Monika Singh

''Mann Kee Awaaz Pratigya'' () is an Indian drama television series that aired on STAR Plus. The series premiered on 7 December 2009 and ended on 27 October 2012. It starred Pooja Gor and Arhaan Behll. All episodes of the series re-telecasted at Star Bharat from October 2020 to March 2021. A new season of the series, ''Mann Kee Awaaz Pratigya 2'', premiered on 15 March 2021 on Star Bharat, produced by Director's Kut Productions.

Plot

The story focuses on a young, strong-minded woman, Pratigya Saxena, who will go to any length to fight for her rights, and Krishna Singh Thakur, an uneducated goon. The Thakurs, headed by Krishna's father, Sajjan Singh Thakur, hold power in Allahabad, and are rooted deep in tradition and superstition. The Saxena family, however, are traditional but believe in progressive thinking and educating their daughters Pratigya and Aarushi.

Krishna, Pratigya's secret admirer, forces her to marry him. To protect Pratigya, her elder brother Adarsh marries Komal, Krishna's younger sister. Pratigya is not satisfied with her marriage, but over time she realizes Krishna's genuine love for her and makes it her mission to change Krishna’s patriarchal views and ways. Meanwhile, she is constantly taunted by her in-laws, while Krishna’s elder brother, Shakti, beats his wife, Kesar, regularly.

Angad, Pratigya's stalker from college, is killed in an altercation between him and Adarsh. Pratigya’s father takes the blame but is proven innocent by an advocate, Aman Mathur, despite Sajjan’s efforts to influence the case. Krishna, shocked by Pratigya’s duplicity, leaves the home and is injured. She later finally confesses her love to him, and they consummate their marriage. Meanwhile, Aarushi falls for Aman and their marriage is fixed, while his younger brother, Jay, intentionally hits Adarsh with his father's car, causing serious injury and forcing him to walk on a wheelchair. Pratigya and Krishna, smelling foul, find out that Aman is cheating on Aarushi and disclose this to Aman’s father (a police officer who has a rivalry with Sajjan), who calls off the wedding. Aarushi, swearing revenge, marries Shakti, despite the law declaring bigamy to be illegal, and impresses the Thakurs. She later realizes her mistake and leaves Shakti.

Pratigya finds out about Krishna’s lie of getting a job and is heartbroken. During the Holi celebrations, Krishna’s cousin, Radhe, misbehaves with Pratigya. Learning this, Krishna chases him, who unintentionally shoots Pratigya. After her recovery, Krishna starts his food business but Radhe destroys it. Pratigya’s mother-in-law, conspiring to separate Krishna and Pratigya, attempts suicide, and Pratigya is blamed by Sajjan and Krishna. Krishna later learns the truth and tries to reunite with Pratigya, who reluctantly accepts him. Sajjan soon marries a younger woman, Ganga, but learns of her affair with a man and is convinced to let her go.

4 years later, Shakti, while beating Kesar, causes her to lose her mind, causing her to be mentally unstable. As a result, Pratigya starts caring for Shakti and Kesar's son, Samar. Shakti marries Menaka, who wants to usurp the property of the Thakur family. Abhimanyu Singh Yadav, Sajjan's illegitimate son, emerges and stakes claim to his rights and starts planning against the family. Meanwhile, in the Saxena household, Tanmay Srivastav, Aarushi's husband, plans to kill Adarsh and frames Krishna for Adarsh's murder after killing him. Later, Pratigya, with the help of her lawyer, proves Krishna innocent and Tanmay is sentenced to life imprisonment, divorced by Aarushi. Abhimanyu too tries to kill Komal and her daughter Chinky when Komal finds out his true colors, but both are saved by Kartik, Krishna and Pratigya. Abhimanyu's truth comes in front of everyone, and he is arrested. Later, Komal marries Kartik after Chinky pleads and requests Sajjan Singh for the marriage. Krishna's mother returns after a long struggle, but Sajjan initially rejects her for staying with another man. He later accepts her on Dussehra when she tries to kill herself. The show takes a leap when Pratigya and Krishna officially adopt Samar. The show ends with Pratigya giving birth to a daughter, and the whole family celebrates.

Cast

Main

* Pooja Gor as Pratigya Saxena Singh Thakur: Naina and Shyam's elder daughter; Adarsh and Aarushi's sister; Krishna's wife; Kriti's mother; Samar's adoptive mother (2009−2012)
* Arhaan Behll as Krishna Singh Thakur: Sajjan and Sumitra's younger son; Shakti and Komal's brother; Abhimanyu's half-brother; Pratigya's husband; Kriti's father; Samar's adoptive father (2009−2012)

Recurring

* Parvati Sehgal as Komal Singh Thakur Saxena: Sajjan and Sumitra's daughter; Shakti and Krishna's younger sister; Abhimanyu's half-sister; Adarsh's widow; Kartik's wife; Chinky's mother (2009–2012)
* Shahab Khan as Shyam Saxena: Naina's widower; Adarsh, Pratigya and Aarushi's father; Chinky and Kriti's grandfather (2009–2012)
* Monica Singh as Naina Saxena: Shyam's wife; Adarsh, Pratigya and Aarushi's mother; Chinky and Kriti's grandmother (2009–2011) (Dead)
* Avantika Hundal as Aarushi Saxena: Naina and Shyam's younger daughter; Adarsh and Pratigya's sister; Shakti and Tanmay's ex-wife.
* Ankit Gera / Aniruddh Singh as Adarsh Saxena: Naina and Shyam's son; Pratigya and Aarushi's brother; Komal's husband; Chinky's father (2009–2011) / (2012) (Dead)
* Drishti Hemdev as Chinky Saxena: Adarsh and Komal's daughter (2011–2012)
* Arya Dhramchand Kumar / Malhar Pandya as Kartik Saxena: Komal's second husband (2012)
* Kunal Karan Kapoor as Angad Yadav: Thug; Pratigya and Komal's foe (2010) (Dead)
* Mrunal Jain as ASP Iqbal Khan IPS Officer: Shyam's student; Pratigya and Aarushi's childhood friend; Krishna and Komal's wellwisher (2009–2012)
*Anupam Shyam as Sajjan Singh Thakur: Sumitra's husband; Shakti, Krishna, Komal and Abhimanyu's father; Chinky, Samar and Kriti's grandfather (2009–2012)
* Asmita Sharma as Sumitra Singh Thakur: Sankata's sister; Sajjan's wife; Shakti, Krishna and Komal's mother; Chinky, Samar and Kriti's grandmother (2009–2012)
* Jaswant Menaria as Shakti Singh Thakur: Sajjan and Sumitra's elder son; Krishna and Komal's brother; Abhimanyu's half-brother; Kesar and Menaka's husband; Samar's father; Aarushi's ex–husband (2009–2012)
* Kalpna Bohra / Aalika Sheikh as Kesar Shakti Singh Thakur: Shakti's first wife; Samar's mother (2009–2012)
* Eklavya Ahir as Samar Singh Thakur: Kesar and Shakti's son; Krishna and Pratigya's adopted son (2011–2012)
* Soni Singh as Menaka Singh Thakur: Shakti's second wife (2011)
* Asha Sharma as Mrs. Saxena: Shyam's mother; Adarsh, Pratigya and Aarushi's grandmother (2009–2012)
* Mohit Malik as Advocate Abhimanyu Singh Yadav: Sajjan and Shakuntala's son; Shakti, Krishna and Komal's half-brother (2011–2012)
* Abhishek Rawat as Tanmay Srivastav: Aarushi's ex-husband; Adarsh's murderer
* Amita Udgata as Mrs. Singh Thakur: Sajjan's mother; Shakti, Krishna, Komal and Abhimanyu's grandmother
* Akhilendra Mishra as Sankata Singh: Sumitra's brother
* Sana Amin Sheikh as Ganga: Sajjan's mistress (2011)
* Deeya Chopra as Anu Mathur: Aman's wife (2011)
* Piyush Sahdev as Advocate Aman Mathur: Sarveshwardayal's second son; Gaurav and Jay's brother; Aarushi's ex-fiancé; Anu's husband (2010–2011)
* Sachin Sharma as Gaurav Mathur: Sarveshwardayal's eldest son; Aman and Jay's brother; Nandini's husband (2010)
* Mayank Arora as Jay Mathur: Sarveshwardayal's youngest son; Gaurav and Aman's brother (2010)
* Chetan Pandit as I.G. Sarveshwardayal Mathur: Gaurav, Aman and Jay's father (2010)
* Sehrish Ali as Roli: Pratigya's best friend; Adarsh's lover (2010)
* Manmohan Tiwari as Radhe
* Prachi Pathak as Maayi
* Kunal Jaisingh as Sarang "Gunga" (2011)
* Kunal Madhiwala as Lucky
* Dinesh Sudarshan Soi as Jugnu
* Vinay Rajput as Tunna
* Pratima Kazmi as Guru Maa
* Sonal Jha as Shakuntala: Sajjan's mistress; Abhimanyu's mother (2012)
* Nirbhay Wadhwa as Goon
* Raj Premi as Makhnu Singh
* Jaydeep Suri as Chandu
* Abner Reginald as Judge (in Angad Yadav murder case) (2010)
* Ruchi Savarn as Sunehri (2011)
* Chaitanya Choudhury as Abhishek: Neelima's husband; Pratigya's college friend (2011)
* Akanksha Juneja as Neelima: Abhishek's wife; Pratigya's college friend (2011)
* Neha Kaul as Meera: Krishna's one–sided lover (2011)
* Deepak Advani as Mr. Batra: Abhishek and Neelima's boss (2011)
* Deepika Singh as Sandhya
* Sanaya Irani as Khushi
* Manasi Parekh as Gulaal

Production

Promotion

As a part of promotion of the series before its launch, in December 2009, a campaign was done as ''Meri Pratigya'' at Nariman Point in Mumbai where along with lead Pooja Gor, 500 women as a chain to create an awareness on eve-teasing and ill treatment of women.

Casting

Parvati Sehgal who played Komal's role in the show was originally approached for Aarushi's role but got rejected because of a look test but later got selected for Komal's role when she was approached for the second time.

Falaq Naaz was originally signed to play an uneducated village girl Shakun in the show who was Abhimanyu's wife but things couldn't work out as she chose another show of Star Plus ''Khamoshiyan'' later her role got scrapped from the show. Rohit Khurana was finalized for Krishna's role but rejected it as he was busy with ''Uttaran'' at that time.

In mid 2011, Monica Singh playing Naina quit the series and was hoped for coming back after a break. However, as she refused returning, the makers decided to end her character and she agreed to shoot for two days but did not turn up. Thus, her character was mentioned dead in a car accident.

Cancellation and future

The series was off aired in October 2012. In early 2013, the series was confirmed returning with a new season based on story of lead character Pratigya and Krishna's daughters. Neha Marda was roped as one of the leads and the pilot episode was shot and approved by the channel but the series was dropped when the discussions between the production house and channel stalled. However, on 19 February 2021, the series was confirmed returning with a new season on Star Bharat. ''Mann Kee Awaaz Pratigya 2'' premiered on 15 March 2021, is produced by former season producer Pearl Grey along with Rajan Shahi under Director's Kut Productions.

Filming

Based on the backdrop of Uttar Pradesh, Allahabad, the series was mainly filmed at sets in Film city in Mumbai while some sequences were also shot at Allahabad.

Reception

Critics

''The Indian Express'' stated, "It's a perfect Hindi heartland show - over-the-top drama and aggressive, regressive as well as progressive in characters and content."

In November 2010, ''Deccan Herald'' criticised, "The serial that broke many a record on Star Plus because of its unique anti-eve teasing storyline, seems to have changed track completely. Today, it’s boiled down to a tale where a woman is humiliated at home, her self respect trampled on by her in-laws and husband instead of portraying her to be a strong woman who stands her ground."

''The Hindu'' criticised, "From the current crop of serials, a very good example of enthusiastic consumption of a bizarre plot line is the serial “''Mann ki Awaaz Pratigya''”. The production house, Star TV, bills it a “fight against disrespect of women”. And what does the lead character do? She marries a goon who eve-teases her. Then she tells him that he can win her body but not her love. You fight disrespect by marrying the eve-teaser, taking the battle into his home."

Ratings

Pratigya opened with a rating of 3.7 TVR. As in April 2010, it was one of the top ten Hindi GEC which garnered 4.5 TVR. As in July 2010, it was at second position with ratings ranging 4 to 5.3 TVR. In weeks 24 and 25 of 2010, it garnered 4.8 and 5.5 TVRs. In week 4 of 2011, it garnered 5.7 TVR. As in week 29 of 2011, it dropped to 3.9 TVR while its peak ratings garnered were around 6 TVR in its run time. In the week ending 27 September 2011, it garnered 4.27 TVR occupying fourth position. When the ratings dropped ranging between 2 and 2.5 TVR, it was off aired in October 2012.

Awards

References

External links

Official Website
on hotstar

{{Star Plus Shows

Indian drama television series
Indian television soap operas
Television series about marriage
Television series about dysfunctional families
Domestic violence in television
Hindi-language television shows about violence against women
2009 Indian television series debuts
StarPlus original programming
2012 Indian television series endings
Television shows set in Uttar Pradesh