Agle Janam Mohe Bitiya Hi Ki Jo - Wife becomes the ‘other’ woman

The moral dilemma and ambiguity that the lead characters of Agle Janam Mohe Bitiya Hi Ki Jo are facing raises very interesting thoughts to ponder over. The role of the other woman in society has always been debated upon. Scorned as the vile home wrecker who lures away a ‘good’ husband from an equally ‘good’ wife using her wanton sexuality, she is forever doomed to suffer miserable consequences for her action. But the man who is equally at fault for having strayed is let off cheaply if he returns to his wife/ girl friend/lover. That is his act of redemption (or is it punishment?).

In Agle Janam Mohe Bitiya Hi Ki Jo, the situation is reversed. It is the wife Sidheshwari, who is now the other woman in her husband Shekhar and his second wife Laali’s life. Shekhar who was earlier averse to Laali has now cemented her place in his life by marrying her and moving in with her in a separate living area. Sidheshwari has now become the other entity. Her role, status and position are ambiguous and fluid. She is rejected by none and yet not accepted by the one person who is most important to her life-her husband, Shekhar. Left with very little options, she has to now resort to guile and deceit to win back her rightful place.

In collusion with her devious brother-in-law, Rannvijay and the evil servant girl, Gangiya, she is hatching plots to get back her husband. She puts up a charade and pretends that she has accepted her fate, one of a hired help who would have to do all the household cleaning and cooking. When her in-laws asked her the reason for behaving in such a peculiar manner, she cried and lamented. And her schemes have started to work. Laali who was a witness to all the drama felt bad for her and assured her that she would do everything in her power to make sure that Shekhar would spend time with Sidheshwari.

Laali returns to her little abode and convinces a reluctant Shekhar to go and visit Sidheshwari reminding him that the latter’s well being and happiness was still his responsibility. Shekhar does so and stumbles upon Sidheshwari and Gangiya plotting against Laali. This leaves him disgusted. The trio of Sidheshwari-Gangiya-Rannvijay are desperately conjuring up new schemes to drive Laali and Shekhar apart; each has its own selfish motive to fulfil. However it is indeed sad that Sidheshwari who is Shekhar’s first wife has to indulge in such Machiavellian tactics in order to win back her husband’s love. The fate that often befalls the ‘other’ woman has come upon her and she has indeed become the ‘third’ unwanted angle of this sorry triangle.

Laali exposes Rannvijay - Agle Janam .. (Zee TV)

Finally serial makers and writers have woken up to the fact that drawing out suspenseful story tracks does not help to garner high TRPs. Instead it makes the viewers lose patience and finally interest. How long is the audience expected to watch the good being defeated by the bad repeatedly? Introducing a problem and then producing a quick fire solution to it is in fact a better option. Agle Janam Mohe Bitiya Hi Ki Jo is one serial that seems to believe in this modern tool of story telling.

Last week saw them creating trouble for the main lead, Laali. She had just been given her rightful position as her beloved husband’s wife, when all hell broke lose. Her elder brother-in-law, Rannvijay (who has never been a part of the ‘Laali fan club’), decided to make her life miserable. In the midst of a family function (pooja), a very drunk Rannvijay announced to the world that he and Laali had shared the conjugal bed. He also claimed that the baby now safely ensconced in Laali’s womb was his. He had been threatening, cajoling, pleading with Laali to come out with the truth for quite some episodes. He did the honours himself, finding Laali uncooperative and uncommunicative, but not before getting beaten black and blue by Shekhar.

But Kudoos to Laali and the powers that be of the Serial. They did not let her wallow in self-pity nor did they let her shed copious tears. Laali acted. She decided that the best way to go about things was to set the record straight and that too, straight from the horse’s mouth. So she carefully went about plotting and planning Rannvijay’s downfall. She befriends the Pundit who on her insistence tells everyone that Laali is pregnant with a boy child. At the same time he also raised the pertinent point that Rannvijay is incapable of fathering a male baby. Some high voltage drama follows and then Rannvijay finally blurts out the truth of having concocted the whole story.

Rannvijay reveales how he had tricked Shekhar into drinking Bhaang and after the latter had passed out, he had moved him out of the room. Then he had silently slipped into bed by Laali’s side and faked the entire story. With the truth coming out, Laali’s name is cleared and her honour restored. This quick resolution of the problem and that too by a proactive female lead is the new bold face of primetime Hindi television. The audience can only hope that this trend is able to break new grounds in story telling for other serials as well.

What of Sidheshwari now? - Aagle Janam Mohe Bitiya Hi Kijo

Okay, so now Shekhar wants to be “good friends only” with his legally married, socially accepted first wife Sidheshwari. He has even been kind enough to grant her the allowance to stay on in the same house. But he has made it very clear that he will only recognize and treat Laali as his ‘true’ wife and will not hand over their child to anybody. What magnanimity! …What travesty! One woman’s sense of dignity and respect, does it always have to come at the price of another woman’s place and position in her family and her house? If you were to go by the recent happenings in the Zee Serial Aagle Janam Mohe Bitiya Hi Kijo, it would appear so.

The makers of this vastly popular serial have struck gold with this story of exploitation of women in rural India. Their attempt ought to be lauded for the singular fact that they had the courage to bring in a new setting to Hindi Prime time Television-rural, poor, caste-ridden, woman-centric. Having done this the makers are unwilling to consider the plight of the many woman characters of the story, choosing instead to focus only on Laali, the central character. So while Laali faces many trials and tribulations single-handedly and emerges victorious, the other female characters though caught in the same double bind of caste and patriarchy do not seem to inspire the imagination of either the production house or the channel.

One such character whose story could have also been at the centre stage is that of Sidheshwari. Initially, the beloved of her husband, she has been cast aside as Shekhar now decides to remain committed only to Laali. Her identity has been taken from her and given to another. She is being made to feel like a guest, one whose presence or absence will leave no impact on others. Like yesterday’s newspaper, her husband has tossed her away for another, robbing her of her sense of self, leaving her without a position in society. So while Laali finds her rightful place, Siddheshwari is being denied what is rightfully hers. Like most serials here too, one woman has turned out to be another woman’s bête noire.

The road ahead for Sidhheshwari seems uncertain. She is no longer what she was-beloved wife, much adored daughter-in-law, a woman of position (even though that position was derived). Now she has lost a lot of that. Anchorless, she might drift into oblivion, becoming just a footnote in this whole story. Or she might resurrect herself as a woman out to avenge and get back what was hers once upon a time. Where does she go from here is something that can be an entirely new and interesting track. Indeed it will be interesting to see how the writers and makers of this serial are able to justify or redeem this gross appropriation of role and relationship.

Agle Janam Mohe Bitiya hi Kijo on Zee TV - Laali runs away

The story is taking a different turn, with a trip to Nepal being the way out for a hunted Laali and Shekhar. For some time now, Laali is being hunted by Ranvijay who has a running fight with his own brother Shekhar. Things reached a peak where Ranvijay plotted to kill Laali by burying her alive, and it was only when Shekhar reached there in the nick of time that he was able to dig out the earth covering Laali and saved her. Eventually, after a confrontation between Shekhar and Ranvijay where Shekhar also threatens his own father, Thakur Loha Singh with a gun, Shekhar leaves the place along with Laali. He also states quite clearly that his father will have to make a choice between his sons, with one unable to give a heir, and the other not willing to give a heir.
Ranvijay follows soon after, and eventually they end up in Laali's village where she meets her family, but Ranvijay is following soon after. Seeing that Laali has already left, he catches Munna (Laali's brother) and threatens to hang him if they don't tell him where Laali has gone. Petrified of the threat to Munna, they tell Ranvijay enough that he leaves Munna. And then they show Laali and Shekhar getting off the jeep and seemingly heading towards Nepal.

Laaliya - WWF Wrestler

Ratan Rajput aka Laali of Zee TV’s ‘Agle Janam Mohe Bitiya Hi Kijo’ is willingly taking up stunt sequences that shocks the unit time and again. Whether it is playing Kabaddi with the men or riding bullock carts or now facing the bull. Must say she is taking acting too seriously. Yesterday Ratan shot a deadly scene with bulls around her. Excited Laali said, “Though the bulls were trained but with the thought of I have to not only stand infront of the Bull but fight with them was pretty scary. You never know when they snap back at you and that too two bulls…My God! I still can’t get over the fact that I did it. Holding their horns and running after them was a lot of deadly fun that too in Saree. Well must say I did a good job (laughingly).”

When contacted the producer, he said, “The scene was shot at Helipad at Film City where most of these scenes are shot. With the current story line something like this had to be planned to take the show to another level and give it a different treatment all together. I am sure you guys have seen men fighting with animals in cinema but when you see Laali wrestling with a bull I am sure viewers will get goose pimples.




Story –
Shekar’s closeness to Laali is making a lot of people jealous. To a surprise his very own blood brother, Ranvijay, is creating hurdles for his younger brother. For the first time Shekhar takes a stand for Laali against Siddheshwari. In turn Siddheshwari joins hands with Ranvijay against Laali.

Agle Janam Mohe Bitiya hi Kijo on Zee TV

Shekhar spends his first day farming with Laali .. Back in the haveli encouraged by Laali , Shekhar enters the fray for the tractor despite being the underdog ..
The entire family has an opinion on Shekhar's entry into the kabaddi match .. gangiya provokes siddheshwari to stop shekhar from palying the match .. Siddeshwari tries using her charms to get Shekhar to quit the match but shekhar doesn’t ..

Before kabaddi match poison again tries to show its effect on shekhar n again shekhar n lali again almost crosses the line with each other when shekhar pushes her back angrily n tells her that all she wants is to get physical with him .. tells her to not to show her face during kabaddi match n insults her .. at one point shekhar gets wounded in kabaddi match n lali on his behalf plays n wins the match

Laali – the Snake Charmer (Agle janam mohe bitiya hi kijo on Zee Tv)

The monsoons, though most welcome, can cause havoc at times. The film city area in Mumbai which is the shooting hub of the entertainment industry, also shelters some of the deadly creatures of this planet. The cast and crew of Agle janam mohe bitiya hi kijo are literally having a reptile scare quite often! Every other day they are being hounded by deadly lizards, scorpions, worms of various kinds! The unit lost their cool when one day they found a snake loitering around the sets. It hit the panic button because people didn’t know what to do! Everything was in helter skelter until savior came in the form our brave Laali who came out rushing from her make up room when this fiasco was on …
And she managed to charm the snake like a pro! During the earlier days of Agle janam …when the unit was stationed at Wai; amongst other ghastly things like plunging in mucky water, rolling in mud, walking bare feet in scorching heat , catching a rat; this was another art which Lali had learnt from one of the villager. Though it never came handy then, but now out of the blue this sudden advent of snake god had lali shed all her inhibitions and tame the snake…

Quite a braveheart! True daughter of the soil….

When contacted Ratan, she said, “It may sound funny and unrealistic but it’s true that I have shot with real snakes in the 2nd episode itself. Yes they were trained ones but it was quite adventurous shooting then in Wai. Yes very often you would experience some or the other reptile on the sets during monsoons but that’s natural. The other day when the unit saw snake, they freaked and panicked big time. Though I was also a little scared but managed to throw it out of the sets.”

Mood swings of Ratan Rajput, heroine of Agle Janam Mohe Bitiyan Hi Kijo on Zee TV

“Ratan doesn’t know how to switch off!!!” – Rupa Ganguly
According to senior artists on the sets, Ratan Rajpot though a fine actor, cannot really handle pressures of her character of Laali due to her young age. Since Ratan’s character involves a lot of suffering and depression, she stays with the same mood even after the camera goes off coz of which she is found cranky and cribbing most of the times. Sometimes she doesn’t even interact with the co-actors and locks herself in the makeup room. In her depression, she misses her family and starts crying. While a lot of times, co-stars act supportive towards her, sometimes they find her mood-swings unbearable.




Ratan says, “Though it’s only in reel life, it’s very difficult to let people trample all over you. I am treated very badly in show as Loha Singh uses foul language while talking to me and the women mistreat me as I belong to lower caste. I start imagining an actual life of this kind and the sufferings that poor people go through and that the reason I am not my chirpy-self on the sets.”

Ratan Regrets Missing Out on Personal Life…
Unlike most of our stars who enjoy the attention and glamour that the showbiz offers, Ratan Rajput, Laali, of Zee TV’s, Agle Janam Mohe Bitiyan Hi Kijo, says that she regrets missing out on her personal life. According to Ratan, “Though the industry has given me lot of fame and good amount of savings, I sometimes crave for simple things in life. I am in the industry because I love acting and not only for the materialistic things that it offers. I wish I could make weekend plans with my freinds or catch a movie or a walk on the beach whenever I feel like. What I miss the most is the roadside chaat. She also admits that due to ungodly hours of the shoot, it becomes difficult for her to connect to her family members and talk to them on a regular basis.”

Agle Janam Mohe Bitiya Hi Kijo Title Track



Agle Janam Mohe Bitiya Hi Kijo August 3, 2009



Agle Janam Mohe Bitiya Hi Kijo August 4, 2009

Update on Ratan Rajpoot - Laali of Zee TV’s Agle Janam Mohe Bitiya Hi Kijo

Laali has firm belief in Buddhism and blindly follows numerology. She practices Buddhism during her breaks on the sets and wishes to soon visit the newly opened Global Pagoda at Gorai near Borivali. Unlike others who start to follow Buddhism to get rid of existing troubles, Ratan started chanting mantras because she liked the sound of it.
Says Ratan, “I had heard a friend chant during my theatre days and I loved the resonance that resounds with it. On further enquiring my friend told me that she follows Buddhism and is very satisfied and happy with herself eversince she started following the religion. She also told me about the positivity it generated within. Those days I was in Delhi and was doing very well in theatre but was very dissatisfied as I had no exact aim in life. I just couldn’t conclude on any decision and was contemplating to go back to my home town. When I heard of Buddhism, I followed my instincts and started practicing it. It’s been two years now and I could actually see the difference that it has made to me. I became extremely positive and today I am playing the leading role on one of the best shows on television. I am extremely happy with the way things are happening around. It’s the internal happiness that matters the most. The best thing about being a Buddhist is that it doesn’t ask for any alteration in your lifestyle. Also even though I am away from my family I have about 20-25 families in Mumbai through the Buddhist communities. Tisca Chopra is one of my closest friend who also follow Buddhism.” Besides, Ratan has changed the way she spells her last name as suggested by her numerologist.


Our poor Ratan Rajpoot aka Laali of Zee TV’s Agle Janam Mohe Bitiya Hi Kijo is getting used to the poverty that the show has mercilessly bestowed on her. Not only on the sets, but even at her friends’ house parties, Ratan doesn’t think twice before sitting on the floor. It so happens on the sets that during breaks when others actors plunge themselves on couches, she finds herself sitting on the floor. Tough others do give her a second look to ensure she is fine, she enjoys her carefree attitude. This doesn’t end here; Ratan often does her own household chores and saves money by taking an auto instead of her own car/cab most of the times. She refuses to go to swanky restaurants and avoids eating heavily priced grubs.
When someone questions her over this, Ratan says this helps her to be in her character. Ratan says, “Yes sitting on the floor during breaks is out of the habit on the show and does help me stay connected with the character. But the other savings is out of the realisation that there is immense poverty in the country which I myself experienced during my stay at Wai while shooting the village sequences. There were people who offered me to sell their meals to make money. The reality was hard-hitting and I have decided I will not disrespect money by splurging it every way possible. I will save up and try and live a modest life as much as possible. Yes I still spend a lot on beauty treatments as its inevitable in my career but I have cut down on my other expenses.”

Agle Janam Mohe Bitiya Hi Kijo - Sudesh Berry kicked

It is not always a pleasant work for actors on the sets of TV series and movies. It is not always glamour, there are difficult tasks that need to be performed that can be somewhat dangerous. Consider the case of this buffalo kick from Zee's serial - Agle Janam Mohe Bitiya Hi Kijo.
Once acknowledged as the Amitabh of the small screen, actor Suddesh Berry has proved the same passion and drive towards acting as was seen before he took a break from the television industry. For a shot in Zee TV’s Agle Janam Mohe Bitiya Hi Kijo, Suddesh was required to milk a buffalo. The entire unit was in splits as he tried to control the Buffalo to milk it. The buffalo won’t let Suddesh come closer and kept sniffing the poor actor.



After several trials, he thought it’s a do or die situation and he has to give it a final take before the body double takes over. And…..the final shot called for a hard-hitting kick from the Buffalo. Suddesh was badly injured but determined. Refused to let the buffalo get his way and tried till he succeeded. Though the scene was shot very well, only Suddhesh says it was difficult than any other action sequence as he had to take care of not hurting the buffalo.

More actors joining Zee TV's Agle Janam Mohe Bitiya Hi Kijo

Veteran Actors Roped in to portray Zee TV’s Agle Janam Mohe Bitiya Hi Kijo in a different light!!!

Zee TV’s ‘Agle Janam Mohe Bitiya Hi Kijo’ has been doing great ever since the launch. The show has already created waves across the country for showcasing a prevalent social evil in society – ‘selling the girl child in the midst of utter poverty to raise money for the rest of the family’. By far the story revolved around seventeen year old Laali’s optimism about life and her courage and compassion when it comes to rescuing her family from the throes of hunger and abject poverty. Due to sudden crisis in Laali’s family, her parents are forced to sell her to the ‘Thakurs’. The show has a big turning point here where Laali will experience a different world altogether. The Thakur’s house calls for a complete new team of actors from Rupa Ganguly, to Sushmita Mukherjee, Sudesh Berry, Anjoom Farooqui, to name a few. The new change will certainly add a touch of richness and glamour to the show. Though the story would still remain about Laali’s adjustments & fight with the harsh truth of being sold off by her parents, the new characters would have a pivotal role to play in the show hereon.

The characters that are now being seen as part of the show are –

SUDESH BERRY as Loha Singh, (head of the Thakur family)
He is a arrogant, opportunistic man who’s ego sores above the sky. He only does things as he pleases. He almost rules over the village. He has no respect for the women of the house and no one has any say in his decision.



ROOPA GANGULY as Sumitra (Loha Singh’s wife)
A quiet, motherly, cultured woman and religious woman who takes care of the family and is petrified of her husband.



SURBHI TIWARI as Nandini (The eldest daughter-in-law of the family)
Takes responsibilities of the house but doesn’t get the respect she deserves.



SUSHMITA MUKHERJEE as Gangiya (Loha Singh’s mistress)
She is the head matron of the house. She is very cunning and manipulative.

Experiences of an actress at serial set - life is tough

“The only thing I do in my free time is personal care” – Ratan Rajpoot
Eversince her return from the shoot at Wai (village near Mahabaleshwar), Ratan Rajpoot, Laali of Zee TV’s Agle Janam Mohe Bitiya Hi Kijo has been spending loads of money on different beauty treatments. Says Ratan, “Shooting at Wai was a great experience but a real harsh one on my skin. During childhood, I use to never stay at my native for more than three days due to the absence of luxuries of the city. Hence when I started shooting at the Wai village, my parents were very worried of how I would adjust and at the same time teased me on how destiny got me to do things that I always avoided.
I gradually fell in love with the nature there but that was short-lived as the constant running around bare-foot in hot sun, resulted in cracked heels and sun burns at various places. We also had to wear dirty clothes and sit around in mud which has given me rashes all over the body. At the end of each day I use to spend hours trying to pluck minute thorns off my feet and that has left my feet looking cracked and ugly. My hair has become dry and frizzy. My face use to receive some attention as I had to look presentable on screen but my routine beauty treatments had gone for a toss. I am very happy to be back in Mumbai and have already begun all kinds of remedies. The only thing I now do in my free time is personal care.”

'Agle Janam Mohe Bitiya Hi Kijo' on Zee TV

Serials on most channels used to focus on the lives of the middle class and the rich, and it was not unknown to have serials where the people would deal in crores (sometimes hundreds of crores). However, a large percentage of India's population is not rich or well off, and it is only now that we are starting to see more serials that focus on the lives of the poor (Uttaran on Colors is one example). The serial 'Agle Janam Mohe Bitiya Hi Kijo' on Zee TV is another example of such a serial, concentrating on the life of a young girl in a very poor backward family in Bihar who has been sold off (and does not yet recognize that).
Lali (Ratan Rajput) is the name of the young girl, who has given up the dreams that children normally have, instead she supports her father in trying to bring in some money to help the family. The family lives in a village called Koyna in Bihar. They come from a low cast background and by profession are rat killers or 'Musahars' who help the Zamindars to protect their land and homes from infestation. Lali has hopes of marrying a man who will loves her and will give her happiness, but her hopes are dashed when she is sold off.



Her parents are not eager to sell her off, but come under a lot of pressure from Balli (a broker who sells poor village girls to rich men) to sell off their daughter; they are able to resist for some time, but when her father Nanku is jailed while trying to arrange for some money, and money is needed to take care of her sick brother Munna and to arrange bail for Nanku, Lali's mother Majri finally gives in and agrees to sell Lali off. However, Lali thinks that she is getting married off to a man called Ganesiya, but is instead diverted to the man who had bought her.
Lali is now in a household run by the 50 year old strict man called Loha Singh (Sudesh Berry). The story will now work through the pain and problems faced by this young girl, and how she manages the challengers thrown up by life.
The series premiered on March 16, 2009, and will air every Monday - Friday at 9:30pm IST on Zee TV channel. This show is produced, written and directed by Kiran Bedi.

A video of the serial from Youtube:



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