić) who has always had strong feelings for Stjepan, but who stepped away out of respect towards the family and her children. Lidija has two children of her own: the spoiled and stubborn teenager Tina Bauer (Antonija Šola) and the good-natured medical student Leon Bauer (Mario Mohenski, later Marin Knežević), who was betrothed to Petra at Viktorija's instigation only for the wedding to be cancelled after a revelation about his homosexuality. Viktorija's best friend, the dizzy socialite Stela Vidak (Matija Prskalo), was introduced as a minor figure during the show's early days as someone to whom Viktorija could recite expository dialogue about her latest scheme to, but soon emerged as a key character.

Cast

2008 Cast

Actor Role Status
Petra Lončar 2004–2008
Borna Novak 2004–2008
Tina Bauer 2004–2008
Igor Carević 2004–2008
Nada Barić 2004–2008
Karolina Novak † 2005–2008
Jure Šarić 2006–2008
Dunja Barišić 2006–2008
Franjo Barišić 2006–2008
Luka Laušić 2006–2008
Marijana Benčić 2006–2008
Marinko Ružić 2006–2008
Angelina Kovač 2007–2008
Mirna Šarić 2007–2008
Ivica Šarić 2008
Eleonora Šarić 2008

Recurring cast members

Actor Role
Jakov Barišić
Šime Zanze waiter Robert
Mate Grom
Tom Ružić #2 †
Arhitekt Juraga

Departed cast members

Actor Role Status Fate
Leon Bauer #1 † 2004 Actor left the series; replaced by Marin Knežević
Leon Bauer #2 † 2004–2005 Killed in a car accident
Viktorija Novak † 2004–2005 Killed by Nina Radić
Maja Vuković 2004–2005 Goes to Knin
Vesna Kos 2004–2005 Gets arrested
Aleksandar Barić 2005–2006 Goes to Italy
Ljubo Carević 2004–2006 Goes to Split
Matija Lončar 2004–2006 Goes to Australia
Danijel Lončar † 2004–2006 Killed by drowning
Josip Lončar 2004–2005; guest in 2006. Goes to Afghanistan
Lana Kos 2004–2006 Ends up in rehabilitation centre
Stjepan Novak 2004–2006 Goes to Paris
Stela Vidak 2004–2006 Goes to Los Angeles
Andrea Kirin 2006 Gets arrested
Lidija Bauer-Novak 2004–2006; guest in 2007. Goes to Paris
Zlatko Fijan † 2005–2007 Accidentally killed by Ana
Ana Fijan-Benčić 2005–2007 Goes to Argentina
Iva Lončar 2004–2007
Biserka Fijan (ex Lončar) 2004–2007 Goes to Australia
Nikola Benčić 2006–2007 Goes to Argentina
Antun Benčić 2006–2008 Left Zagreb

References