Hindi TV Serial - Diya Aur Bati Hum - Meena's lies are exposed in front of Bhabho

For quite some time now, the various lies told by Meena have only increased trouble for Sandhya, such as the mystery about the police complaint (which was blamed on Sandhya) and also the contraceptive pills, and then also trying to poison the mind of Bhabho against Sandhya from time to time. Some times Bhabho would listen to these, many times she would not, but in the end, Bhabho already had negative sentiments about Sandhya and those came out in her tirades against Sandhya.
However, it was the trip by Vikram and Meena to Mt. Abu which caused them a lot of problems. In addition to being arrested by the police (for which Suraj went there and scolded them a lot of lying), Sandhya managed to solve the case of the police complaint and find out that it was Meena who did this. Finally when Meena comes back to the house from the police station, Bhabho questions her and the truth is out about the police complaint, and that leads to an incredible drama in the house.
Meena tries to deflect this anger by claiming that she should not be thrown out of the house because she has the next generation, that she is pregnant, and then make the next mistake by revealing that the contraceptive pills were actually hers, and she was blaming Sandhya for them. Now she is deep trouble, but Sandhya saves the day for her by talking to the others and telling them since she has the grand-child, she should remain in the house and even carrying food for her. Will this mean that Bhabho will now start liking Sandhya ?
Also, the serial seems to moving towards a time leap where Sandhya will finally achieve her dreams of becoming a police officer.

Hindi tv serial - Diya aur bati hum - Finally Sandhya is exposing the truth to Bhabho

For quite some time, the relations between Bhabho and Sandhya have been poisoned with the belief by Bhabho that Sandhya was responsible for the police complaint of harassment that got Bhabho jailed. Even though now the relations between Bhabho and Sandhya are not so heavily strained, there are still a lot of issues in the relationship, and it needs the expose that Meena is responsible for this complaint to bring about resolution of the relationship. Now, this would be really traumatic for Meena, since Bhabho does not have a high opinion of Meena either.

However, things are getting even more complex for Vikram and Meena. They want to spend some time away from the home, but it would not be easy since getting to spend a holiday away can be problematic. So they make an excuse and decide to go to Mt. Abu. However, they make a wrong selection of hotel, selecting a hotel that is typically used for single night liaisons, or even by the hour. So, dutifully there is a police raid in which they are caught, while they are drunk, and spend the night in the police station. When they come to their senses, they realize the problem they are in, and are told by the police officer that they can be left off if they show their marriage certificate. Meena has a fit since she realizes that if Bhabho gets to know, there will be hell to pay. However, they call Suraj, since they do need help, and Suraj is angry at the lie, but comes to get them out of jail without telling the reason to anyone.

At home, when Sandhya gets to hear after they have lied about the place, she makes a connection with a name that was used the last time as well, and decides to do more sleuthing. All this investigation leads her to Meena's name, and she is angry at the fact that Meena filed a complaint against Bhabho and wants to punish her. On the other hand, Bhabho is angry that Sandhya spend a lot of time outside the house without telling her, and in the confrontation, finally Sandhya tells them that the complaint was filed by Meena, and it was Sandhya who talked to the magistrate and got the complaint dismissed.

Hindi TV Serial - Pavitra Rishta - Savita is back, and she throws Archana out of the house

For a long time now, the serial decided to show Savita staying in Canada while the stuff is happening here in Mumbai. So Savita does not know that Archana and Manav are staying together due to court orders and no one tried to tell her. The serial is now extremely complicated.
On the one hand, everybody is trying to find out who the girl is who could be in Arjun's life while Arjun is trying to find out who called Ovi to tell he about Purvi. Further, Sachin is playing his own guilt card, guilting Archana into doing something wrong to both herself and Manav, as well as to her daughters. It always seems like this in hindi serials, where somebody does wrong, and yet they do not show any kind of punishment for that (or show punishment after many many years - in the serial, Savita is the one responsible for the distances between Manav and Archana and for poisoning the attitudes of all the children against Archana).
Now, Savita, as soon as she saw that Archana was there, decided to kick Archana out of the house. Further, she refused to listen to anybody, least of all to Archana. It was only after Sachin and Manav managed to convince her that it was necessary for the divorce that she agreed that it is fine to get Archana back in the house, but not before she went to Archana's house and tried to force Archana to come back. On the other hand, when Manav went to get Archana back, Manav had to hear a lot, but finally Archana agreed to come back; and Purvi keeps on hoping that everything will be fine.

Hindi TV Serial - Mann Ki Awaaz Pratigya - Fighting goes on between Krishna and Shakti

The serial has shown a huge transformation in the character of Krishna. His love for Pratigya, something that she finally reciprocates after seeing that the person has a lot of value in him, even if you leave aside the rough character that he posses. She is still fully aware that her inlaws do not follow the same beliefs and level of education that her family does, but at the same time they are more powerful.
Her inlaws are also totally against her, and in fact tried to kill her by electrocution, something that she avoided by accident. However, her sister-in-law Kesar knew about this, and when she protested, her husband, Shakti beat her up so badly that she had to be hospitalized and also lost her baby (she was pregnant). This incensed Pratigya so much that she filed a police case and got both Shakti and her mother-in-law thrown in jail, and Krishna had also supported her in this.
This caused a huge amount of drama in the family, with Krishna coming totally out on Pratigya's side and having a direct fight with his brother Shakti, and Shakti pointing a gun to Shakti.
But Krishna can also point fingers at Pratigya when he sees that she does not support him or his family members; for example, at Arushi's engagement, where her future father-in-law is an IG of police, and is finding it difficult to accept that because of this engagement, he could become a relative of Sajjan Singh, since there are a number of cases against Sajjan and Shakti.
In fact, the IG declares that he does not want the Thakur family to come to the wedding, as a condition for the wedding; and in the meantime, Krishna tells off Pratigya for not standing up for his family members.

Hindi TV Serials - Rang Badalti Odhani - Shaan and Khanak are now discovering each other, slowly and steadily

Rang Badalti Odhani is a relatively new serial on Star One, that was a bit slow and low viewer attention, but is now gathering pace and starting to draw more users. The serial starts with the situation in a village where the village girl Khanak is in love with Suraj and getting married to him, but tragedy occurs soon after marriage when Suraj dies in an electrocution at the factory owned by Shantanu's father (and due to negligence by Shantanu). As a result, Khanak goes to the panchayat for justice, and Shantanu is asked to make up - he first arranges for a groom for Khanak, but when that fails, and in order to save his own life, he marries Khanak (even though he is already committed to Natasha, and his mother and bhabhi are totally for Natasha, and cannot understand or like Khanak). However, Shantanu's father and brother support Khanak and see her as a way to get some sense of responsibility into Shaan.
In the beginning, Shantanu and Khanak really don't like each other, but slowly move closer to each other. However, this starts to impact Shantanu's relation with Natasha who was already shocked at this marriage; and Shantanu's father tries to increase the closeness between Khanak and Shantanu by sending them on a business trip that cannot be avoided, and away from the machinations of Shaan's mother and bhabhi who are trying to separate them.
They start falling for each other, but then comes a decision time whereby due to pressure, Shantanu has to decide whether he needs to break the marriage and marry Natasha, and then Natasha herself moves away (partly because the actress playing Natasha is getting married in October 2010); this causes both Shantanu's mother and Bhabhi to be very disappointed and against Khanak.
Now, Khanak and Shantanu are moving closer to each other, but very far more intimate with each other.

Hindi TV Serial - Na Aana Is Des Ladoo - Sia suffering from the acts taken by Ammaji

The serial is going through a state of confrontation. The serial also some change in the relationships in the house, where there was a state of confrontation between Sunheri and Ganjendra. Sunheri had always supported Gajji in all his machinations, but she saw his bad side when he was under prosecution for the rape and murder of a maid. He got free from the court action due to the policies of Ammaji, but had to face some tough times from his own wife Sunheri; and Gajendra was unable to take these questions and turned brutal on Sunheri, beating her and then raping his own wife.
Sunheri went into shock at all this, and was supported by the ladies of the house, including Sia. It was Sia who taught her to fight for her rights, and finally Sunheri decide to go against Gajendra in court, to prosecute him for his rape and brutal beating of her. Ammaji and her elder son were totally against this, and Raghav was supportive of Sia and her fight. Finally in court, it was the decision that Ammaji could not stomach, and inspite of all her attempts, the court agreed with the need to punish Gajendra and sentenced him to a 7 year prison sentence. This was something that left Ammaji with very few supporters, with Raghav now against her, and then Gajendra in prison.
Finally, Ammaji played her role, calling a village panchayat where she criticized Sia for carrying a female child against the policies of the village and asked for Sia to get an abortion, something that Sia refused; at which stones were thrown against her until Raghav managed to rescue her. Ammaji did more attempts on Sia, at which Raghav is finally in open protest, and tells Ammaji that he will bring down the haveli if something happens to Sia.

Hindi TV Serial - Pratigya - Pratigya and Krishna reconcile, are now deeply attached to each other

Finally, this had to happen. A lot of the fans of the serial were asking for this, and finally the story of the serial obliged them. For a long time, Pratigya was fighting Krishna and he was supporting her inspite of all that. Even though they had been married, Pratigya refused to let her touch him. However, over a period of time, it seemed clear that the serial would show them getting closer to each other. And as a result, finally, Pratigya realized that Krishna really loved her, and inspite of what all he had done in the past, he supported her against the pressure of all his family members who taunted her.
At the same time, it was becoming clear that her inlaws were out to get her; due to the event where Krishna'r brother had misbehaved with Pratigya's sister and had got slapped in return, Sajjan Singh was very angry with the behaviour of Pratigya and planned to kill her in a plot hatched along with Krishna's mother and brother. They tried to electrocute her, but instead of that, the maid touched the live wire and got badly injured.
This led to a series of events where Pratigya's elder sister-in-law found out about this attempt, and led to her getting badly beaten up by her husband. Pratigya cannot stand that, and decides to file a police case, which leads to Krishna's mother and brother getting jailed. This puts a lot of pressure to get them out of the jail, and which in turn leads to the elder sister-in-law changing her stand and them getting out of the jail. However, Krishna continues to support Pratigya, and the relationship between them starts getting more intimate.

Hindi TV Serial - Na Aana Iss Des Ladoo - Has Ammaji really got transformed after learning that Amba is her own daughter

Is there really a transformatation in Ammaji after she got to learn that Amba is her own daughter ? It is hard to believe that somebody as strong willed as Ammaji will not have the capacity to withstand shocks, but it would seem that the makers of the serial are trying to show that maybe she can also change over a period of time. In this case, Ammaji spent a lot of time tracking down who Amba is, what are her origins, and finally tracked down the Daima of Amba, somebody known to her. This was the same Daima to whom Ammaji had handed over Amba soon after she was born; and this was the same Daima who told Amba later about how Ammaji was her real mother and had handed her over after she was born; thus causing a huge amount of hatred to be formed in Amba against Ammaji.
Now, Ammaji has got to know about Amba, and this is causing a huge amount of emotional turmoil in her; she now understands why Amba hates her; but is there a real change of heart ? That one cannot be sure, and it is doubtful whether anyone knows. The makers of the serial can change the situation anytime, say for example, a couple of weeks later, they can show that this transformation was fake and was meant to find out all those in the household who were supportive of Amba.
For now, Ammaji is trying to be supportive of Amba to some degree, so that when Jogi comes to say something that is against Amba, Ammaji scolds him and sends him away, she tries to act more supportive of Amba; and also comes into view Amba when Amba is sleeping, with the makers of the serial showing her giving a tender look. However, by now Amba refuses to believe that Ammaji can transform in any way; and has sworn to teach the oppressed women of the household how to speak up for themselves and protect their rights; starting with Sia.

Hindi TV Serial - Rehna Hai Teri Palkon ki Chaaon Mein - Karan back to the living

In Rehna Hai Teri Palkon ki Chaaon Mein on Imagine TV, the long awaited return has happened, and this is the return of Karan to the serial. All of you know that when a character dies on a Hindi serial, and the body is not found, then there is a good chance that the person is not dead and will come back at an opportune time. And so it was in the case of Karan, who died when he was on a honeymoon with Suman (and for which she was treated very badly in the house).
Over a period of time, Suman, with her good nature and loving personality was able to make a mark for herself, and Karthik anyhow was always in love with her (or atleast had a lot of respect and affection for her). However, Nandini also loved Karthik and played a number of tricks to try and get Suman out of the way so that she could get Karthik for herself. In between, Karthik realized that Nandini was responsible for a stage when Suman was abducted, but then he still married her.
However, this marriage was not meant to last, and soon the household realized that a proper relationship could only exist between Karthik and Suman, and the marriage between Karthik and Nandini was not meant to last, and talk of a divorce happen, and Nandini also signs the divorce papers.
But, this was done with a motive. Nandini had discovered that Karan had not died, but was indeed in a coma condition in a hospital, with no identification; and she brought him home with the claim that he was her brother (with the idea being that she would bring him forward to break the impending relationship between Suman and Karthik). And Karan, who is in a coma, does indeed start reacting when Suman comes close, with Nandini trying to ensure that he gets well fast enough that she can use him to break the ongoing marriage (and the marriage anyhow would not be valid since the first husband is not dead).

Hindi TV Serial - Do Hanso Ka Joda - How Preeti is moving closer to her husband Surya Kamal

Do Hanso ka Joda is a show on Imagine TV that looked it was based on the hit Shahrukh movie - Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi. After all, you had a character who was a plain person, spectacled, and even looked like the character in the movie. And he gets married to a girl who wanted a romantic life, somebody who would be very different from the person whom she got married to. After all, Preeti wanted a person who was a shining knight, who would sweep her up and take her away to the land of her dreams, and Surya Kamal certainly did not fit that profile.
However SuryaKamal was a person with a lot of strength and attractiveness of his own, once you got to know him; so, over a period of time, the quiet love, as well as the space he gave Preeti slowly started winning Preeti over, and she got over her dreams and started falling in deep love with him. And of course, Surya Kamal was always in love with her.
But there are many challenges that they have to face. Surya Kamal's mother (rather step-mother) is used to having a son who listens only to her, and also never liked Preeti from the beginning, and does not leave a chance to show the effect of her sharp tongue on both of them. And this has an effect, when, Surya Kamal and Preeti spend some days outside, and once they are back, they are greeted with many abuses by his mother because his sister has had to be taken to hospital (and Surya Kamal loves this sister a lot). The blame for neglecting his sister has been put on Surya Kamal and Preeti, and he also believes this to some extent, and as a result, he starts to believe that his profound attraction towards Preeti is affecting his responsibilities.
On the other side, Preeti's cousin, Sumi married somebody who would seem much more attractive and desirable, a young and dashing person called Rishi; however, this is very different outside. Rishi is without any major feelings for Sumi, beats her, exploits her for his business, and believes that she will always do everything that he says.

Hindi Serial - Na Aana Is Des Ladoo - Ammaji comes up with a horrid scheme to get a heir

The serial on Colors is plumbing new depths, showing the extent to which Ammaji will go to; the show also depicts problems in the relationships between different family members, including between a husband and wife. In Ammaji's household, the relation between Joginder and his wife Santosh is very fragile, especially since Jogi is unable to give a child to Santosh. However, it is Santosh who has to bear the blame for everything, for being unable to have a child. In the society depicted in the serial, being blamed as barren is very painful for a married lady; and she faces that both inside and outside the house. One day, when taunted by one of her sister-in-laws, she cannot bear the frustration anymore, and claims in front of other people that she is not the one to blame, it is her husband. For this, she is beaten badly by Ammaji, and Jogi also does not support her (he is very angry at her for revealing the truth about him).
And then since Ammaji has started realizing that the village knows the truth and that the respect for the household will be gone, she has to figure out a solution. And then she comes up with a truly horrible (and yet seemingly practical) solution. She tells Santosh that she will have to sleep with a stranger so that she can get pregnant, and then she can then claim before the villagers that there was some treatment given to Jogi, and as a result, Santosh is pregnant, and will give birth to a heir.
Santosh refuses, but to refuse Ammaji something is not a very practical point, and Santosh is told that she will have to do this. Jogi is also persuaded by Ammaji on this. And then Ammaji throws another bombshell, claiming that this will not be a stranger, instead Raghav will have to do this. Raghav refuses, and Ammaji tries all sort of blackmail, including emotional blackmail. Finally, Sia and the others hide Santosh, with Raghav proposing that they will send her away to her brothers house.

Hindi Serial - Bidaai - Alekh gets to know the truth about Sadhana and leaves his mother

Things finally seem to be looking up for Alekh and Sadhana. Vasu had tried her best to ensure that Sadhana was out of the life of Alekh, by giving her Rs. 5 lakh to sign the divorce papers for her divorce from Alekh, along with the condition that Sadhana would not talk about this to anyone. And since Sadhana then refused to tell Alekh about this, Alekh in turn was angry with Sadhana, angry enough that he was ready to get divorced and marry Mallika (who Vasu wanted to get married to Alekh). In the midst of all this, Ragini got the shock of her life when she got to hear of everything that Sadhana had done, and she went ahead and told her own family all about this. And so there was a plan made to get Vasu to reveal all this to Alekh so that he would finally believe that Sadhana was the correct one, and that Vasu was the one who was driving everything.
So, in the engagement party of Alekh and Mallika, before the actual engagement could happen, Sadhana's mamiji, who had resolved to do everything to ensure that Sadhana and Alekh get back together, goes to the party, and after first starting off things on a very polite and friendly note, confronts Vasu about her role in the divorce. Finally, they are able to provoke Vasu to the extent that she reveals all about her role in ensuring that Sadhana was forced to sign the divorce papers. When Alekh hears this, he is upset, and wants to go and get his wife, Sadhana back (he was always in love with her, but was angry about why she was willing to divorce him, and not tell him the actual reasons). Vasu states that she will not let Sadhana get back into the house, at which Alekh says that he will not let anything come between him and Sadhana. Finally Sadhana seems to be heading for happiness.

Na Aana Is Des Ladoo - Ammaji trying other tactics to put a lot of load on Sia after Raghav accepted her

It was a very surprising scene, and not what a lot of fans of Sia would have thought. After all, she had sworn to take revenge against everybody who had mis-treated her and her father, and for that, she had taken up position in Ammaji's house as a servant. And for that, Ammaji, who never trusted her, first made sure that she knew her position very clearly in the house, and treated her exactly like a servant, and not like a daughter-in-law; to the extent that when the DM came to their house for taking one of the ladies for the night, Ammaji put Sia also on display.
And yet, the makers of the serial have shown some stuff that is certainly not part of revenge. Even though Ammaji showed no signs of changing any of her behavior, and remained as evil as ever, Sia saved her life when she was shot by a bullet. And for that, Ammaji had not the slightest amount of gratitude. In fact, Ammaji was planning to get a new daughter-in-law for Raghav, something that he was going through. But it seemed like the ploy that Sia had was to get Raghav won over and respect her as a wife, and he finally accepted her (hardly a mark of revenge, given that Raghav was complicit in many of Ammaji's crimes). It was only when Raghav has accepted her that her status has changed in the household; but even then, Ammaji has not left any chance to still try and get Sia away from Raghav. She managed to persuade Sia not to have a physical relationship with Raghav for 3 months since this has been recommended by the family priest, and then is subjecting Sia to a lot of pressure in the kitchen, making her cook the food for the entire family.

PALKO KI CHAAON MEIN - AT CROSSROADS

Palkon Ki Chchaon Mein, NDTV Imagine’s Prime time serial is at cross roads in terms of its lead pair’s future course of life. The story is about an orphaned girl by the name of Suman and her journey. The story began with Suman, an orphaned girl who goes to the house of her close friend to attend a wedding. There her dream of finding acceptance in a loving family comes true. Every member of this big, traditional household takes a liking to her soft charm. Soon she becomes the darling of Kadambari, the younger daughter-in-law of the family’s patriarch. She secretly desires to marry off Suman to her eldest son Kartik.

Unbeknownst to any one else, Karan, Kadambari’s youngest son, falls in love with Suman and woos her desperately. As she is about to realise her true feelings for Karan, Kadambari declares to Suman that she had selected the latter for kartik. Unwilling to let down Kadambari who had loved her like a mother, Suman decides to go away till Kartik uncovers the truth of the two lovers and decides to get them married. Initially there is some opposition, as Suman is an orphan, but soon everyone gives in (primarily due to Kartik’s efforts) and Karan and Suman get married amidst a lot of festivities. However destiny had its own plans for Suman.

Soon after marriage they set out for their honeymoon trip and on their way, Karan meets with a fatal accident and dies. Life and widowhood comes crashing down on Suman. She is treated like a curse by her beloved mother-in-law Kadambari, who holds her responsible for her son’s death. Made to sleep outside the house with the cows, ill-treated by the cunning aunt (Buaji) and misunderstood by one and all, Suman’s life loses it rainbow hues like her saree. After the rituals are over she is made to leave the house by Kadambari. Her uncle-in-law refusing to accept this unjust act walks out with her and find shelter in his widowed friend’s house.

Kartik has been a pillar of support for Suman all this while. But now his mother wants him to marry Nandini and shun out even the shadow of Suman. Suman too finds herself becoming the object of affection of her uncle’s widowed friend. Whether destiny will now be kind to Suman; whether Kartik will be able to own up to his real feelings for her (despite the fact that she is his younger brother’s widow); whether Kadambari will forgive Suman and move on are questions to which the serial will have to find answers. What direction Suman’s life takes from here on will be indeed interesting to watch.

Sadhana kicked out of the house in Bidaai

Finally, it happened. Hindi TV serials are pretty well known for trying to twist stories, and for showing a lot of bad things happening before things get better. They seem to live up to the saying, "If you do a good deed, you will get punished". So it is with Sadhana, who only states the truth when she is asked the question in court. When the trial of Ranveer is ongoing, the final question is when Sadhana is asked to testify and she states the truth. As a result, Ranveer is sentenced to an year's jail term.
However, this has a lot of repercussions. Sadhana is blamed by everyone for doing this to Ranveer, with Vasu turning her out of the house. Alekh also blames her for this and does not stand by her, even though he does love her. In her own house also, her mami of course does not support her and blames her for whatever is happening; and this is troubled by the fact that Ragini was pregnant, and lost her baby due to the shock.
In all this, the only person who stands by Sadhana is her mamaji, who lays down the law in the house that Sadhana will stay there, and no one will say anything to her.

Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai on Star Plus - Problems for the lady

Akshara is running into multiple problems on Yeh Rishta Kya Kahlata Hain on Star Plus. A lot of this is just miscommunication and wrong thoughts, and also due to a different level of conservative behavior between the 2 families.
Akshara is from a family where there is less conservatism, where the daughter-in-laws of the house are not supposed to have purdah all the time, and she has got married into a house which is much more conservative. The morals of this house are run by the grandfather, and he is much more conservative. And this is where Akshara has got caught.
She was already lonely when Naitik went to Delhi for some work, but was unable to take Akshara since his grandfather did not see a reason to combine work and pleasure, and thus this was the first time after marriage that Akshara was left at home while Naitik was out of town. And then the incident happened, where Akshara had gone with her brother and sister-in-law out to enjoy, and the grandfather saw her outside, without her pallu over head. He was shocked, and scolded her mother-in-law for not inculcating the proper morals in her, and this was further told to Akshara, increasing the distance between her and the elders in the house.

Sia to stage a fight back in 'Na Aana Iss Desh Ladoo'

Na Aana Iss Desh Ladoo is portraying the concept of a village where the women are terrorised, where they have no rights other than to portray the role of mothers who give birth to male children, who are thrown into small locker like rooms if they do show some spirit or some sign of resistance. And the surprising concept was that this entire repression is lead by another lady, Ammaji, a strong willed matriarch who leads this effort to maintain the male dominance. It is she who sends her daughter-in-laws to repression, who gets the female babies killed, who breaks up education campaigns for the women in the village.
And then there was somebody who stood up to her, and this was the daughter, Sia, of the new village doctor. She tried to give the women right to education, and then she fell in love with this guy. At that time, there was a hunch, that something would happen such that Sia would eventually land up in the household of Ammaji, and this is what eventually ends up happening. Even though Sia knew that the person she loved was the son of Ammaji, she eventually gave in to his persuasion (they have portrayed as very stupid, in my opinion), and married him.
And then it happened. As per Ammaji's plan, Ammaji hired somebody to portray as if Sia had a loose character, got her hauled before the Panchayat, got the Panchayat to punish her father (after beating her father up when he came to protest) by blackening his face. Now, Sia must be totally destroyed. And this is where the serial now seems to be showing a fight back. Sia vows to destroy Ammaji's house from inside, by acting like a Durga in her house. Will she manage to live up to this promise ?

Bandini - the serial by Balaji Telefilms on NDTV Imagine

Bandini is a brand new serial on NDTV Imagine, scripted by Ekta Kapoor (Balaji Telefilms). Ever since television channels starting giving up on traditional saas-bahu serials, Balaji has changed track to some degree and now focuses on different serials. Bandini is a different type of serial, but there are some commonalities that one can still see - the portrayal of a bitchy elder relation (in this case, the elder sister-in-law who treats the young bride as a maid brings back some of the character traits seen in the earlier serials). Bandini is supposed to be based on the Gujarati novel Retpankhi, written by Varsha Adalja in 1972.



Bandini is the story of a young illiterate lower caste girl 18 year girl called Santu (played by Aasiya Kazi) who lives in a fictional village called Dharampur, near Surat, in Gujarat state, western India. This is a belt that is the center of the diamond exporting industry, and the village's richest man and the 'malik' is played Ronit Roy, who plays the role of Dharamraj Mahiyavanshi. He is a good man, middle aged (51 years old) who is a widower. He has multiple sons and daughters, some adult, and some teenagers. He also runs an empire with more than 2000 workers employed by him, and has tended to become egoistical with age.
Dharamraj's first wife Subadra died 7 yrs ago. He has three sons, Hiten (23 years old), Maulik (19 years old) and Suraj (7 years old), and two daughters (Kadambarai alias Kaddu, 20 years old) and Birwa (14 years old). The children have been care for by Dharamaraj's unmarried elder sister, Tarulata, who is very aware of caste and class, and uses that as a basis to essentially hate Santo.
However, for Santu, her life takes a drastic turn, when in a sequence of events, an office boy Mahesh is supposed to marry Khemi, Santo's sister (so that Santo's father cannot leave the factory). However, Khemi's horoscope has a problem, and then Santo is set to marry Mahesh. However, Dharamraj's rivals arrange to make Mahesh run away, and in order to pacify the agitated workers, Dharamraj decides to marry Santo, as a marriage of convenience. Also, his priest tells him that Santo is a good choice in terms of horoscope. And thus starts Santo's life change. She is now part of a rich household, married to a much older man, who really does not care for her and who still is devoted to his dead wife.
Santo tries to do good all around, helping out in a situation where the family and the factory desperately needs a new contract, helping in the process to also bring back the disgraced son Hiten who turns out good in the end. She is now in a new issue where the daughter of the house is romantically involved with the son of the rival (who wants to use her to settle scores), and when she is set to be engaged to the son of old family friends (and the son of that family was in love with Santo earlier). Such a combination of events can only be spun by Ekta Kapoor.

Videos of Bandini 4th June on Youtube:

Part 1


Part2


Part3


Part 4

Saat Phere - Saloni Ka Safar comes to an end

Saat Phere - Saloni Ka Safar is finally coming to an end, around 3 years after it was first launched. Saat Phere was an attempt to be slightly different from the normal concept of bad mother-in-law's, deceitful daughters and daughter-in-laws, and fights between cousins that were normally shown in different serials. This was the serial that tried to show the struggles that a dark-skinned girl normally faces in life, be it parents who care a bit more for the fairer daughter, or the fairer daughter who thinks much more highly of herself because of her looks and beauty. So the struggle of the loving and confident but dark daughter to hold her position in society was remarkable, and this happened for some time in the serial.
However, like any other serial that has to go on and on, compromises were made in order to keep the serial going, and so you had the concept of the girl becoming the loving daughter of a richer household and keeping the house safe from the various threats against it. Many times her family lost faith in her, but she struggled on, with the same villains coming again and again (Jiji fought the household multiple times, but no one else seemed to be able to do anything except for Saloni who kept on fighting her).
And then, the unthinkable - Jiji attacked Saloni's husband Nahar, and strangely, even Saloni was unable to save Nahar. However, by this time, the serial had lost the charm, and people had started moving away from the serial. So, then the producers played the ultimate weapon, a time shift, moving away to a time when Saolini had been imprisoned for Jiji's death, her family had moved away from her by blaming her for Nahar's death, and the next generation stories being played out. Saloni's daughter was known as the daughter of the maid, and hence did not have the same status in the house.



Aborted marriage of Saawri

Balika Vadhu on Colors - the entry of Farida Jalal

So far, Balika Vadhu on Colors was showing the extremely bad side of female repression, where in a twist, women in the household are in fact suppressed by the matriarch of the house herself. It is the grand-mother Kalyani who sets the agenda for everybody in the house, who decides on the limited freedom that women of the house have, and so on.
So, you have a household where widows are seen as people who have a bad fate, who are to be avoided, and who have a dark life without color. The same fate befalls Sugna, even though her grandmother deeply loves her, and ensures that Sugna does not go to her in-laws house where she would be blamed for the death of her husband. Similarly, Gehna, the new daughter-in-law should not have any independent feelings, and be totally subservient to her husband and family.
In the midst of all these backward customs and rituals, comes in Farida Jalal as the elder sister of Kalyani, who tries to make sure that things change for the better. So, Farida Jalaal learns about the customs and problems in the house and tries to make the required changes, once intervening in a dispute with a neighbor that she resolves without any force, just through persuasion. She tries to get Anandi more rights, and seems to be succeeding to some degree. In the same way, she is trying to get more rights for Gehna and Sugna, so that they do not feel stifled in the house, but she is running into a now rebellious Kalyani, who tells her a few things. As a result, Farida Jalal has now seemingly left the house.