Ek Hasina Thi (TV series)

Ek Hasina Thi (English: There was a beautiful woman) is a Crime thriller television series created by Cinevistaas Limited for the channel Star Plus from 14 April 2014 to 20 December 2014.[2] Produced by Prem Krishen, The series has Sanjeeda Sheikh and Vatsal Sheth as leads and Simone Singh and Ayub Khan in supportive roles.[3]

This article is about the 2014 TV series. For the 2004 film, see Ek Hasina Thi (film).

Ek Hasina Thi
GenreSuspense thriller
Crime drama
Mystery
Created byCinevistaas Limited
Written bySameer Arora
Dialogues
Aparna Nadig
Creative directorSiddharth Priyadarshi
StarringSanjeeda Sheikh
Vatsal Sheth
Simone Singh
Ayub Khan
Opening theme"Ek Hasina Thi" by Sunidhi Chauhan[1]
ComposerRaju Singh
Country of originIndia
Original languageHindi
No. of seasons1
No. of episodes216
Production
ProducerPrem Krishen
Production locationsKolkata(setting)
Mumbai (filming)
Camera setupMulti-camera
Running time20 minutes
Release
Original networkStar Plus
Picture format576i (SDTV)
1080i (HDTV)
Original release14 April (2014-04-14) –
20 December 2014 (2014-12-20)
External links
Website

Plot

Durga Thakur, a rich, educated and confident woman is known to be heavenly beautiful and drop dead gorgeous. She is a fashionista with incredible fashion sense and encounters a Goenka family whose youngest son Shaurya is a good-looking, rich spoilt brat.

Shaurya is attracted to Durga which later turns into much more when his friends challenge him. He wants to win Durga for a bet he made with his friends. Shaurya's clever parents Sakshi and Rajnath always stand by his side no matter what he does.

Shaurya and Durga start spending most time together as they go on dates all, Sakshi slowly notices Durga's influence on Shaurya and how subconsciously he is getting more into her influence. Shaurya's reputation gets tainted and she starts to doubt Durga's hand on it.

Indeed, it is revealed that Durga is actually Nitya Mitra, who wants to avenge her sister, Payal Mitra, a mental patient whom Shaurya and his friends raped two years ago, she wanted to get justice for Payal, but Sakshi and Rajnath bribed all the witnesses so Nitya lost the case. This had made Payal go mad and her parents commit suicide.

However, Nitya still did not give up and threatened Goenkas that she will make them pay for what they did. The Goenkas got scared and tried to kill Nitya in an accident in which she lost her face, and needed to immediately be cured with the help of a surgery that would change her face. Dr. Dayal Thakur had found her and gave her the face of his daughter Durga, who was dead.

Now Nitya is back as Durga and wants to get revenge on the Goenka family, she starts to destroy everyone who had made her suffer. However, her problems increase when Shaurya's elder cousin Dev returns from America, who was Nitya's best friend and secretly loved her.

Dev wants to find out about Nitya's whereabouts and what happened to her while he had gone, this tenses Nitya as she does not want her real identity to come out, Nitya realises Dev loves her and she loves him too. She pretends to love Shaurya and decides to marry him to enter in the Goenka house and destroy them.

As Shaurya does not really love Nitya but just wants to win the bet, he takes her on a trip but she had already planned what to do, she made her spy, Akash, hired some goons who terribly attack Shaurya, leaving him paralysed under the waist, Sakshi doubts Durga and manipulate Shourya through his friend, Karan not to marry Durga, on the day of wedding, Shaurya rejects Durga. In order to pave Durga's path in Goenka house, Dayal coerce Deve to marry her (fake wedding) telling Dev that he would bring Nitya to Dev.

Rajnath impersonates Akram "Akash" Khan, Sakshi's step-son, to get the video tape which reveals that he shot his brother Arnav (Dev's father) through which Sakshi blackmailed Rajnath to marry her, killing her husband, Rehmat Khan who was the only witness of the incident, to clear all the obstacles. Sakshi learns that Rajnath and her friend, Raima Maheshwari have an affair.

Sakshi confronts and shoots Raima in which she lapses into a coma, Dev is framed for this, because of Raima testifying against her in the court, she bribes a nurse to change her medicines worsening her health. Durga tries to prove Dev innocent.

Eventually Dev gets acquitted from the case and finds out about Durga's real identity but hides this from her until she tells to him herself. Shaurya learns that Dayal was involved in his paralysis attack and shoots him, provoking Durga to get revenge for Dayal's death and she tries to create rift between Goenka family, but is unsuccessful.

Sakshi wants to kidnap Payal to reach Nitya, Rishi kidnaps her, when Durga comes to know, she tells Dev and Akram about this. Akram gets Payal but Dev reaches the wrong place where Shaurya tries to kill him. Nitya comes in between but is not harmed as bullet only touched her. Hospitalised, Dev tells her that he knows that she is Nitya and professes his love for her.

Adamant to get revenge on Shaurya, Sakshi and Rajnath, Durga is told by doctor about her clot on forehead, and she might be saved after operation and told doctor not to tell to anyone about this that she has only 3–4 days left. Sakshi fakes Shaurya's death in an accident which is executed successfully. Shaurya tracks down Payal, and attacks Akash and Rishi. They save their lives.

Having strong evidence against the Goenka family, Durga made them arrested, the judge convicts Shaurya and Karan, Nitya gets unconscious and Dev takes her to the hospital, her operation is successful, she accepts Dev and express her love for him, they reunite with Payal, Kangana (Shaurya's sister) Suchitra (Dev's mother) and Akash. At the end Durga got a phone call which upon receiving; she hears Shourya's whistle; hinting that Shaurya is out of prison or was never in prison. The show ends on a cliffhanger.

Cast and characters
  • Sanjeeda Sheikh portrays as Durga Dev Goenka (née Thakur)/ Nitya Mitra, Dev's wife, Shaurya's ex-fianceé, Payal's elder sister. The real Durga is in fact dead, Nitya Mitra had a facial plastic surgery under the supervision of Dr. Thakur (father of the real Durga Thakur and Nitya's adoptive father) Shaurya's ex-fiancée, Shekar Mehra's classmate and working with Akash aka Akram to destroy Goenkas as she wants revenge them for ruining life of her sister and family. (Main Female Lead) [4]
  • Vatsal Sheth portrays Shaurya Goenka, the main male lead. A rich goodlooking, womanizing heir of the Goenka family. Being under the influence of his family, he can get anything he want and is not used to hear the word "no". He is Payal's rapist, Durga's ex-fiancée and Dev's sworn enemy cousin[5]
  • Simone Singh portrays Sakshi Rajnath Goenka, the main female antagonist who is beautiful, powerful and has a dynamic personality. Wife of Rajnath and Ex-second wife of Akram's father Rehmat Khan. She enjoys being the center of attention in Kolkata. She can go to any length to protect her two children - Shaurya and Kangana - are her only weakness.[6][7][8]
  • Ayub Khan portrays Rajnath Goenka, the male antagonist who is extremely ambitious and ruthless man who is amongst the elite in Kolkata business and social circles. Second husband of Sakshi. To maintain his social status, he can go to any length.[9][10]
  • Bhuvnesh Mann portrays Dev Goenka, Durga's husband, cousin of Shaurya, best friend of Nitya. He comes back from US to find out what happened 2 years back regarding his fathers disappearance and Durgas real identity. He ends up in false alibi by Rajnath and testified that he will avenge his fathers death and arrest the evil Goenkas for ruining his life. He and Shaurya are cousins but sworn enemies due to Durga coming between them and Shaurya’s attempt to finish him went in vein because of her discovery of true found love for Dev.
  • Aditi Sajwan portrays Nitya Mitra, the best friend of Dev, Payal's Elder Sister. (Before facial plastic surgery)[11]
  • Kishwer Merchant portrays Raima Maheshwari, the best friend of Sakshi who has an extramarital relationship with her husband, Rajnath. She ends up dead by Sakshi through evidence of tape footage to expose Rajnath by his business rival. [12]
  • Jyoti Gauba portrays Suchitra Goenka, the mother of Dev who is a kind-hearted woman and believes in social work and Durga's mother-in-law.[13]
  • Poonam Preet portrays Kangana Rajnath Goenka, the only daughter of Goenka family. The character is inspired from the Indian actress Kangana Ranaut's role in the 2014 comedy-drama Queen.[14]
  • Mihir Mishra portrays Akram Rehmat Khan / Akash Roy, the step-son of Sakshi whose father Rehmat Khan (Sakshi's first husband who married her after his first wife (Akram's mother's death) for Akram) was killed by her. He returns as Akash Roy to seek revenge on Sakshi and is accompanied by Durga in his revenge.[15]
  • Teena Chopra portrays Payal Mitra /Payal Thakur, Nitya's younger Sister who was raped by Shaurya and his friends due to a bet that Shaurya lost and intoxicated alcohol abuse that Shaurya had when he went to have during rave parties.
  • Vicky Arora portrays Karan Basu Shaurya’s Real partner in crime and best friend who pretended to love his sister Kangana so he could keep the secret of his crime hidden from the public due his father being a politician with ties to Goenkas he could use to take over the empire. Karan ends up behind bars because he and Shaurya bets were the main cause of the vileness that started the rape crime.
  • Vikram Singh Chauhan portrays Rishi who was once Shaurya’s friend but more dangerous to Shaurya than his friends because he knew the truth but due to Shauryas bossy attitude and mistreatment Rishi decides to expose him in court by allying with Durga Dev and Payal who he has sworn to protect and has a admiration for her outstanding bravery
  • Aliraza Namdar portrays Girish Basu Shaurya’s friend but ended up dead by betrayal
  • Bhupinder Singh portrays Dr. Dayal Thakur, real Durga's father, After surgery Durga (Nitya) and Payal's adoptive father and Dev's father-in-law.
  • Amit Behl portrays Navin Mathur, the loyal man of Goenka family who is accused of betrayal and is jailed than gives evidence to Dev because he is the key to Goenkas defeat because the truth is in their reach.[16]
  • Aamir Ali portrays Dr. Neil Bhattacharya. Ali made a special appearance; he portrayed Neil who has a false engagement with Durga.[17][18][19]
  • Vin Rana portrays Karan Seth Shaurya kills him by hiring a henchmen because he was not worthy as a friend
  • Shalmalee Desai portrays Sagarika Ganguly, a girl whose mother is the victim of spousal abuse.[20][21]

Production

The show is set in Kolkata, but is filmed in Mumbai.[22] The series was titled while in pre-production as Daag but title Ek Hasina Thi was finalized.[23][20]

The series production began in 2013 and was supposed to go on air in the same year but was delayed and premiered on 14 April 2014.[24][25]

Reception
Among the cast members, Singh's portrayal of Sakshi Goenka has been well appreciated. A review carried by The Indian Express noted that "her attitude and elegance comes across distinctly in her character".[26]

Mid Day stated, "Ek Hasina Thi had a great start. However, despite a good plotline, impressive star cast (Simone Singh, Ayub Khan and Sanjeeda Shaikh and Vatsal Seth) and many awards, it failed to keep up with the initial pace and lost out on viewers."[27]

The Indian Express stated the series to be more convincing and said, "The USP of the show is the fast-paced, gripping storyline and the immensely-talented star cast. But the characters seem edgy most of the time which doesn’t look very convincing and the performance of the lead actors is not standing out as yet. The most interesting and powerful performance is by Simone Singh. Her attitude and elegance comes across distinctly in her character of Sakshi Goenka. Like Singh’s, Ayub Khan's role too is well-sketched and projected with ease. The show is well-scripted and has the ability to make a mark but the fact remains that the lead actors will have to put in a lot of effort to make their characters look convincing and believable. The settings, makeup and clothes are the main highlights and strong base of the show."[26]

Daily News and Analysis rated two and half stars and praised, "The storyline is gripping, fast-paced and slick. It's nice to see a bunch of good looking actors together. The setting in Kolkata, the ambience, the bungalows, the visuals etc speak of high production values. The serial, in short, is easy on the eye." On the other hand they also said, "All the characters seem to be on edge, which is annoying. Nobody seems to be what they are. More importantly, whether the serial works or not is completely dependent on the actors' performances, especially since it's not a linear story. And so far, they are falling short." Speaking on cast performance they said, Beautiful and sophisticated Simone plays the shrewd and manipulative Sakshi Goenka with elan. Sanjeeda's character is layered, but it's not coming through in her performance. Even Vatsal lacks the edginess both in terms of looks and performance."[21]

Deccan Chronicle criticised, "It’s a tried and tested plot but one that still holds a lot of potential. But the problem here is that there is no thrill in this thriller. Ek Hasina Thi follows the silly, repetitive style of saas-bahu (mother in law-daughter in law) serials, and every teeny-weeny thing gets dragged for a week, making the eventual revenge very tiresome."[28]

Adaptations

It was dubbed into various national and international languages including in Tamil and Telugu as "Durga", in Malayalam as "Oru shishirathinte ormakku" and in Arabic as "Laheeb Al-Huqd / لهيب الحقد" (English: Flames of hatred) on MBC Bollywood.[29] It was also dubbed into Sinhalese as "Sulanga Wage Awidin" on Hiru TV.[30][31]

Awards
Indian Telly Awards 2014
Indian Television Academy Awards 2014

Footnotes
  1. Tied with Ashwini Kalsekar for Jodha Akbar.[32]

References
  1. "Sunidha Chauhan sings for Ek Hasina Thi". The Times of India. TNN. 25 March 2014. Retrieved 16 December 2014.
  2. "14 TV shows get axed this year". The Times of India. Shruti Jambhekar. 16 December 2014. Retrieved 16 December 2014.
  3. Ankita R Kanabar; Priya Adivarekar (28 March 2014). "Sanjeeda Sheikh to team up with Vatsal Sheth for a show". The Indian Express. Retrieved 16 December 2014.
  4. "Story of Ek Hasina Thi is gripping: Sanjeeda Sheikh". The Times of India. 21 March 2014. Retrieved 20 December 2014.
  5. "Vatsal Seth on Playing the Baddie in 'Ek Hasina Thi'". India-West. 9 October 2014. Retrieved 20 December 2014.
  6. "Simone Singh makes comeback on small screen after nine years". NDTV India. New Delhi: Press Trust of India. 3 April 2014. Retrieved 20 December 2014.
  7. "Had no apprehensions playing a mother to Vatsal: Simone Singh". The Times of India. Vijaya Tiwari. 12 April 2014. Retrieved 20 December 2014.
  8. "PICTURES: Meet Simone Singh of TV show Ek Haseena Thi". Dainik Bhaskar. Retrieved 20 December 2014.
  9. "Ayub Khan and Simone Singh get together after nine years". The Times of India. Hiren Kotwani. 25 March 2014. Retrieved 20 December 2014.
  10. "Bhuvnesh Mann to embark his journey in Ek Hasina Thi". The Times of India. TNN. 17 May 2014. Retrieved 20 December 2014.
  11. "Star Parivaar Awards 2014: Aamir Khan and wife Kiran look inseparable (see red carpet pics)". India TV. 24 June 2014. Retrieved 20 December 2014.
  12. "When dreams take flight". The Tribune. Chandigarh. 23 August 2014. Retrieved 20 December 2014.
  13. "Vatsal Seth's chachi in 'Ek Hasina Thi' was his Maths teacher in school". The Times of India. Iti Shree Misra. 17 September 2014. Retrieved 21 December 2014.
  14. "Poonam Preet's role in 'Ek Haseena Thi' inspired by Kangna Ranaut". Mid-Day. The Hitlist Team. 4 October 2014. Retrieved 20 December 2014.
  15. "Mihir Mishra – The Mystery Man on Ek Hasina Thi". The Times of India. 28 April 2014. Retrieved 20 December 2014.
  16. "Ek Hasina Thi : Durga's secret room". Daily News and Analysis (DNA). 2 May 2014. Retrieved 21 December 2014.
  17. Indo-Asian News Service (18 July 2014). "Aamir Ali, Sanjeeda Sheikh to Romance On Screen". Ndtv. Retrieved 16 December 2014.
  18. "TV couple Aamir, Sanjeeda to romance on `Ek Hasina Thi` show". Zee News. 18 July 2014. Retrieved 16 December 2014.
  19. IANS (18 July 2014). "Real life couple Aamir Ali, Sanjeeda Sheikh to work together in 'Ek Hasina Thi'". IBN Live. Retrieved 16 December 2014.
  20. "'Ek Hasina Thi' is about women empowerment: Siddharth P Malhotra". The Indian Express. Express News Service. 18 April 2014. Retrieved 20 December 2014.
  21. "Interesting premise, but actors fall short in much-delayed show Ek Hasina Thi". Daily News and Analysis. Chaya Unnikrishnan. DNA. 22 April 2014. Retrieved 20 December 2014.
  22. "I'm sure that 'Ek Hasina Thi' title track will be appreciated: Sunidhi". IBN Live. IANS. Retrieved 16 December 2014.
  23. "Satyamev Jayate 2, Vasundhara, Daag: 5 TV shows to look forward to". CNN-NEWS18.
  24. "Siddharth Malhotra busy doing television". The Indian Express.
  25. "TV's new tidings". Daily News and Analysis.
  26. "Ek Hasina Thi / Needs to be more convincing". The Indian Express. 9 May 2014. Retrieved 18 December 2014.
  27. "Major revamp on small screen as older shows make way for new". Mid Day. 19 November 2014. Retrieved 16 December 2014.
  28. "Ek Hasina Thi: No thrill in this thriller". Deccan Chronicle.
  29. "Ek Hasina Thi to be dubbed as Durga". The Times of India.
  30. "Shahid MBC - Laheeb Al-Heqd (شاهد.نت - لهيب الحقد)". Retrieved 17 November 2015.
  31. "MBC - Laheeb Al-Heqd (لهيب الحقد- MBC Bollywood - MBC.net)". Retrieved 17 November 2015.
  32. "13th Indian Telly Awards 2014 - Winners List; Harshad, Preetika, Karan, Divyanka Shine Bright!". Filmibeat. 20 October 2014. Retrieved 16 December 2014.
  33. "Indian Television Academy Awards 2014". MSN. Retrieved 16 December 2014.
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