| 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 | 901 as of January 6, 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 | Approx. 18 minutes |
| Production company(s) | Sphereorigins Multivision Pvt. Ltd |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | Colors |
| Picture format | 720i, (SDTV) |
| Original run | July 21, 2008 – Present |
| External links | |
| Website | |
Balika Vadhu—Kachchi Umar Ke Pakke Rishte is a highly 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 Chinnari Pellikuthuru in Telugu. The story deals with child marriage, a social custom that is formally outlawed in India but still prevails in parts of the country. The show has ruled Indian television and has always been popular. It has enjoyed high ratings since the first episode. Recently Iss Pyaar Ko Kya Naam Doon? has given it tough competition because of being telecast at the same time (8 PM) but Balika Vadhu has re-gained the top rank.
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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 faces some health problems, so Kalyani to get Jagdish married for a second time, to a girl named Gudiya. Bhairon and others object, so the marriage is immediately annulled. The family decides to keep Jagdish and Anandi apart till they grow up. Anandi goes back to her parental village.
On July 22, 2010 the show takes a five-year leap. Anandi and Jagdish have grown up. Anandi returns to Jagdish's house but she 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. This 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 mocks Anandi for leaving her studies early, hurting her a lot. Anandi meets her former teacher Sandhya who is saddened by the fact that Anandi gave up her studies. Sandhya tells Anandi that she wants her help in preventing child marriages but feels that Anandi is too weak to do anything. Anandi begins to realize her mistake. 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 close to each other. This soon turns into passionate love. Anandi discovers this on a trip to Mumbai, where Jagdish tells her that they live in two different worlds and greatly insults her. He also introduces her to his friends as a distant relative. Anandi decides that she is going to resume her studies which she had given up because of Kalyani's disapproval. The family learns that Jagdish pretends he is from a rich family in Jaipur and is not married. Everyone is heartbroken, but they forgive him.
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 values and respect for elders. He expresses his wish to settle down in Mumbai, far away from his family. 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 Gauri and everything else Jagdish has been up to. Shocked, he declares that Jagdish is dead to him. 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 who he is and about Anandi. She also remembers that he was the one to whom she got married in childhood. When Jagdish meets Gauri, she tells him the truth about her and 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 Gauri's parents. Gauri wants to meet her in-laws and get their blessings, so they both go to Jagdish's house. Jagdish believes that Kalyani still loves him. However, Kalyani reprimands him and breaks all ties with him. Jagdish then tells everyone that Gauri is Gudiya. He claims that he has only corrected a mistake made by his grandmother. Kalyani becomes heartbroken, believing herself to be the cause of all the problems.
Kalyani falls ill and loses her consciousness just as Anandi decides to leave the house. With that everybody's attention turns to Kalyani. Jagadish and Gauri, being doctors, try to resuscitate Kalyani. Despite all this, the entire family dislikes Gauri and refuses to accept her. Kalyani gets better. Later on, Gauri insults Anandi. Sumitra talks to Gauri and tells her about how Anandi had saved Jagdish's life in childhood.
Bhagwati and Khajan reprimand Jagdish for being deceitful. Bhagwati wants to take Anandi back with her but Anandi refuses and says that she now belongs to her in-laws. When Jagdish and Gauri are leaving, Gauri again 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.
Meanwhile, Bhagwati and Khajan go to meet Sandhya. They beg her to give Anandi a new life. Sandhya then goes to meet Anandi, who is overjoyed. Anandi tells her that she wants to serve people as a teacher. She starts a school for the villagers. At first nobody joins her class but slowly many begin to participate.
It is revealed that Gauri is pregnant. A few days after this, a boy named Shravan meets Anandi to seek her help to find a job for himself. Anandi finds employment for Shravan in Basant's mill. On the day of Diwali, the idol of the family deity in Anandi's home goes missing. With the help of Shravan, Anandi finds the idol. However, after a few days, Anandi goes missing and Shravan's parents produce some evidence that suggests she has eloped with Shravan. 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. Anandi and she tries to escape but is unable to go very far. Jagdish rescues Anandi and takes her home, after which he is seen lost in thoughts of her. Anandi is hated by the people in the village who think she had eloped. Anandi and her family track down Shravan and force him to confess. Anandi is proved innocent. The headman (Sarpanch) of Jetsar asks her to be the next sarpanch of the village. Initially she refuses but her in-laws encourage her to take up the post. Thus Anandi becomes the new sarpanch of the village.
Anandi's friend Phooli (Mamta Chaturya), who is a child widow, gets re-married and gives birth to a son. However, her 'marriage' turned out to be part of a custom called naata pratha. Her 'husband' already has another wife who is childless. After Phooli's delivery, her in-laws throw her out of the house as they are only interested in the baby. Anandi takes up the issue and goes to court, where Phooli gets her baby's custody.
The show was a smash hit when it hit the television soaps bandwagon. It immediately got the needed popularity and was appreciated by viewers. It was considered as a path breaking show and it paved the way for many more shows depicting village life and social evils. The story, characters and setup were admired and appreciated by all for authenticity. The series has received highest television ratings among most shows on other Indian television channels.[1] The series has received the "Best Drama Series (Fiction)" award at the Apsara Guild Awards.[2] Baalika Vadhu is now the No. 1 ranked show in India in the month of May/June/July according to trp rating.
Balika Vadhu took centre stage in the National Politics when members of Janata Dal (United) raised serious objections to the show's content and demanded it be taken off-air.[3] They said the serial was glorifying child marriage and the I&B Ministry should act against it. However, the show never went off-air but started showing slogans at the beginning and at the end depicting the negative effects of child marriage.
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