Balika Vadhu

Balika Vadhu- बालिका वधु
Genre	Indian soap opera
Created by	Purnendu Shekhar
Written by	Purnendu Shekhar, Gajra Kottary, Rajesh Dubey, Usha Dixit & Raghuvir Shekhawat
Directed by	Siddharth Sengupta & Pradeep Yadav
Starring	See Below
Country of origin	India
Language(s)	Hindi
No. of episodes	932 as of February 17, 2012
Production
Executive producer(s)	Zakir Shaikh
Producer(s)	Sunjoy Waddhwa & Comall Sunjoy W
Editor(s)	Santosh Singh & Janak Chauhan
Cinematography	Sanjay K Memane & Anil Katke
Camera setup	Multi-camera
Running time	30 minutes
Production company(s)	Sphereorigins Multivision Pvt. Ltd
Broadcast
Original channel	Colors
Picture format	720i, (SDTV)
Original run	July 21, 2008 (2008-07-21) – Present
External links
Website

Balika Vadhu—Kachchi Umar Ke Pakke Rishte is a very popular Indian television series that airs every Monday to Friday at 8pm on Colors TV. It is also telecast on Raj TV as Man Vasanai in Tamil and in maa tv as Chinnari Pellikuthuru in Telugu. The story deals with child marriage, a social custom that is outlawed but still practiced in some parts of India . The show has been ruling Indian television and enjoying great popularity since the first episode.

Plot

The show is set in rural India and portrays, among other prevailing social ills, the practice of child marriage. It features Anandi (Avika Gor), married at age 8 to Jagdish (Avinash Mukherjee). Anandi's schoolteacher Sandhya (Sadiya Siddique) tries to prevent the child marriage but is unsuccessful. Jagdish is the only grandson of Kalyani Devi (Surekha Sikri), the strict conservative matriarch of a traditional Rajasthani family living in the village of Jetsar. Kalyani Devi treats her two daughters in-law and her grand-daughter-in-law tyrannically. She has two sons, Bhairon (Anup Soni) and Basant (Satyajit Sharma). Basant, the elder son, is a widower. Gehna (Neha Marda), daughter of parents heavily in debt to Kalyani Devi, is forcibly married to him. Initially, there are many differences between the couple due to the age gap and incompatibility but they have a son named Nandu. Bhairon, the second son, is married to Sumitra (Smita Bansal) and has two children, Jagdish and Suguna (Vibha Anand). Suguna, also a child bride, loses her husband Pratap (Jehangir Vakil) and is made to follow the hard life of a widow at the age of 18. She later marries Shyam (Vikrant Massey) in the face of much social opposition. Suguna's in-laws, Radha (Asmita Sharma) and Madan Singh (Amar Sharma) initially do not accept her but later realize their mistake. Anandi's parents, Bhagwati (Bhairavi Raichura) and Khajan Singh (Chaitanya Adib) earn their living by farming. They often face problems but are always helped by Bhairon.

Jagdish runs away from home and gets into trouble with some criminals. Anandi goes to save him and takes a bullet in her head. She is grievously injured but survives. However, she develops some health problems. Hence, Kalyani secretly gets Jagdish married for a second time, to a girl named Gudiya. Anandi's parents and Kalyani's own children object to this, and the marriage is immediately annulled by the village council. The family then decides to keep Jagdish and Anandi apart till they grow up. Anandi goes back to her parents' house.

After this, the show takes a five-year leap. Anandi and Jagdish have grown up. Anandi (Pratyusha Banerjee) returns to her inn-laws' house with Jagdish (Shashank Vyas) house but has to face Kalyani, who has become more tyrannical than ever. Jagdish decides to become a doctor. He gains admission in medical college. Kalyani disapproves of this and forbids him to go. However, Anandi helps him to leave, which infuriates Kalyani. At medical college, Jagdish faces ragging and fight his seniors with the help of Gauri (Anjum Farookhi)— a new friend with whom he grows increasingly close.

Jagdish criticizes and mocks Anandi for leaving her studies early, hurting her a lot. Anandi meets her former schoolteacher Sandhya, who is campaigning against child marriages. Sandhya needs help in the mission, but feels that Anandi is too weak to do anything. Anandi gets inspired. She saves a young girl, Gulli, from going through a child marriage.

Anandi continues working for the betterment of society. Meanwhile, Jagdish and Gauri become very close to each other. On a trip to Mumbai, Anandi discovers just how far Jagdish has come from loving her. Jagdish introduces Anandi to his friends as a distant relative. He tells her that they live in two different worlds and hurts her feelings. He has lied to his friends that he is unmarried and belongs to a rich family from a large city. Back in Jetsar, Anandi decides that she is going to resume her studies, which she had given up because of Kalyani's disapproval.

The story progresses four years ahead. The distance between Jagdish and Anandi has increased. He is now madly in love with Gauri, who is actually Gudiya (the girl to whom he was briefly married in childhood). Jagdish and Gauri become doctors. He comes to Jetsar for a visit, where everyone discovers how he has forgotten his old values and respect for elders. He expresses his wish to settle down in Mumbai. This deeply upsets his family and in-laws. They eventually convince Anandi to go to Mumbai. They tell Jagdish that Anandi is coming to Mumbai to stay with him. While she is packing, Jagdish calls and tells her that he doesn't love her. Anandi becomes ill after hearing this. Bhairon goes to Mumbai to confront his son, where he learns about the affair with Gauri and everything else Jagdish has been up to. Shocked, he declares that Jagdish is dead to him from now on. When he returns home, he tells everyone the truth. Anandi is speechless and almost zombie-like. Sumitra decides to meet Jagdish but fails in persuading him to come with her. Anandi decides to regain her self-respect by studying further. Kalyani and all other family members support her.

Meanwhile, Gauri goes to meet Jagdish's family and finds out the truth about his identity and relationship with Anandi. She also remembers that he is the boy to whom she had got married in childhood. When Jagdish meets Gauri, she tells him the truth about their past. Jagdish is shocked and tells her that he loves her very much. He convinces her that his marriage to Anandi is illegal. Gauri and Jagdish get married with the blessings of her parents. Gauri wants to meet her in-laws and get their blessings, too, so she accompanies Jagdish to his house in Jetsar. Jagdish believes that Kalyani will support him. However, Kalyani renounces him and condemns his second marriage. Jagdish then tells everyone that Gauri is Gudiya. He claims that he has only corrected a mistake made by his grandmother in the past. Kalyani becomes heartbroken, believing herself to be the cause of all the problems. She falls ill and loses consciousness. Jagdish and Gauri, being doctors, work hard to revive Kalyani. Despite this, the entire family dislikes Gauri and refuses to accept her. When Jagdish and Gauri are leaving, the latter confronts Anandi and calls her marriage illegal, which is overheard by Bhairon. He then tells them that, according to the law, Anandi's marriage to Jagdish is valid. If a husband and wife who are married in childhood live with each other for two years after turning 18, their marriage will be considered legal. It is Gauri's marriage with Jagdish that is illegal. Gauri and Jagdish return to the city. After some time, Gauri gets pregnant.

Anandi decides that she wants to serve society as a teacher. She starts a school for the villagers. At first, nobody joins her class, but slowly many begin to participate. Then, a young man named Shravan meets Anandi and seeks her help to find a job for himself. Anandi finds employment for Shravan in Basant's mill. Shravan impresses Anandi's family with his sincerity. However, after a few days, Anandi goes missing, and Shravan's parents produce some evidence that suggests she has eloped with him. The news reaches Jagdish, but he refuses to believe it and resolves that he will bring Anandi back. Gulli sends Jagdish a letter that she witnessed Anandi being kidnapped on her way to school and that Shravan was an accomplice in it. Gulli was blackmailed by the kidnappers that if she revealed anything Anandi would be killed . It is revealed that Anandi was kidnapped by Shravan, who was working for someone with a grudge against her. Jagdish finds Anandi, rescues her and brings her home, after which he is seen lost in thoughts of her. Anandi is criticized by the orthodox villagers who think she had eloped with Shravan. However, Bhairon and family track down Shravan and force him to confess before the villagers. Anandi is proved innocent. The mastermind behind the kidnapping turns out to be the son of a local politician. The politician, Het Singh, is also part of the plan but somehow escapes unscathed.

Shortly after this, the outgoing head (sarpanch) of the Jetsar village council (panchayat) proposes Anandi's name as his successor. She is doubtful about her ability to do justice to the post. However, her family encourages up to take up the challenge and, thus, Anandi is elected, unopposed, to be the first female sarpanch in the history of the village.

Meanwhile Gauri comes to know from Bade Papa (her school principal) that Bhairon has paid for her education all along. On hearing this, Gauri goes to Jetsar to confront him. She accuses him of trying to portray how great he is. She also blames Anandi of being a mean and selfish girl who wants everyone else to believe how good and saint-like she is. On hearing foul things against her husband and Anandi, Sumitra realizes what an ill-mannered person Gauri is and how her marriage with Jagat with not last long. On hearing this, Gauri challenges Sumitra that under any circumstances, Jagat would never once look back at his house again. On coming back to Mumbai, Gauri lies to Jagat saying she went to Bhopal to meet her friend. She makes multiple attempts to keep Jagat loving her.

A few days later Nandu (Basant and Gehna's son) gets into a fight with another boy at school. Somehow both the children's parents get involved which makes the matters go in the Panchayat's hands. Anandi being the Sarpanch does justice - she asks the other boy's parents to apologize to Basant and Gehna and asks Nandu's parents to give money to the other boy's parents. On hearing this, Basant and Gehna get offended and leave the house. Even after a lot of pleading and apologies by Anandi, Bhairon and Sumitra, they don't come back. Some days later they are informed Kalyani Devi is coming back and thus Basant and Gehna come back.

Kalyani Devi realized that something is wrong in the house, confronts the family and declares Anandi as the culprit. Later it is shown that Kalyani Devi does this only to keep her family as one and she does not really think Anandi is at fault.

Back in Mumbai there is a workshop and exhibition of medical instruments. For this purpose Bhairon sends Anandi and Lal Singh (the in-charge of the local hospital) to Mumbai. In the coming episodes we expect to see Jagat and Anandi meet and the storyline taking a turn.

Reception

The show was a smash hit when it first appeared on TV. It immediately got the desired popularity and was appreciated by viewers. It was considered a path breaking show and paved the way for many more serials depicting village life and social evils. The story, characters and setup were admired and appreciated by all for their authenticity. The series has received the highest television ratings among shows on Indian television channels. It received the "Best Drama Series (Fiction)" award at the Apsara Guild Awards. It also bagged most of the awards (8 in all) at the Colors Golden Petals award 2012 .

Cast

Present cast

• Pratyusha Banerjee ... Anandi Singh (Main protagonist)
• Shashank Vyas ... Jagdish Singh a.k.a Jagya a.k.a. Dr. Jagat(Anandi's husband)
• Anjum Farooki ... Dr. Gauri Singh a.k.a Gudiya( Main Antagonist and Illegitimate wife of Jagdish)
• Surekha Sikri ... Kalyani Devi (Daadi Sa)
• Sachin Shroff ... Shyam Singh
• Anup Soni ... Bhairon Singh
• Bhairavi Raichura ...Bhagwati Singh (Bhago)
• Neha Marda ... Gehna Singh
• Janvi Chheda ... Suguna Shyam Singh
• Satyajit Sharma ... Basant Singh
• Smita Bansal ... Sumitra Singh
• Chaitanya Adib ... Khajaan Singh
• Mamta Chaturya ... Phooli
• Nivedita Bhattacharya ... Dr. Shivani
• Smita Oak... Kunda
• Rajendra Gupta ... Mahavir Singh
• Fahad Ali ... Shravan
• Sanjay Batra ... Heth Singh(Antagonist)

Previous cast

• Avika Gor ... Anandi as child
• Avinash Mukherjee ... Jagdish as child
• Vibha Anand ... Suguna
• Vikrant Massey ... Shyam
• Sakshi Tanwar ... Teepri (cameo)
• Farida Jalal ... Badi Jiji, Kalyani's elder sister
• Amar Sharma ... Madan Singh, Shyam's father
• Asmita Sharma ... Radha Madan Singh, Shyam's mother

Dead characters

• Jehangir Vakil...Pratap Hukum Singh, first husband of Suguna

Awards And Nominations

Year	Award	Category
2011	Golden Petal Awards	Most Damdaar Personality Pratyusha Banerjee As Anandi Jagdish Singh
2011	Golden Petal Awards	Most Lokpriya Face (Female) Pratyusha Banerjee As Anandi Jagdish Singh
2011	Golden Petal Awards	Most Lokpriya Family Surekha Sikri As Kalyani Devi & Family
2011	Golden Petal Awards	Most Lokpriya Dharavaahik Balika Vadhu
2011	Golden Petal Awards	Most Sanskaari Personality Pratyusha Banerjee As Anandi Jagdish Singh
2011	Golden Petal Awards	Most Chahita Personality Anup Soni As Bhairon Singh
2011	Golden Petal Awards	Most Anubhavi Personality Surekha Sikri As Dadisa
2011	Golden Petal Awards	Most Bhavuk Personality Smita Bansal As Sumitra
2011	Golden Petal Awards	Face Of Progress Pratyusha Banerjee As Anandi Jagdish Singh

Controversies

Balika Vadhu took centre-stage in national politics when members of Janata Dal (United) raised serious objections to the show's content and demanded it be taken off-air. They said the serial was glorifying child marriage and the I&B Ministry should ban it. The show never went off-air but started showing slogans at the beginning and end of each episode describing the negative effects of child marriage.

External links

• Balika Vadhu Official Site
• Daily Updates Balika Vadhu