U-Turn - Zindagi Ki Ore TV Serial was aired on Doordarshan DD National (DD1). The story starts from that one day when the life of a woman named Mala changes entirely. Akshay and Mala have been married for about ten years. They have a daughter Diya and a son.
One day Mala comes home to see her husband standing out. As soon as she comes near him, he starts shouting and blames her for cheating. He asks for a divorce and when she demands to keep her children with her, he slaps her. He throws her out of her house, which shatters her world. She decides to commit suicide by jumping off a cliff-side where she used to come with her parents for picnicking on that very mountainside. An old man is sitting on the mountainside, meditating. Before jumping she remembers standing at this exact position with her friends, saying that she loathed people who committed suicide for some loss of a relationship. She thinks of her children once but still cannot find any reason worth living.
The old man follows her and advises her to not commit suicide, but she refuses to listen to his words. He says that he will also jump with her and she pushes him. But when she pushes him the man hits the stone and becomes unconscious. Mala has to take him to the hospital in her car. She stands outside the operation theatre until he becomes well. Meanwhile, Akshay is scolded by his parents for misbehaving with Mala. He tells them he does not care if she lives or dies and it was better if she never came here. The doctors save the old man. A doctor named Ashok, who is also a very good friend of Mala for the past twelve years, quickly notices that she is not doing well. Mala has helped a nurse named Nancy by enabling her child to study in school by providing for the fees. The old man recovers and Mala has a heart to heart talk with him. The nurse brings food for her which she eats as it is her favorite food. The old man asks her to say thank you as he saved her, not the other way round as she thinks. He says that she forget about killing her own self trying to save him. He also tells her that he himself has seen the other side of life and it is not peaceful as she thinks.
He introduces himself as Raj Doot. Mala has also been working in an association for disabled children. She created this association with Ashok and her two best friends Salma and Sonia. She wishes in front of Raj Doot to have never been born. The old man wipes her existence as she wished for. Everyone forgets about her even Ashok and Nancy, as if she never existed. Even her car vanishes. The twist arrives when it is revealed that Mala is the only one who can see and listen to Raj Doot. He knows what she is thinking and changes her life completely. He shows her life at the college where she had so much fun with Salma and Sonia. He is making her realize the importance of her life by helping her look at her past. Salma’s parents were very strict and restricted her from going to college one day. Mala goes to her house to know the reason and is surprised to know that Salma is getting forcefully married to someone twice her age. Salma’s mother is getting Salma married to a rich old man because her family is poor and they own debt to this man. Salma also has two younger sisters and an ailing father so she has to sacrifice herself for her family.
Mala is already in love with Aslam, a fellow college student. Mala has parents who are very supportive and friendly. Mala’s mother wants her to be happy, always. Mala discusses Salma’s story with her mother. Sonia’s household is also a happy one with a loving mother and a supportive brother. That brother is none other than Ashok, who is a doctor. Sonia becomes an air hostess. Mala and Ashok introduce Salma’s mother to Aslam, who has cleared his IAS which helps in impressing her mother. Aslam promises to help Salma and her family clear the debt by taking a bank loan. Her mother agrees. After this flashback, the old man brings her back to consciousness and the reality has changed. In this alternate reality, Salma has married the old man and she refuses to recognize Mala. She tells Mala that she never married Aslam. Raj Doot tells her that she is the one who wished to be never have born. So he just made her wish come true. Mala gets confused when she realizes that Sonia has been dead for almost fourteen years. Ashok was not able to save his sister, as should have happened had Mala’s existed. This other world is without a trace of Mala. Raj Doot is trying to make her realize her life’s importance. When her own parents refuse to recognize her, she breaks down completely. Later Raj Doot’s follower gives her the address of happiness. She follows that and meets Vasudha. Vasudha tells her story that how her mother faced pressure from society, and her family to get her to get married. Vasudha has a condition because of which no one accepts her as their daughter in law. It is shown how Vasudha gets tricked by her groom-to-be. Her mother-in-law and sister-in-law are always plotting and planning on how to use her money and betray Vasudha. This way Mala learns some very important life lessons and finds her true purpose in life.