Anupamaa

Anupamaa is an Indian Hindi-language television drama series that premiered on 13 July 2020 on Star Plus and streams digitally on Disney+ Hotstar. Produced by Rajan Shahi and Deepa Shahi under the banner of Director's Kut Productions, it is remake of Star Jalsha's Bengali series Sreemoyee. It stars Rupali Ganguly, Sudhanshu Pandey, Madalsa Sharma and Gaurav Khanna.

Plot

Cast

Main

• Rupali Ganguly as Anupamaa "Anu" Joshi: Kanta's daughter; Bhavesh's sister; Vanraj and Anuj's ex-wife; Paritosh, Samar and Pakhi's mother; Aadhya's foster mother; Pari and Ansh's grandmother; Ishani's adoptive grandmother (2020–present)
• Sudhanshu Pandey as Vanraj "V" Shah: Leela and Hasmukh's son; Dolly's brother; Anupamaa's ex-husband; Kavya's second husband; Paritosh, Samar and Pakhi's father; Mahi's step-father; Pari and Ansh's grandfather; Ishani's adoptive grandfather (2020–present)
• Madalsa Sharma as Kavya Shah: Nandini's aunt; Aniruddh's ex-wife; Vanraj's second wife; Mahi's mother; Paritosh, Samar and Pakhi's step-mother; Pari and Ansh's step-grandmother; Ishani's adoptive step-grandmother (2020–present)
• Gaurav Khanna as Anuj "AK" Kapadia: Business tycoon and Event Manager; Malti's son; Gopichand's foster son; Malvika's adopted brother; Ankush's adopted cousin; Anupamaa's ex-husband; Shruti's fiancé; Aadhya's foster father (2021–present)
  • Naksh Dhaval Adhyaru as Child Anuj Kapadia (2022)

Recurring

• Paras Kalnawat / Sagar Parekh as Samar Shah: Anupamaa and Vanraj's younger son; Kavya's step-son; Paritosh and Pakhi's brother; Mahi's step-brother; Aadhya's foster brother; Meenali and Nihar's cousin; Nandini's ex-fiancé; Dimple's husband; Ansh's father (2020–2022) / (2022–2023)
  • Vidvaan Sharma as Child Samar Shah (2022) (archival footage of Anupama: Namaste America)
• Aashish Mehrotra / Gaurav Sharma as Paritosh "Toshu" Shah: Anupamaa and Vanraj's elder son; Kavya's step-son; Samar and Pakhi's brother; Mahi's step-brother; Aadhya's foster brother; Meenali and Nihar's cousin; Kinjal's husband; Pari's father (2020–2024) / (2024–present)
  • Dheer Bhanushali as Child Paritosh Shah (2022) (archival footage of Anupama: Namaste America)
• Muskan Bamne / Chandni Bhagwanani as Pakhi "Sweety" Shah: Anupamaa and Vanraj's daughter; Kavya's step-daughter; Paritosh and Samar's sister; Mahi's step-sister; Aadhya's foster sister; Meenali and Nihar's cousin; Adhik's ex-wife; Tapesh's obsessive lover; Ishani's adoptive mother (2020–2023) / (2024–present)
• Nidhi Shah as Kinjal "Kinju" Dave Shah: Rakhi and Pramod's daughter; Paritosh's wife; Pari's mother (2020–present)
• Alpana Buch as Leela "Baa" Shah: Jignesh's sister; Hasmukh's wife; Vanraj and Dolly's mother; Paritosh, Samar, Pakhi and Meenali's grandmother; Mahi's step-grandmother; Pari and Ansh's great-grandmother; Ishani's adoptive great-grandmother (2020–present)
• Arvind Vaidya as Hasmukh "Bapuji" Shah: Leela's husband; Vanraj and Dolly's father; Paritosh, Samar, Pakhi and Meenali's grandfather; Mahi's step-grandfather; Pari and Ansh's great-grandfather; Ishani's adoptive great-grandfather (2020–present)
• Jaswir Kaur as Devika Mehta: Anupamaa's best-friend (2020–present)
• Madhavi Gogate / Savita Prabhune as Kanta Joshi: Anupamaa and Bhavesh's mother; Paritosh, Samar, Pakhi and Nihar's grandmother; Aadhya's foster grandmother; Pari and Ansh's great-grandmother; Ishani's adoptive great-grandmother (2020–2021) / (2021–2023)
• Mehul Nisar as Bhavesh Joshi: Kanta's son; Anupamaa's brother; Nihar's father (2020–2021, 2022–2023)
• Yachit Sharma as Nihar Joshi: Bhavesh's son; Paritosh, Samar and Pakhi's cousin; Aadhya's foster cousin (2020)
• Ekta Saraiya as Dolly Shah Dhamecha: Leela and Hasmukh's daughter; Vanraj's sister; Sanjay's wife; Meenali's mother (2020–2023)
• Paresh Bhatt as Sanjay Dhamecha: Dolly's husband; Meenali's father (2020–2022)
• Lavishka Gupta / Stuti Zakarde as Meenali "Meenu" Dhamecha: Dolly and Sanjay's daughter; Paritosh, Samar and Pakhi's cousin; Mahi's step-cousin (2020) / (2020–2022;2023)
• Shekhar Shukla as Jignesh aka Mamaji: Leela's brother; Vanraj and Dolly's uncle (2020–2022)
• Payal Nair as Parul Sharma: Devika's former sister-in-law; Pakhi's principal (2020–2021)
• Bhakti Chauhan as Jhilmil: Gudiya's mother; Shah family's former house help (2020)
• Tasneem Sheikh as Rakhi Dave: Pramod's wife; Kinjal's mother; Pari's grandmother (2020–2023)
• Farooq Saeed as Pramod Dave: Rakhi's husband; Kinjal's father; Pari's grandfather (2020)
• Rushad Rana as Aniruddh Gandhi: Kavya's ex-husband; Mahi's father (2020–2021; 2023)
• Anagha Bhosale as Nandini "Nandu" Iyer: A dancer and former teacher of Anupamaa Dance Academy; Kavya's niece; Mahi's cousin; Samar's ex-fiancée (2020–2022)
• Tulika Patel as Kaamini: Leela's niece-in-law (2020)
• Vivan Singh Rajput as Siddharth "Sid" Desai: Pakhi's classmate who blackmailed her (2020)
• Riyaz Panjwani as Mr. Dholakia: Vanraj, Kavya, and Kinjal's former boss (2020; 2021)
• Arup Pal as CEO: New CEO of Vanraj's office (2020; 2021)
• Parull Chaudhary as Dr. Mona Chopra: Pakhi's psychiatrist (2021)
• Apurva Agnihotri as Dr. Advait "Adi" Khanna: Owner of Blissdom's Wellness Resort; Anupamaa's doctor; Vanraj, Anupama, and Shah House’s guider and friend (2021)
• Sunita Rai as Manasi Jain: Food critic at Vanraj's café (2021)
• Kiara Khantwal as Kiara: Video blogger at Vanraj's café (2021)
• Deepak Gheewala as Gopichand "GK" Karodia: Anuj and Malvika's caretaker and foster father; Aadhya's foster grandfather (2021–2022)
• Varun Sharma as Rohan: Nandini's former boyfriend and obsessive lover (2021)
• Aneri Vajani as Malvika "Mukku" Kapadia: Gopichandra's foster daughter; Anuj's adopted sister; Ankush's cousin; Vanraj's former business partner (2021–2022)
• Rohit Bakshi as Ankush Kapadia: Malvika's cousin; Anuj's adopted cousin; Barkha's husband; Adhik's brother-in-law and foster father; Sara and Romil's father (2022–2023)
• Ashlesha Sawant as Barkha Kapadia: Adhik's sister and foster mother; Ankush's wife; Sara's mother; Romil's step-mother (2022–2023)
• Alma Hussein as Sara Kapadia: Ankush and Barkha's daughter; Adhik's niece and foster sister; Romil's half-sister; Ishani's adopted cousin; Aadhya's foster cousin (2022)
• Adhik Mehta as Adhik Mehta: Barkha's brother; Ankush and Barkha's foster son; Sara’s uncle and foster brother; Pakhi's ex-husband; Ishani's adoptive father (2022–Present)
• Nishi Saxena as Dimple "Dimpy" Shah: Teacher and Owner of Anupamaa Dance Academy; Nirmit's ex-wife; Samar's widow; Ansh's mother; Tapesh's love interest (2022–present)
• Rishabh Jaiswal as Nirmit: Dimple's ex-husband (2022)
• Nitesh Pandey as Dheeraj Kapoor: Anuj's best friend; Devika’s fiancée (2023)
• Amit Pachori as Mohit: Kavya's modeling photographer (2023)
• Chhavi Pandey as Uttara/Maya: Priest's daughter; an unwilling former prostitute; Aadhya's mother; Anuj's former obsessive one-sided lover (2023) (Dead)
• Renuka Sharma as Sushma: A former prostitute and Maya's friend (2023)
• Mahi Soni / Yashti Pamnani as Bhairavi: Student at Anupama Dance Academy (2023) / (2023)
• Apara Mehta as Gurumaa Malti Devi: Owner of Gurukul; Anuj's mother; Anupamaa's former dance teacher; Aadhya's foster grandmother (2023)
  • Khushali Jariwala as Young Malti Devi (2023)
• Aman Maheshwari as Nakul: Malti's student and accomplice (2023)
• Viraj Kapoor as Romil Kapadia: Ankush's illegitimate son; Barkha's step-son; Sara's half-brother; Aadhya's foster cousin (2023)
• Lovish Saini as Shivansh "Sonu" Rathore: Suresh's son; a goon; Samar's murderer (2023)
• Kumar Hegde as Suresh Rathore: A politician; Shivansh's father (2023)
• Kunwar Amar as Tapesh aka Titu: A dancer and former teacher at Anupamaa Dance Academy; Dimple's love interest (2023–present)
• Trishaan Shah as Ansh Shah: Samar and Dimple's son; Pari's cousin; Ishani's adopted cousin (2023–present)
• Aurra Bhatnagar Badoni as Aadhya "Choti Anu" Kapadia: Maya's daughter; Anupamaa and Anuj's foster daughter; Paritosh, Samar and Pakhi's foster sister; Sara, Romil and Nihar's foster cousin (2023–present)
  • Asmi Deo as Child Anu Kapadia (2022–2023)
• Sukirti Kandpal as Shruti Ahuja: A Photographer; Anuj's fiancée; Aadhya's guardian (2023–present)
• Kaddy Trawally as Kaddy: Waitress at "Spice and Chutney" restaurant (2023–present)
• Rituraj Singh as Yashpal Dhillon: Owner of "Spice and Chutney" restaurant; Anupamaa and Vikram's boss; Manjeet's elder son; Yashdeep's brother (2023–2024)
• Sunny Sadhwani as Vikram: Chef in "Spice and Chutney" restaurant; Anupamaa's friend (2023–present)
• Aadhya Barot as Ishani Mehta: Pakhi and Adhik's adopted daughter; Sara, Pari and Ansh's adopted cousin (2024–present)
• Dishi Duggal as Manjeet Kaur Dhillon: Yashpal and Yashdeep's mother (2024–present)
• Princy Prajapati as Pari "Pari/Angel" Shah: Kinjal and Paritosh's daughter; Ansh's cousin; Ishani's adopted cousin (2024–present)
  • Noorain Khan as Baby

Pari Shah (2022–2023)

• Pahal Chaudhary as Mahi Gandhi: Kavya and Aniruddh's daughter; Vanraj's step-daughter; Paritosh, Samar and Pakhi's step-sister; Nandini's cousin; Meenali's step-cousin (2024–present)
• Vaquar Shaikh as Yashdeep "Deepu" Dhillon: A retired army officer; Manjeet's younger son; Yashpal's brother (2024–present)
• Parakh Madan as Diya: A dancer; Yashdeep's friend; Anupamaa's dance teacher (2024–present)
• Aman Sachdeva as Aarush: Pakhi's friend and business partner (2024)

Guest appearances

Production

Development

In February 2020, Rajan Shahi, the producer of Aai Kuthe Kay Karte, announced his plan to produce its Hindi remake, Anupamaa, stating, "This interesting concept around a mother's journey has been so inspirational that Star wants to bring it in Hindi too".

In early August 2020, the cast of the series recorded a special song for the Raksha Bandhan sequence titled "Aaj Rakhi Nau Tyohaar Chhe" (transl. Today is Raksha Bandhan's festival) in a Gujarati, Hindi and English fusion.

The story took a leap of 5 years on 20 December 2023, with Anuj-Anupamaa's divorce and Anupamaa visiting the USA.

Casting

Casting of the series started in February 2020 with Rupali Ganguly being cast as the protagonist Anupamaa, returning to television after seven years. She said, "When I joined Anupamaa, I was a little plump and I told our producer Rajan Shahi that you want a heroine and at this age, let me lose some weight. But the producer told me that he didn't want a heroine but a mother instead. ‘I want a mother and you are perfect for the role because mothers are like this."

It followed up by Sudhanshu Pandey being cast as Anupamaa's husband, Vanraj Shah, Paras Kalnawat, Muskaan Bamne, Aashish Mehrotra, Alpana Buch and Arvind Vaidya being cast as Samar Shah, Pakhi Shah, Paritosh Shah, Leela Shah and Hasmukh Shah respectively. Madhavi Gogate, Ekta Saraiya, Paresh Bhatt, Stuti Zakarde, Mehul Nisar and Bhakti Chauhan were cast to play Kanta Joshi, Dolly Shah Dhamecha, Sanjay Dhamecha, Meenali Dhamecha, Bhavesh Joshi and Jhilmil respectively. However, days before the filming resumed after the COVID-19 outbreak in late June, Additi Gupta was confirmed to be infected with the virus. She was replaced by Madalsa Sharma and the sequences earlier shot by Gupta were reshot by Madalsa.

Days after premiering in July 2020, Shekhar Shukla, Nidhi Shah and Farooq Saeed were signed to play Jignesh, Kinjal Dave and Pramod Dave respectively. Tasneem Sheikh, Anagha Bhosale were and Rushad Rana were cast as Rakhi Dave, Nandini Iyer and Aniruddh Gandhi. In April 2021, Apurva Agnihotri joined the cast as Dr. Advait Khanna for a cameo and completed his role in June 2021.

In June 2021, rumours of "conflicts and groupism on sets" arose between cast members, one group led by Ganguly with Buch, Mehrotra and Bamne, and another by Pandey, with Sharma, Kalnawat and Bhosale which cast denied.

In late August 2021 Gaurav Khanna was cast as Anuj Kapadia.

In September 2021, Deepak Gheewala was cast to play Gopichandra Karodia. Also that month, Varun Sharma was cast as Rohan to play a cameo and he finished off his role in October 2021. Next, Savita Prabhune replaced Madhavi Gogate as Kanta Joshi in late October 2021. In December 2021, actress Aneri Vajani joined the cast to play Malavika Kapadia.

In January 2022, there were rumours of "ego clashes" between Pandey and Khanna, which they both publicly denied.

In March 2022, Anagha Bhosale playing Nandini announced her decision to take a break from acting, and later quit acting forever, ending Nandini's character and shot her last scene in February 2022. Later that month, Aneri Vajani playing Malavika also announced that her role was just a cameo and right now its shown on a long break due to viewers' disconnect with her role's negative development.

In May 2022, singer Mika Singh made a special appearance as Anuj's friend in Anupamaa and Anuj's Mehendi and Sangeet ceremony and to promote his upcoming show Swayamvar – Mika Di Vohti. During that month, Aneri Vajani announced her decision to participate in Fear Factor: Khatron Ke Khiladi 12 and quit the series.

Later that month, Rohit Bakshi and Ashlesha Sawant were cast to play Ankush Kapadia and Barkha Mehta Kapadia respectively while Alma Hussein and Adhik Mehta were cast to play Sara Kapadia and Adhik Mehta opposite Kalnawat and Bamne respectively. In an interview after being cast as Adhik Mehta, Mehta revealed that "he earlier auditioned for the role of Samar (which eventually locked to Kalnawat) in the casting phase of the series but it didn't happened at that time". Child artist Asmi Deo was also cast as an orphan Anu but her track was put on hold and resumed in July 2022.

In July 2022, Paras Kalnawat signed on to appear on the dance-based reality show Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa 10 on rival network Colors TV. Anupamaa makers objected and terminated his contract overnight on 26 July 2022. Paras said that after Bhosale's exit his character never evolved, and that he was unhappy with his role being reduced to a mere family member standing in background with nothing to do anything. Later after facing several controversies related to the series, makers replaced Kalnawat overnight by Sagar Parekh in the same month.

In September 2022, Alma Hussein who was cast opposite Kalnawat also quit the series, saying she was unhappy with the lack of character development and shot her last scene in early August 2022.

In November 2022, Nishi Saxena and Rishabh Jaiswal were cast to portray Dimple 'Dimpy' and her husband Nimrit. However, Jaiswal exited the show in the same month because his appearance was just a short cameo and Saxena was then paired up with Sagar Parekh portraying Samar.

In January 2023, actress Chhavi Pandey was cast to do an extended cameo of Anu's biological mother Maya who wrapped up in July 2023 following her character's death. In May 2023, Apara Mehta was cast as Anuj's mother Malti Devi, while her daughter Khushali Jariwala played her younger version on screen.

In August 2023, Ekta Saraiya who portrayed Vanraj's sister Dolly quit the series for her show Kyunki.. Saas Maa Bahu Beti Hoti Hai on Zee TV. In same month, Viraj Kapoor to entered the show as Ankush's illegitimate son Romil Kapadia.

In October 2023, Sagar Parekh, who replaced Paras Kalnawat in the role of Samar in July 2022 was confirmed exiting the show with storyline showcasing Samar's death due to decreasing TRP ratings of the show. In the following month actor and dancer Kunwar Amar joined the cast as Tapesh opposite Nishi Saxena portraying Dimple.

Post leap, Child actress Asmi Deo was replaced by Aurra Bhatnagar Badoni to play teen version of Anupamaa and Anuj's adopted daughter Aadhya Kapadia while Savita Prabhune's character Kanta was shown dead thus marking an end to her character. Child actor Trishaan Shah was cast to play Samar and Dimple's son Ansh Shah. The same month Muskan Bamne portraying Pakhi quit the series after 3 years as "she doesn't wish to play mother at such a young age and wants to move ahead in her career" and was later replaced by Chandni Bhagwanani while child actor Aadhya Barot was cast as her daughter Ishani Mehta in same month. Sukirti Kandpal too entered the show as Anuj's fiancée Shruti Ahuja in same month. Recently, Rituraj Singh and Dishi Duggal too entered the show as Yashpal and his mother. In January 2024, Child actress Princy Prajapati replaced Noorain Khan as the grown up version of Kinjal and Paritosh's daughter Pari, while Pahal Chaudhary was cast to play Kavya's daughter Mahi. In January 2024 Vaquar Shaikh entered the show as Yashpal's younger brother Yashdeep, while Parakh Madan entered the show in February 2024 as Diya.

In April 2024, Adhik Mehta who portrayed Pakhi's husband Adhik too quit the series due to him getting leading role in Dangal's show Mil Ke Bhi Hum Na Mile while Aashish Mehrotra portraying Anupamaa's elder son Paritosh too quit the series the following month after playing it for four years to participate in Fear Factor: Khatron Ke Khiladi 14 and got replaced by Gaurav Sharma in same month.

Filming

Set in Gujarat, the series is mainly shot at Film City in Mumbai. Some initial sequences were shot in Ahmedabad during early March 2020.

On 13 February 2021, the filming was halted for a day for sanitisation when Paras Kalnawat playing Samar, tested positive for COVID-19 virus. The sequences of Kalnawat with Anagha Bhosale playing Nandini were cancelled including proposal sequence of their characters and were replanned until his recovery and return in late February 2021. However he shot some sequences from his home under his and his mother's quarantine period.

On 2 April 2021, Rupali Ganguly, Sudhanshu Pandey and Aashish Mehrotra who portray Anupamaa, Vanraj and Paritosh respectively and producer Rajan Shahi tested positive for COVID-19. Certain sequences were postponed and the story focused more on the characters Rakhi, Kavya and Leela while Ganguly, Pandey and Mehrotra shot for few sequences from their homes. A few days later, Tassnim Sheikh, Alpana Buch and Nidhi Shah also tested positive for COVID-19 and the story focussed more on Samar, Nandini and Pakhi's characters.

On 13 April 2021, the Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Uddhav Thackeray announced a sudden curfew due to increased Covid cases in Maharashtra, while the production halted from 14 April 2021. Hence, the production location was soon shifted temporarily to Silvassa alongside other shows of the production house. In June 2021, the Maharashtra government permitted shooting within the state with certain restrictions, following which the whole cast and crew returned to Mumbai on 8 June 2021 and resumed shooting the following day.

Release

Initially scheduled to premiere on 16 March 2020, it was postponed due to the coronavirus scare. Anupamaa finally premiered on 13 July 2020 on Star Plus, replacing Yeh Rishtey Hain Pyaar Ke. Since 2 October 2022, it is broadcast daily along with other Star Plus's shows.

Prequel series

An eleven-episodic prequel web-series Anupama: Namaste America was released on Disney+ Hotstar on 25 April 2022. The story is set after ten years of Anupamaa and Vanraj's marriage in the year 2005.

Television special

Ravivaar With Star Parivaar (2022)

Th cast of Anupamaa participated as a team in the musical game show Ravivaar With Star Parivaar. It competed with the teams of other Star Plus's shows. Anupamaa emerged as the 2nd runner-up of the show.

Crossovers

• From 26 March 2022 to 28 March 2022, Anupamaa had a crossover with Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai, where Anupamaa attended Akshara and Abhimanyu's engagement. She also fought against the world for her and Anuj's relation.
• On 3 December 2023, Anupamaa made a special appearance in Baatein Kuch Ankahee Si, where Anupamaa met Vandana and tells her the importance of motherhood.
• From 21 December 2023 to 22 December 2023, Manish Goenka from Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai was present in Anupamaa's flight to America.

Reception

Critics

India Today stated, "Rupali Ganguly fits the character perfectly and aces the role of a Gujarati homemaker. The show strikes a chord with the homemakers as they can identify with the protagonist. Anupamaa has the right amount of emotions, drama, and spice. The show has the right mix of family values and a modern outlook. The show is a heartwarming tale".

ThePrint appreciated the series along with few other Hindi GECs based on the story of a mother mentioning that it delivered moral lessons and calling the character Anupamaa as paragon of virtue and farcical.

On its popularity, Yashika Singla of The Print noted, "It has become a feminist movement in itself. From young women commuting in the Metro to mothers and grandmothers at home, everyone is watching it."

Shephali Bhatt of The Mint stated, "At a time when the plot points of Indian TV shows get more outlandish every day — Anupama seems to be rewriting the Indian television playbook".

In popular culture

Anupamaa's (Rupali Ganguly) "aapko kya" dialogue went viral on social media and was subject to various memes and recreations.

Adaptations

Star Plus's Anupamaa is an official Hindi remake of Star Jalsha's Sreemoyee. However its Marathi remake Aai Kuthe Kay Karte and Anupamaa both are produced by same producer Rajan Shahi under Director's Kut Productions and follows same plot.

Awards and nominations

References

External links

• Anupamaa at IMDb
• Anupamaa on Disney+ Hotstar