Nowdays, Zee TV is providing its subscribers with many new serials which are very “hatke” from the standard saas-bahu or family dramas we usually see. For instance, Lipstick and Kittie Party are much talked about for being different. One such serial that stands in my mind is the realistic Astitva. The director of Hasratein is back with another serial, this time to my appeal.
The serial is about………………
Simran Saxena- A 35 year old doctor who has a very successful hospital(nursing home) but still a full of tension life. In fact, her professional life is very good, but her personal is going haywire. She is pregnant and her husband doesn’t really like the coming baby, is accused of having an affair with her friend and colleague by the friend’s wife, her sister keeps on getting angry with her, her mother just died, she does everything for her mother-in-law, but the M-I-L doesn’t care even a measly bit about her and doesn’t miss even 1 tiny oppurtunity to insult her, and WORST OF ALL, her husband is having an affair with someone and she doesn’t know a bit about it. She keeps on saying that she is having a communication gap with here husband, but hardly does anything about it. Simran bares this all alone with a little help from her family, Manas and hospital, and her sister-in-law.
Abhimanyu Saxena- If I had to describe him in one word, I would call him confused. He is a very confused 24 year old person who is lucky to have such a wife like Simran, but takes her for granted. This is what he did. He ran after a ten year older lady than him, didn’t leave her until she went against her family and married him. After that he even fights against his mother and buys another home to stay with his wife. Now, he is having an affair with his beautiful assistant, and doesn’t care two hoots about his wife. He does all of this on the sly.
Saurav Mathur- A man who has three daughters and is sometimes shown more cared about his eldest one, Simran, is a widower, and is trying to bring his whole family back together so there is no tension between them. He’s stubborn and has a big softspot for Simran.
Manas- He is a very good friend, doctor, and colleague. His wife is having an affair and that is why he is on the stage of getting divorced. His real love interest is Simran, but since he knew that she just thought of him as a good friend, has always remained a loyal and very supportive friend of Simran.
Out of the supportive cast, Anandi who is the sister-in-law of Simran has a big part as Simran’s well wisher. She also has a doubt that Abhimanyu, her brother is having an affair. Kiran is the assistant turned model of Abimanyu’s and loves “Abhi”. The worst part about her is that she is always instigating him against Dr. Simran. Kavita as Simran’s younger and jealous sister is usually seen getting angry with Simran. She still thinks that her father always loved Simran more than anybody. Abimanyu’s mother is the one I really hate the most with all my hatred is because her mouth is JUST SO rotten. She hurts Simran all the time insulting her, even on her birthday!
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Performances
Niki Aneja- is stunningly beautiful and superb in her role. She acts very naturally and suits the role perfectly. I couldn’t imagine anybody else potraing Simran.
Varun Badola- really impressed me in his debut serial, “Koshish… Ek Asha” as a mentally handicapped man. He is pretty good in Astitva, but I think he can improve his voice modulation a little more. Otherwise he is very good.
Alok Nath- It’s really refreshing to see the man who plays “Babuji” all the time play such a mature role. I mean, I couldn’t believe Alok Nath is actually acting as a normal man instead of a poor village farmer with a daughter in Pardes or Taal or any of those silly roles he played in HSSH, HAHK, K3G and god knows how many other. I think in Astitva he is really given the the type of role he is worthy of.
Harsh Chaya- as Manas is very good, He always carries that bored sort of expression, but I still like him a lot.
Other that the main stars the ones who really stand out are Anju Mahendru(Saurabh’s sister) and Anandi, Vivek, K-K-K-K Kiran, Urmila, and Kavita.
A special mention to Simran’s mother who I really like very much and I just forgot her name. Could somebody please tell me in the comments section?
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Director’s plus points
Director Ajay Sinha has handled this show with a lot of maturity. For example every scene is shot very slowly yet captures your attention. The movement of the whole cast is very relatable to normal people unlike those horrible Ek-k-k-ta Kapoor shows.
The characters are etched out very well. You know the people in the serial. As in you’re familiar with their personality. Every scene you see them, it’s shown very subtle yet dense.
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IN CONCLUSION…
Astiva is a very slow paced, arty, mature, and serious show.
One thing that always occurs to my mind is that why is this serial called Astitva- Ek Prem Kahani? It should be called Astitva- Extra Marital Affairs ki kahani. Think about it. I guess Ajay Sinha only does a serial about them.