Anita Kulkarni

Anita Mandar Kulkarni

Balika Vadhu (transl. The Child Bride) is an Indian soap opera that aired on Colors TV between 21 July 2008 to 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. Background The show consists of two parts. The first part, Balika Vadhu – Kacchi Umar Ke Pakke Rishte (transl. The Child Bride – Strong Relatio...

Balika Vadhu (transl. The Child Bride) is an Indian soap opera that aired on Colors TV between 21 July 2008 to 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. Background The show consists of two parts. The first part, Balika Vadhu – Kacchi Umar Ke Pakke Rishte (transl. The 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 (transl. The 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. Plot 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. Part 1: Kacchi Umar Ke Pakke Rishte An 8-year-old girl, Anandi is married to Jagdish "Jagya" Singh. Her schoolteacher fails in trying to stop the marriage. Jagya's widowed sister, Sugna, whose husband dies on the day they were supposed to marry, faces difficulty remarrying as she is pregnant. Though a local, Shyam asks Sugna's hand in marriage, Jagya doesn't approve of it. Later Jagdish and Anandi have final exams where Jagya performs poorly and fakes his report card. Jagya's father, Bhairon finds about it so he runs away to Mumbai, where some goons kidnap him. Anandi is shot while saving him, though she recovers. Later, Jagya's grandmother gets him married to a girl named Gauri, while still being married to Anandi; the maha panchayat declares it illegal. Since both Jagya and Anandi are going through changes, their families decide that they should stay away from each other until they're both adolescents worries that they may take a wrong step in their youth. 5 years later, Anandi returns to her in laws. Jagdish and Anandi are in love. Jagya is motivated to become a doctor when he is unable to find a doctor for an injured Anandi and goes to Mumbai to study. In meantime, he falls in love with his colleague, Gauri and insults Anandi for being uneducated. 4 years later, Jagdish completes his MBBS and wants to work and live in Mumbai. He meets Gauri again and decides to leave Anandi to marry her. They get married; Gauri believing that his child marriage is invalid. However, his family rejects them, leading Gauri to become vengeful towards them, which in turn disrupts her marital life with Jagdish. Bhairon asks Anandi to file a case against Jagdish, but she refuses, accepting his and Gauri's marriage. Meanwhile, Anandi completes her graduation and educates village girls, campaigns against child marriage, and becomes the Sarpanch Bitiya of Jaitsar, and meets district collector Shivraj Shekhar who is impressed by her. She sends divorce papers to Jagya, which he angrily signs. Jagya and Anandi get divorced and Anandi tries to move on. Meanwhile, Jagya gets to know how Gauri had separated him from his family and divorces her for cheating and vows to reunite with Anandi. However, Anandi having moved on, marries Shivraj, forgives Jagya, and moves to Udaipur. Anandi starts her own NGO and works for welfare of women, orphan children, physically handicapped and old age homes. Sanchi, Shivraj's sister, develops a crush on Jagya. She however tries to create trouble in his family by creating misunderstandings and manipulating people. They get engaged and he returns to Mumbai to study. Six months later, he realizes that she only wants to marry him out of spite and calls-off the wedding. He marries Ganga, who was also a victim of child marriage, a girl whom he helped her get freed from her husband and in-laws who harassed her and get her educated as a nurse, and adopts her son Mannu while giving birth to their child Abhimanyu. Meanwhile, Jagya runs for political office and becomes the Vidhya of Jaitsar. Anandi and Shivraj adopt a disabled orphan Amol, treat him and reunite him with his parents. Shivraj dies while trying to stop a terrorist attack as Anandi delivers twins Nandini and Shivam. Akhiraj, a goon, kidnaps Nandini and renames her Nimboli for marriage to his son Kundan. 11 years later, Jagya traces Nandini, and Akhiraj is arrested but escapes custody and kills Anandi as she protects her children. Jagya fatally shoots him, but the twins fall into a river and presumably die. They however survive and are put into an orphanage. They are separated when Shivam is arrested for murdering a man who tried to rape Nandini. Part 2: Lamhe Pyaar Ke 15 years later, Nandini is a physician, driven by a promise to her dying mother to provide medical treatment throughout Rajasthan. She marries medical student Krish Malhotra, who she later learns is the step-son of Kundan. She also finds that the groom she approved for her adoptive sister Sudha is actually Shivam, who has become a gangster. She reunites with him. Kundan kidnaps her to force her to remarry him, but is killed by the police. In the epilogue, she summarizes her family history from Anandi's childhood to her present in a book titled Balika Vadhu. Cast Main Pratyusha Banerjee / Toral Rasputra as Anandi Shivraj Shekhar — Khajaan and Bhagwati's daughter; Shivraj's wife; Shivam and Nandini's mother; Krish and Sudha's mother-in-law (2010–2016) Avika Gor Chandwani as child Anandi (2008–2010) Shashank Vyas / Shakti Anand as Jagdish Singh — Bhairon and Sumitra's son; Sugna's brother; Nandkishore and Bhairavi's cousin; Ganga's husband; Mahendra and Abhimanyu's father; Varun and Shagun's uncle (2010–2015) Avinash Mukherjee as child Jagdish (2008–2010) Sidharth Shukla as Shivraj Shekhar — Anoop and Meenakshi's son; Anandi's husband; Shivam and Nandini's father; Krish and Sudha's father-in-law (2012–2015) Sriti Jha / Sargun Mehta / Aasiya Kazi as Ganga Jagdish Singh — Jagdish's wife; Mahendra and Abhimanyu's mother; Varun and Shagun's aunt (2013–2016) Roshni Walia as child Ganga (2013) Mahhi Vij as Nandini Krish Malhotra — Shivraj and Anandi's daughter; Shivam's sister; Krish's wife (2016) Gracy Goswami as child Nandini (2015–2016) Dishank Arora as Shivam Shekhar — Shivraj and Anandi's son; Nandini's brother; Sudha's husband (2016) Viren Vazirani as child Shivam (2015–2016) Ruslaan Mumtaz as Krish Malhotra — Karuna's son; Nandini's husband (2016) Yukti Kapoor as Sudha Shivam Shekhar — Naren and Yamuna's daughter; Shivam's wife (2016) Recurring Chetanya Adib as Khajaan Singh: Bhagwati's husband; Anandi's father; Shivam and Nandini's grandfather (2008–2015) Bhairavi Raichura as Bhagwati Singh: Khajaan's wife; Anandi's mother; Shivam and Nandini's grandmother (2008–2012) Surekha Sikri Rege as Kalyani Singh: Matriarch of Singhs; Dharamveer's wife; Bhairon's mother; Basant's adoptive mother; Jagdish and Sugna's grandmother; Nandkishore and Bhairavi's adoptive grandmother; Abhimanyu, Varun and Shagun's great-grandmother (2008–2016) Anup Soni as Bhairon Singh: Sumitra's husband; Jagdish and Sugna's father; Nandkishore and Bhairavi's uncle; Abhimanyu, Varun and Shagun's grandfather (2008–2014) Smita Bansal Mohla as Sumitra Singh: Bhairon's wife; Jagdish and Sugna's mother; Nandkishore and Bhairavi's aunt; Abhimanyu, Varun and Shagun's grandmother (2008–2014) Sachin Shroff as Shyam Singh: Madan and Radha's son; Sugna's husband; Varun and Shagun's father; Abhimanyu's uncle (2010–2013) Vikrant Massey as teenage Shyam (2008–2010) Janvi Chheda as Sugna Singh: Bhairon and Sumitra's daughter; Shyam's wife; Varun and Shagun's mother; Abhimanyu's aunt (2010–2013) Veebha Anand as teenage Sugna (2008–2010) Rajendra Gupta as Mahaveer Singh: Basant's father; Bhairon's uncle; Nandkishore and Bhairavi's grandfather (2008–2012) Satyajit Sharma as Basant Singh: Jamuna's widower; Gehna's husband; Nandkishore and Bhairavi's father; Jagdish and Sugna's uncle (2008–2014) Neha Marda Agarwal as Gehna Singh: Basant's widow; Niranjan's wife; Nandkishore and Bhairavi's mother; Jagdish and Sugna's aunt (2008–2012) Sheetal Khandal replaced Agarwal as Gehna (2012–2015) Sanjay Basak as Nandkishore "Nandu" Singh: Basant and Gehna's son; Bhairavi's brother; Jagdish and Sugna's cousin; Varun, Shagun, Mahendra and Abhimanyu's uncle (2014–2015) Rishi Sonecha / Keval Katrodia / Mayur Mondal as child Nandkishore (2010–2014) Vinay Yadav as Maakhan: a maid in Kalyani's house Farida Jalal as Vasundhara Devi: Kalyani's elder sister; Dharamveer's sister-in-law; Bhairon's aunt (2009-2012) Rahul Lohani as Niranjan: Gehna's music teacher and second husband; Nandu and Bhairavi's step-father (2009–2010; 2014–2015) Shashwat Joshi as Abhimanyu "Abhi" Singh: Jagdish and Ganga's son; Mahendra's half-brother; Varun and Shagun's cousin (2015) Mamta Chaturya as Phooli: Anandi's best friend since childhood (2010–2012) Faiza Faiz as child Phooli (2008–2010) Pankaj Jha Kashyap as Meena's elder brother (2010) Pushpendra Singh as Jagan: Phooli's father Shivshakti Sachdev as Champa: Anandi's childhood friend; Gulli's mother (2008) Nidhi Jha and Sonam Lamba as Gulli: Lalan and Champa's daughter; Hardik's wife (2011–2014) Netra Kapoor / Digangana Suryavanshi as child Gulli Kishan Bhan as Shambhu: Gehna, Kanchan and Rama's father; Nandu and Bhairavi's grandfather Chitra Jetly/Unknown as Urmila: Gehna, Kanchan and Rama's mother; Nandu and Bhairavi's grandmother Garima Anand as Kanchan: Manish's wife Jehangir Vakil as Pratap: Hukum and Meena's son; Sugna's late husband; Varun's father (2008–2009) (Dead) Shivansh Kotia and Rudra Soni as Varun Singh: Pratap and Sugna's son; Shyam's step-son; Shagun's half-brother; Abhimanyu's cousin; Mannu's step-cousin (2010)/(2011–2013) Unknown/Yamini Makwana as Shagun: Shyam and Sugna's daughter; Varun's younger half-sister; Abhimanyu's cousin; Mannu's step-cousin (2010)/(2011–2013) Amar Sharma as Madan Singh: Radha's husband; Shyam's father; Varun's step-grandfather; Shagun's grandfather (2008–2014) Asmita Sharma/Rashmi Shaw as Madan's wife; Shyam's mother; Varun's step-grandmother; Shagun's grandmother (2008–2010) Sudhir Pandey as Premkishore Shekhar: Anoop and Alok's father; Shiv, Sanchi and Mahi's grandfather; Nandini and Shivam's great-grandfather; Amol's adoptive great-grandfather (2012–2015) Avinash Wadhawan / Akshay Anand as Anoop Shekhar: Premkishore's elder son; Alok's elder brother; Meenakshi's husband; Shiv and Mahi's father; Nandini and Shivam's grandfather; Amol's adoptive grandfather (2013–2015) Anita Kulkarni as Meenakshi Shekhar: Anoop's wife; Shiv and Mahi's mother; Nandini and Shivam's grandmother; Amol's adoptive grandmother (2012–2015) Jaineeraj Rajpurohit as Alok Shekhar: Premkishore's younger son; Anoop's younger brother; Iravati's husband; Saanchi's father (2012–2015) Sonal Jha as Iravati Shekhar: Alok's wife; Saanchi's mother (2012–2015) Roop Durgapal as Sanchi Shekhar Kabra: Alok and Iravati's daughter; Shiv and Mahi's cousin; Vivek's wife (2012–2015) Abhishek Tewari as Mahi Shekhar: Anoop and Meenakshi's younger son; Shivraj's younger brother; Sanchi's cousin; Nandini and Shivam's uncle (2012–2014) Khushmeet Gill/Shubham Jha as Raju Mehta/Amol Shekhar: Shiv and Anandi's adopted son; Nandini and Shivam's adopted brother (2014–2015) Sushmita Mukherjee as Subhadra "Swananda": Premkishore's younger sister; Hardik's grandmother (2014–2015) Gaurav Bajaj as Hardik: Subhadra's grandson; Gulli's husband (2014) Bobby Parvez as Roshan Kabra: Suman's husband, Vivek, Saurabh and Rakhi's father (2014) Shalini Arora as Suman Kabra: Roshan's wife; Vivek, Saurabh and Rakhi's mother (2014–2015) Vimarsh Roshan as Advocate Vivek Kabra: Roshan and Suman's elder son; Saurabh and Rakhi's elder brother; Saanchi's husband (2013–2015) Farhina Parvez Jarimari as Rakhi Kabra: Roshan and Suman's younger daughter; Vivek and Saurabh's younger sister (2014) Abhijit Lahiri as Ramcharan Singh: Madan's elder brother (2009–2010) Zubeida Verma as Ramcharan's wife Smita Dongre as Kamla: Gauri's mother Unknown/Sunil Chauha