Astitva...Ek Prem Kahani

Astitva - Ek Prem Kahani
Niki Aneja Walia in the opening credits of Astitva - Ek Prem Kahani.
Format	Drama
Created by	Ananda Telecommunications
Directed by	Ajai Sinha
Starring	see below
Opening theme	"Astitva" by Mahalaxmi Iyer
Country of origin	India
No. of episodes	approximately 668
Production
Running time	approximately 22 minutes
Broadcast
Original channel	Zee TV
Picture format	480i (SDTV),
Original run	November 17, 2002 – January 13, 2006
External links
Website

Astitva - Ek Prem Kahani (Identity - a love story) was a Hindi-language soap opera that aired on Zee TV channel for about four years. The story focuses on the concept of women's identity through the character of Dr. Simran, who embodies patience, consistency and suppression in a subtle way. She is a gynecologist who enters a complex situation when she marries a man 10 years younger than herself. It shows the ensuing struggles in her life.

Synopsis

Astitva...Ek Prem Kahani is the story of Dr. Simran Mathur, a renowned gynecologist. Simran is the eldest daughter of senior government officer Saurabh and homemaker Padma. Simran has two younger sisters, Kavita and Rashmi. The story begins at Rashmi’s wedding. Simran’s parents worry that their eldest daughter is unmarried and in her mid-thirties. She is unable to attend the wedding because she has to operate on critically ill Anandi. Simran’s saves Anandi and her baby. Anandi’s brother, Abhimanyu Saxena (a.k.a. Abhi) is smitten by Dr. Simran. Abhi, a photographer, woos Simran, who resists his advances because he is ten years younger than her.

Simran falls in love with Abhi and, when Abhi proposes to her, she agrees. Simran's and Abhi’s parents are against this match because of the age difference. Abhi and Simran elope and get married with the help of Simran’s good friend Dr. Manas. Urmila, Dr. Manas’s wife, is against her husband’s involvement in the marriage. She is jealous of her husband's friendship with Simran. Because of the marriage, Saurabh renounces his daughter and resigns from his job. He is depressed and angry because he believes his favorite daughter ruined her life, and he finds solace in the arms of his mistress Anjali. Kavita, who lives at her parents' home with her husband Rohit, reveals that she has been feeling jealousy and bitterness for her elder sister, who always hogged their father’s attention. Kavita takes this opportunity to get back at Simran with taunts and by fueling fights with their father.

Simran and Abhi start their life living in Abhi’s studio. Abhi’s parents believe Simran seduced their young son and, to get him out of her clutches, invite the couple to live with them. Simran is mistreated at Abhi’s house, but she doesn’t complain and tries to win them over with her love. Anandi helps Simran in this endeavor. Abhi's immaturity causes some friction in their relationship, but the couple is able to work things out. Due to the mistreatment of Simran at Abhi’s house they move out and start afresh in a new place. Abhi tastes success at work and dreams of expanding his business. He employs a new assistant, Kiran, a girl who changes his life forever. Simran is thrilled to learn that she is pregnant; Abhi gets nervous about impending parenthood. He even tries to dissuade Simran from having the baby. He gets into an extramarital affair with Kiran. One night Saurabh takes his mistress Anjali to a pub and sees Abhi with Kiran. Saurabh and Abhi have an ugly confrontation. Abhi abandons Simran emotionally while she goes through a complicated pregnancy. Abhi wins accolades for his work and rises in his career. He hurts Simran by giving credit to Kiran for all his success and introduces Kiran to his mother. Abhi’s mother is impressed by Kiran, who is much younger than Simran. Eventually, by Rohit's efforts, Saurabh breaks up with Anjali, and Kavita changes her attitude towards Simran.soon they learn that kavita has cancer which she has kept from every one and she leaves to Switzerland for her treatment. abhi marries with kiran and leaves simran.then anil shourie came and tries to interfere in their lives .kiran is pregnant with abhi's child and aborts it on shourie's saying.with all this going on kiran leaves abhi and goes to her dreamhouse which shourie gifted her.

After that simran get

Cast

• Niki Aneja Walia ... Dr. Simran Mathur
• Varun Badola ... Abhimanyu Saxena a.k.a. Abhi (Dr Simran's husband)
• Neeru Bajwa / Kamya Punjabi ... Kiran (Abhi's second wife)
• Alok Nath ... Saurabh Mathur (Simran's father)
• Komal Kumari ... Baby Aastha
• Yuvika Chaudhary ... Aastha
• Upasana Shukla ... Sia Sarin
• Vineeta Thakur ... Neha (Abhi's third wife)
• Harshada Khanvinakar ... Shaguna (Simran's housekeeper)
• Harsh Chhaya ... Dr. Manas Awasthi (Simran's friend)
• Bhairavi Raichura ... Urmila (Manas's wife)
• Abbas Khan / Vishal Singh ... Dr. Siddhant Awasthi a.k.a. Sid (Manas & Urmila's son)
• Susheel Parashar ... Mr. Saxena (Abhimanu's father, Simran's father-in-law)
• Kanika Shivpuri ... Mrs. Saxena (Abhimanyu's mother, Simran's mother-in-law)
• Parmeet Sethi ... Dr. Brian (special appearance)
• Himani Shivpuri ... Neha's mother
• Mahesh Thakur ... Dr. Abhimanyu Joshi a.k.a. Manu
• Firdaus Dadi ... Rashmi (Simran's sister)
• Nitesh Pande ... Dr. Pranay (Rashmi's second husband)
• Resham Seth/Payal Nair ... Kavita (Simran's sister)
• Sanjeev Seth ... Rohit (Kavita's husband)
• Nandita Puri ... Padma (Simran's mother)
• Sunita ... Anandi (Abhi's sister)
• Ninad Kamat ... Anandi's husband
• Iqbal Azad/Imran Khan ... Dr. Ashwin (Urmila's lover)
• Sonika Handa ... Naghma (Manu's wife)
• Anjali Mukhi ... Gauri Joshi (Manu's sister)

Awards

2005 2nd Apsara Awards

Best Drama Series - Astitva...Ek Prem Kahani

Best Actress - Niki Aneja Walia as Dr. Simran

Best Actor - Varun Badola as Abhimanyu

2005 Indian Television Academy Awards

Best Actor (Drama) - Varun Badola as Abhimanyu

Best Teleplay - Astitva - Ek Prem Kahani - Gajra Kottary & Purnendu Shekhar

External links

• Official site on IMDb.com
• Full episodes on Rajshri.com