Anupamaa
Anupamaa is an Indian drama television series that premiered on 13 July 2020 on Star Plus. It is a remake of Star Jalsha's Bengali series Sreemoyee. Produced by Rajan Shahi under Director's Kut Productions, it stars Rupali Ganguly.
Plot
Anupamaa is a devoted housewife, mother and daughter-in-law who loves her family and fulfills all their needs ignoring her own. Bereft of same love and respect in her house from her own family members, she realises the bitter truth and sets out to live her life on her own terms.Cast
- Rupali Ganguly as Anupamaa Shah: Vanraj's wife; Paritosh, Samar and Paakhi's mother. Besides being an ideal housewife, she is a talented Kathak dancer and cooks well. She is always underestimated and humiliated by her family for being illiterate. The only people who stand by her are her son Samar and father-in-law Hasmukh. Despite being humiliated, she respects everybody.
- Sudhanshu Pandey as Vanraj Shah: Anupamaa's husband; Paritosh, Samar and Paakhi's father. He starts an affair with his colleague Kavya without the knowledge of Anupamaa and considers the latter for only domestic works.
- Madalsa Sharma as Kavya Zaveri: Vanraj's colleague and girlfriend, Anirudh's wife. Breaking her relationship with her husband Anirudh, she develops attraction for Vanraj and often feels insecure due to Anupamaa being Vanraj's wife.
- Paras Kalnawat as Samar Shah: Vanraj and Anupamaa's second son; Paritosh and Paakhi's brother. Having passion in western dance, he drops out of college. While his family humiliates him by calling him a loser, Hasmukh and Anupamaa are his support system. He always stands by Anupamaa under any circumstances.
- Aashish Mehrotra as Paritosh Shah: Anupamaa and Vanraj's elder son; Samar and Paakhi's elder brother.
- Muskaan Bamne as Paakhi "Sweety" Shah: Anupamaa and Vanraj's daughter; Paritosh and Samar's sister.
- Arvind Vaidya as Hasmukh Shah: Vanraj and Dolly's father. He often sarcastically makes fun of Leela and always stand in support of Anupamaa.
- Alpana Buch as Leela Shah: Vanraj and Dolly's mother. She dislikes Anupamaa and always blames for every thing, often humiliating her.
- Jasveer Kaur as Devika: Anupamaa's childhood best friend.
- Ekta Saraiya as Dolly Shah: Vanraj's younger sister, Meenali's mother. She is a working women who respects Anupamaa.
- Shekhar Shukla as Jignesh: Leela's brother, Vanraj and Dolly's uncle. He suffers from memory loss. Like Hasmukh, he sarcastically makes fun of Leela and supports Anupamaa.
- Madhavi Gogate as Anupamaa's mother.
- Mehul Nisar as Bhavesh Joshi: Anupamaa's brother. He is a cable mechanic.
- Payal Nair as Parul Sharma: Paakhi's school principal.
- Nidhi Shah as Kinjal, Paritosh's love interest.
- Stuti Zakarde as Meenali Patel: Dolly's daughter and Vanraj's niece.
- Anagha Bhosale as Nandini, Samar's love interest.
- Tassnim Sheikh as Kinjal's mother
- Rushad Rana as Anirudh: Kavya's husband.
Production
Development
Rajan Shahi, the producer of the Marathi remake of Sreemoyee titled Aai Kuthe Kay Karte on Star Pravah planned 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."Filming
Based on the backdrop of Gujarat, the series is mainly filmed at the sets at Film City in Mumbai. Some initial sequences were shot at Ahmedabad in early March 2020.Premiere and broadcast
Earlier locked to be premiered on 16 March 2020, it was indefinitely postponed to 13 July 2020 amid COVID-19 outbreak when the filming of Indian television and films were stalled indefinitely. Speaking on it Rupali Ganguly said, "Anupamaa is a show that will strike an emotional chord with audiences. Due to the coronavirus outbreak in our country, it is in the best interest of the show and the unit to delay the launch. This is a very special project for all of us and it’s a big decision to postpone the launch. When I see Anupamaa from an audience’s perspective, I feel each episode is shot beautifully. Blessed to be a part of this show and to get so much love from everyone. May we tide over these trying times with safety and precaution." After more than three months, the filming resumed and the series premiered on 13 July 2020.Casting
was cast as the main lead Anupamaa, returning to television after seven years. Sudhanshu Pandey was cast as Anupamaa's husband Vanraj. Besides Muskan Bamne, Paras Kalnawat, Aashish Mehrotra, Alpana Buch, Additi Gupta, Madhavi Gagote, Ekta Saraiya, Mehul Nisar and Arvind Vaidya were cast. However days before the filming resumed after Covid-19 outbreak in late June, Additi Gupta was confirmed infected with the virus and thus she was replaced by Madalsa Sharma and the sequences earlier shot by Gupta were reshot by Sharma. Days after premiere in July 2020, Shekhar Shukla was roped in to play Jignesh and soon after, Stuti zakarde as Meenu, Nidhi Shah, Farrukh Saeed, Anagha Bhonsle, Tasneem Sheikh and Rushad Rana entered the show.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 modern outlook. The show is a heartwarming tale.Ratings
Anupamaa had an average television rating point of 2.1 in the urban region during its debut week occupying the seventh position. The next week, it jumped to second position garnering 5.9 million urban impressions and 7.8 million impressions overall.Lingustic versions
Bengali channel Star Jalsha's series Sreemoyee is adapted in various Indian languages including this series as listed below. Rajan Shahi produces both the Hindi and Marathi versions of the series under Director's Kut Productions.| Sl.no | Language | Title | Original release | Network | Episodes | Notes |
| 1 | Bengali | Sreemoyee শ্রীময়ী | 19 June 2019 – present | Star Jalsha | Ongoing | Original series |
| 2 | Kannada | Inthi Nimma Asha ಇಂತಿ ನಿಮ್ಮ ಆಶಾ | 21 August 2019 – present | Star Suvarna | Ongoing | Remake |
| 3 | Marathi | Aai Kuthe Kay Karte!' आई कुठे काय करते! | 23th December2019-present | Star Pravah | Ongoing | Remake |
| 4 | Malayalam | Kudumbavilakku' കുടുംബവിളക്ക് | 27th January 2020-present | Asianet | Ongoing | Remake |
| 5 | Telugu | Intinti Gruhalakshmi' ఇంటింటి గృహలక్ష్మి | 3rd February 2020-present | Star Maa | Ongoing | Remake |
| 6 | Tamil | Baakiyalakshmi' பாக்கியலட்சுமி | 27th July 2020-present | Star Vijay | Ongoing | Remake |