Balika Vadhu
Balika Vadhu | |
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Also known as |
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Genre | Soap opera |
Written by |
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Directed by |
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Creative director | Siddhartha Vankar |
Country of origin | India |
Original language | Hindi |
No. of seasons | 2 |
No. of episodes | 2,248 |
Production | |
Executive producers |
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Producers |
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Cinematography |
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Editors |
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Camera setup | Multi-camera |
Running time | 20 minutes |
Production company | Sphere Origins |
Release | |
Original network | Colors TV |
Picture format | |
Original release | 21 July 2008 31 July 2016 | –
Chronology | |
Related shows | Chhoti Anandi Balika Vadhu 2 |
External links | |
[{{#property:P856}} Website] |
Balika Vadhu (English: The Child Bride) is an Indian soap opera that was aired on Colors TV between 21 July 2008 and 31 July 2016 with 2,245 episodes. The story is set in rural Rajasthan and revolves around the life of a child bride from childhood to womanhood.[2]
Background[edit]
The show consists of two parts. The first part, Balika Vadhu - Kacchi Umar Ke Pakke Rishte (English: Child Bride - Strong Relationships of Tender Age) ran for 2,164 episodes, and focused on Anandi and Jagdish, who were married during childhood. The second part, Balika Vadhu - Lamhe Pyaar Ke (English: Child Bride - Moments of Love) which ran for 84 episodes, reflects the life of Anandi's daughter, Dr. Nandini, also known as Nimboli, another child bride.[3]
Plot[edit]
Balika Vadhu follows the lives of Anandi and Jagdish, who were married as children, and the challenges they and their families face over several decades.
Cast[edit]
Main[edit]
Actor | Character | Role | Years present |
---|---|---|---|
Pratyusha Banerjee / Toral Rasputra | Anandi Shivraj Shekhar / Anandi Jagdish Singh | Khajaan and Bhagwati's daughter; Jagdish's ex-wife; Shivraj's wife; Nandini and Shivam's mother; Amol's adoptive mother; Krish and Sudha's mother-in-law | 2010–2016 |
Avika Gor | Child Anandi Singh | 2008–2010 | |
Shashank Vyas / Shakti Anand | Dr. Jagdish "Jagya" Singh | Bhairon and Sumitra's son; Sugna's brother; Anandi and Gauri's ex-husband; Ganga's husband; Abhimanyu's father; Mannu's step-father | 2010–2016 |
Avinash Mukherjee | Child Jagdish Singh | 2008–2010 | |
Sidharth Shukla | IAS Shivraj "Shiv" Shekhar | Anoop and Meenakshi's son; Mahi's brother; Sanchi's cousin; Anandi's second husband; Nandini and Shivam's father; Amol's adoptive father; Krish and Sudha's father-in-law | 2012–2015 |
Surekha Sikri | Kalyani Devi Singh | Dharamveer's widow; Bhairon's mother; Basant's foster mother; Jagdish and Sugna's grandmother; Nandu and Bhairavi's foster grandmother; Abhimanyu, Varun and Shagun's great-grand mother | 2008–2016 |
Sriti Jha / Sargun Mehta / Aasiya Kazi | Ganga Singh | Ratan's ex-wife; Jagdish's third wife; Mannu and Abhimanyu's mother | 2013–2016 |
Roshni Walia | Child Ganga Singh | 2013 | |
Anjum Farooki / Deblina Chatterjee | Dr. Gauri Singh | Jagdish's ex-wife | 2010–2012, 2014 |
Mahima Makwana | Chlid Gauri Singh | 2010 | |
Mahhi Vij | Dr. Nandini Shekhar Malhotra | Anandi and Shivraj's daughter; Naren and Jamuna's foster daughter; Shivam's twin-sister; amol's foster-sister; Iravati and aloop's grand daughter; Meenakshi and anoop's grand daughter and great-grand daughter of premkishore, Sudha's foster sister; Kundan's ex-wife; Krish's wife | 2016 |
Gracy Goswami | Child Nandini "Nimboli" Shekhar | 2015–2016 | |
Ruslaan Mumtaz | Dr. Krish Malhotra | Kundan's step-son; Nandini's husband | 2016 |
Recurring[edit]
Actor | Character | Role | Years present |
---|---|---|---|
Anup Soni | Bhairon Singh | Dharamveer and Kalyani's son; Sumitra's husband; Jagdish and Sugna's father; Abhimanyu, Varun and Shagun's grandfather | 2008–2014 |
Smita Bansal | Sumitra Bhairon Singh | Jagdish and Sugna's mother, Abhimanyu, Varun and Shagun's grandmother | 2008–2014 |
Satyajit Sharma | Vasant Dharamveer Singh / Mahaveer Singh | Jamuna and Gehna husband; Nandu and Bhairavi father | 2008–2014 |
Neha Marda / Sheetal Khandal | Gehna Basant Singh / Gehna Niranjan Singh | Basant former wife, Niranjan's wife,Nandu and Bhairvi mother | 2008–2015 |
Vibha Anand / Janvi Chheda | Sugna Singh | Bhairon and Sumitra's daughter; Jagdish's sister; Shyam's wife; Varun and Shagun's mother | 2008–2010, 2011–2013 |
Vikrant Massey / Sachin Shroff | Shyam Singh | Sugna's husband; Varun's foster father; Shagun's father | 2009–2010, 2011–2013 |
Dishank Arora | Shivam Shekhar | Anandi and Shivraj's son; Amol's foster brother; grandson of Iravati and alok; anoop and Meenakshi's grandson; and great grandson of premkishor; Nandini's younger twin brother; Sudha's love interest turned husband | 2016 |
Viren Vazirani | Child Shivam Shekhar | 2015–2016 | |
Yukti Kapoor | Sudha Shekhawat Shekhar | Naren and Jamuna's daughter; Nandini's younger foster sister; Premal's ex-wife; Shivam's love interest turned wife | 2016 |
Tisha Kapoor | Urmila | Kundan's former wife | 2015 |
Vineet Kumar Chaudhary | Kundan Singh | Akhiraj and Harki's son; Kamali's younger brother; Urmila and Nandini's former husband; Krish's stepfather | 2016 |
Sparsh Srivastav / Karan Pahwa | Teenage Kundan Singh | 2015–2016 | |
Shahab Khan | Naren Shekhawat | Jamuna's husband; Sudah's father; Nandini's foster father | 2016 |
Neetu Pandey | Jamuna Shekhawat | Naren's wife; Sudha's mother; Nandini's foster mother | 2016 |
Shivansh Kotia / Rudra Soni | Varun Singh | Pratap and Sugna's son; Shyam's foster son and Shagun's brother | 2010, 2011–2013 |
Roop Durgapal | Sanchi Kabra (née Shekhar) | Alok and Iravati's daughter; Shivraj and Mahi's sister; Vivek's wife | 2012–2015 |
Jaineeraj Rajpurohit | Alok Shekhar | Premkishore's son; Anoop's brother; Iravati's husband; Sanchi's father, Shivraj and Mahi's uncle | 2012–2015 |
Sonal Jha | Iravati Shekhar | Alok's wife; Sanchi's mother, Shivraj and Mahi aunt | 2012–2015 |
Anita Kulkarni | Meenakshi Shekhar | Anoop's wife, Shivaraj and Mahi's mother, Sanchi's aunt,Shivam and Nandini's grandmother | 2012–2015 |
Avinash Wadhawan / Akshay Anand | Anoop Shekhar | Premkishore's son; Meenakshi's husband, Shivraj and Mahi's father, Sanchi's uncle,Shivam and Nandini's grandfather | 2013–2015 |
Shubham Jha | Amol Shekhar | Shivraj and Anandi's adopted son; Iravati and Anoop's adopted niece and anoop and Meenakshi adoptive niece and premkishor's great-grandson shivam and nimboli's adopted brother | 2014–2015 |
Sanjay Basak | Nandkishore Basant Singh (Nandu) | Basant and Gehna's son | 2012–2015 |
Sunil Singh | Akhiraj Singh | Harki's husband; Kundan and Kamli's father | 2015–2016, dead |
Rudrakshi Gupta | Harki Singh | Akhiraj's wife; Kundan and Kamil's mother | 2015–2016 |
Farah Hussain | Kamli Singh | Akhiraj and Harki's daughter; Kundan's sister, Pushkar's wife | 2015–2016 |
Tisha Kapoor | Urmila Singh | Kundan's former wife | 2015 |
Sudhir Pandey | Premikishore Shekhar | Alok and Anoop's father, Iravati and Meena's father-in-law; Shiv, Sanchi, and Mahi's grandfather; Nandini and Shivam's great-grandfather | 2012–2015 |
Sushmita Mukherjee | Subhadra | Premkishore's sister, Hardik's grandmother | 2014–2015 |
Gaurav Bajaj | Hardik | Subhadra's grandson, Gulli's husband | 2014 |
Nidhi Jha / Sonam Lamba | Gulli | Champa's daughter, Hardik's wife | 2011–2013, 2014 |
Mohit Abrol | Anuj | 2014 | |
Vimarsh Roshan | Advocate Vivek Kabra | Roshan and Shalini's elder son, Saurabh and Rakhi's brother, Sanchi's husband | 2013–2015 |
Sonal Handa | Saurabh Kabra | Roshan and Shalini's younger son, Vivek and Rakhi's brother, Sanchi's rapist and brother-in-law | 2013–2014 |
Bobby Parvez | Roshan Kabra | Shalini's husband, Vivek, Saurabh, and Rakhi's father; Sanchi's father-in-law | 2014 |
Pankaj Jha | Kashyap | Phooli's brother | |
Shalini Arora | Shalini Kabra | Roshan's wife; Vivek, Saurabh, and Rakhi's mother; Sanchi's mother-in-law | 2014–2015 |
Farhina Parvez | Rakhi Kabra | Roshan and Shalini's daughter,Vivek and Saurabh's sister,Sanchi's sister-in-law | 2014 |
Abishek Tiwari | Mahi Anoop Shekhar | Anoop and Meenakahi's younger son; Shivraj's brother,Sanchi's cousin brother, Anandi's brother-in-law, Shivam & Nandini uncle | 2012–2014 |
Reena Aggarwal | Ashima | 2012–2013 | |
Chandresh Singh | Ratan Singh | 2013–2015 | |
Amar Sharma | Madan Singh | Shyam's father | 2008–2014 |
Abhijeet Lahiri | Ramcharan Singh | 2009–2010 | |
Asmita Sharma | Radha Singh | Madan's wife | 2008–2010 |
Neha Gosain | Asha Singh | 2011–2013 | |
Ankit Gupta | Abhishek Singh | 2012–2013 | |
Rajeshwari Sachdev | Mangaladevi Singh / Disa | 2015–2016 | |
Rishidev Sharma | Gopal | 2015 | |
Rajendra Gupta | Mahaveer Singh | 2009–2012 | |
Parichay Sharma | Pushkar Singh | 2015–2016 | |
Hiten Tejwani | Dr. Anant Maheshwari | Pediatric doctor; Kiran's father | 2015–2016 |
Vidhi Pandya | Kiran Maheshwari | Anant's daughter | 2015–2016 |
Chetanya Adib | Khajaan Singh | Bhagwati's husband; Anadi's father | 2008–2015 |
Bhairavi Raichura | Bhagwati Singh | Khajaan's wife; Anadi's mother | 2008–2012 |
Farida Jalal | Vasundhara Devi | 2009, 2012 | |
Faiza Faiz / Mamta Chaturya | Phooli Singh | 2008–2010, 2010–2012 | |
Arpit Joshi | Lal Singh | 2010–2012 | |
Masshe uddin Qureshi | Brijesh Shanghvi | 2010–2012 | |
Farnaz Shetty | Kanchan | 2013 | |
Nivedita Bhattacharya | Shivani Rajadhyaksha | 2011, 2014 | |
Harsh Chhaya | Palash Scindia | 2014 | |
Kamalika Guha Thakurta | Pramila | 2014 | |
Sadiya Siddiqui | Sandhya | 2008–2013 | |
Sakshi Tanwar | Tiipri | 2010 | |
Jehangir Vakil | Pratap Singh | Sugna's first husband | 2008–2009 |
Shivshakti Sachdev | Champa | Anadi's friend, Gulli's mother | 2008 |
Geeta Tyagi | Jamuna Singh | Basant's first wife | 2008 |
Karmveer Choudhary | Niranjan Singh | Gehna's second husband, Nandu and Bhairavi's step father | 2009–2010, 2014–2015 |
Unknown | Brijesh | 2014 | |
Shweta Mahadik | Rasika | 2014 | |
Geetanjai Mishra | Sona / Khusum | 2014–2015 | |
Simran Natekar | Pooja | 2015 | |
Harsh Mehta | Mahendra Singh (Mannu) | Ganga and Ratan's son; Jagdish's step-son; Abhimanyu's half-brother | 2015–2016 |
Sonia Shah | Karuna Malhotra | 2016 | |
Avinash Sachdev | Dr. Amit Goel | 2016 | |
Prithvi Sankhala | Dr. Naresh Goel | 2016 | |
Smriti Khanna | Dr. Vandana Mittal | 2016 | |
Ayush Anand | Premal Singh | 2016 | |
Hetal Yadav | Pavitra Singh | 2016 | |
Ahmad Harhash | Rajeev Singh | 2016 |
Adaptations[edit]
Language | Title | Original release | Network(s) | Last aired | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Kannada | Putta Gowri Maduve (ಪುಟ್ಟ ಗೌರಿ ಮದುವೆ) | 12 March 2012 | Colors Kannada | 9 October 2022 | Remake |
Bengali | Gouridaan (গৌরিডান) | 15 April 2014 | Colors Bangla | 19 September 2015 |
Reception[edit]
Ratings[edit]
Balika Vadhu became one of the most watched Hindi GEC in its runtime and is one of the shows which helped get newly launched channel Colors TV to the first position in Hindi GEC, beating the nine years top position maintained by Star Plus.[4][5]
Balika Vadhu was met with mixed responses. While some appreciated it for portraying the issues of child marriage, some criticised the show for glorifying it.[6] The series had a very low initial rating of 0.7 TVR, but by five weeks after launch, it had entered the top five most-watched Hindi GEC and had become Colors TV's top programme.[7][8][9]
In five weeks after launch, it entered the top five most-watched Hindi GEC.[10] Thus, Balika Vadhu helped Colors TV's top positioning a lot. Balika Vadhu often held top position mostly on the ratings charts from 2008 to 2013.
In week 11 of 2009, it occupied third position with 5.9 TVR.[11] On 13 June 2009, it was at fourth position with 5.3 TVR.[12] In week 11 of 2010, it occupied top position and garnered 7.7 TVR.[13] In week 30 of 2010, it occupied with the top position with 6.9 TVR.[14]
On 28 May 2011, it occupied the top position with 4.91 TVR.[15] In week 24 of 2011, it was at second position with 4.81 TVR.[16] In first two weeks of August 2011, it garnered 6.1 and 5.2 TVRs maintaining its top position.[17] In the first week of 2012, it occupied the second position with 4.76 TVR.[18] In week 50 of 2012, it was at top position with 5.8 TVR.[19] In last week of July 2013, it was at second position with 3.9 TVR.[20]
Critics[edit]
The series was addressed in Indian Parliaments during 2009, prompting the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting to stop its telecast, condemning it for portraying child marriage against the Indian constitutional law.[21][22][23]
Sequel and spin-off[edit]
A reboot of the show, named Balika Vadhu 2, aired on the same channel from 9 August 2021 to 29 March 2022.
An animated series, Chhoti Anandi, was launched in 2016. The show focuses on the adventures of an eight year old Anandi and her friends. It was simulcasted on Colors TV and Rishtey from January to April 2016.[24] The animation was provided by HopMotion animation studio.[25]
References[edit]
- ↑ "Balika Vadhu writer on how to get a break in TV". Rediff.com.
- ↑ "Why TV shows like Astitva: Ek Prem Kahani and Balika Vadhu stood out". www.telegraphindia.com. Retrieved 14 November 2022.
- ↑ "Colors TV Show/Serial - episodes, videos online on Colors". aapkacolors.com. Archived from the original on 8 May 2017. Retrieved 24 April 2016.
- ↑ "Balika Vadhu"s TRP journey". India Today.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ "Girl child woos viewers on Indian television". Reuters. 24 April 2009.
{{cite news}}
: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ "Child bride show attracts viewers, critics". CNN.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ "Balika Vadhu slides to No 3". The Indian Express.
- ↑ "Telly's top 10". The Telegraph.
- ↑ "Life after death". India Today.
- ↑ "Balika Vadhu slides to No 3". The Indian Express.
- ↑ "Ekta show opens well, Colors loses momentum". The Indian Express.
- ↑ "STAR Plus back in number 1 position". Business Standard. 18 June 2009. Archived from the original on 27 January 2021. Retrieved 5 August 2020.
- ↑ "Balika Vadhu top position with 7.7 TVR". 19 March 2010. Archived from the original on 28 October 2021. Retrieved 28 October 2021.
- ↑ "Balika Vadhu TRP 2010". 29 July 2010. Archived from the original on 30 April 2021. Retrieved 30 April 2021.
- ↑ "Balika Vadhu regains its top position". The Times of India. 3 June 2011.
- ↑ "It's Pavitra Rishta versus Balika Vadhu". The Times of India. 19 June 2011. Archived from the original on 18 November 2021. Retrieved 5 August 2020.
- ↑ "Balika Vadhu shifts focus, risks TRPs". Hindustan Times. 18 August 2011. Archived from the original on 28 October 2021.
- ↑ "The show CID telecast on Sony Entertainment Television, has outpaced Balika Vadhu". The Times of India. 12 January 2012.
- ↑ "Balika Vadhu top position". 27 December 2012. Archived from the original on 28 October 2021. Retrieved 28 October 2021.
- ↑ "'Balika Vadhu' zooms up to number 2 on TRP chart". The Times of India. 3 August 2013.
{{cite news}}
: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ "Ambika Soni promises inquiry into 'Balika Vadhu'". The Times of India. 15 July 2009. Archived from the original on 16 July 2021. Retrieved 18 April 2022.
- ↑ "Balika Vadhu, storms into Lok Sabha". Hindustan Times. 14 July 2009. Archived from the original on 14 February 2021. Retrieved 18 April 2022.
- ↑ "TV truth comes under scrutiny in parliament". DNA India. Archived from the original on 10 February 2021. Retrieved 18 April 2022.
- ↑ "'Chhoti Anandi' to enter small screen world soon". The Times of India. 6 January 2016. Archived from the original on 10 January 2017. Retrieved 20 May 2017.
- ↑ "Colors TV to launch Chhoti Anandi". Archived from the original on 3 August 2017. Retrieved 20 May 2017.
External links[edit]
- Balika Vadhu on IMDb