# Uttaran

Uttaran (transl. Donated items) is an Indian soap opera that premiered on Colors TV from 1 August 2008 to 16 January 2015. The third longest-running Indian television series of Colors TV, it was produced under Film Farm India. It starred Tina Datta, Rashami Desai, Nandish Sandhu, Gaurav Chopra, Sreejita De, Mrunal Jain and Ajay Chaudhary.

## Plot

Set in Mumbai, Ichcha is the daughter of a poor widow Damini, who begins working at Jogi Thakur Mansion as a maid. Jogi's daughter Tapasya befriends Ichcha, and they share a sister-like bond. Sumitra influences Tapasya to see Ichcha differently. Tapasya gets jealous when Divya and Jogi care for Ichcha as their child, unaware that Jogi was responsible for Ichcha's father Rajendra's death.
Tapasya is a rich spoilt brat. Simple, Ichcha wants to open a school to give free education to poor kids. Tapasya's parents arrange their daughter's marriage with Veer Singh, who belongs to a reputed and wealthy family. But Tapasya never shows interest towards the marriage as she is in relationship with Siddharth (Sid). Slowly Veer and Iccha fall in love and their families agree to their marriage. Insecure seeing Veer shower Ichcha with expensive gifts, Tapasya fakes a suicide attempt and begs Ichcha to let her marry Veer. Ichcha agrees, and Veer marries Tapasya. That same night, Veer learns the truth, and Tapasya claims Ichcha forced her to marry him, believing she is not right for him. The next day, Veer lashes out Tapasya in front of her family and forces Ichcha to tell the truth. Meanwhile, his elder brother Vansh, a drug addict falls for Ichha looking at her caring nature.
Veer, unaware of Vansh's love, tries to divorce Tapasya and marry Ichha, who tries to distance herself from him. Tapasya tries to get Iccha killed with the help of Sid. Veer saves Iccha, but not before she gets shot and is hospitalized; Sid is then arrested. Tapasya tricks Gunvanti who gets Vansh and Ichha married. A heartbroken Veer pretends to be happy with Tapasya. Vansh overhears Sid slamming Tapasya for ruining Iccha's life. Tapasya, however, misleads Vansh, indirectly blaming him for Ichha's sufferings. As a result, he kills himself. Iccha holds Veer responsible for Vansh's death, and Gunvanti, in turn, blames Ichha. Veer explains how Tapasya tried to kill Ichha and made Vansh commit suicide, by displaying a video revealing the day's actions shot by Sid, who wanted to take revenge from Tapasya. Shocked, Jogi disowns her. Ichha goes to Vrindavan. There, Veer arrives to unite with her, and they get married; the family accepts them.
Tapasya meets Raghuvendra Pratap Rathore, who falls for her, but she betrays him in game of poker. He leaves her due to her disloyalty. Pregnant with his baby, she returns to Veer's family and delivers Mukta, whom she unintentionally abandons. Veer and Ichha raise her, unaware she is Tapasya's daughter. They also adopt an orphan and name him Kanha. Ichha delivers a boy but Sumitra and her son Pushkar steal him.
They bribe the nurse to tell Ichcha that the boy was stillborn. Raghuvendra bumps into and takes the baby from Pushkar. He and Tapasya adopt the baby, named Yuvraj. Sid creates misunderstandings between Rathore and Tapasya, causing Tapasya to leave Rathore. Rocky Shah, Vansh's lookalike, enters the Bundela mansion as Vansh and falls for Iccha. Jogi rescues Iccha from him, accidentally kills Rocky and is bailed out by Rathore. Veer reveals Gunvanti to be behind all this, and Gunvanti admits to holding a grudge against Iccha for adopting the two children and not giving birth to her own son, whom she wants as an heir to the family. They later find out that Yuvraj is Iccha's real son and give Mukta to Jogi in exchange for Yuvraj. Pregnant again, Ichcha saves Veer from the cruel Avinash, who attacks him. Veer loses his memory. Ichha kills Avinash and is jailed for 18 years. Ichha delivers a girl in prison, and tells Damini to raise the baby, named Meethi.
Meethi and Mukta are best friends just like their mothers. Ichcha returns. Kanha, whom Damini raised is a successful CEO, happily married to Surbhi. Yuvraj and Meethi were brought up by Gunvanti and Damini respectively, and Gunvanti instigated him against Ichcha. Sumitra tells Meethi that Ichcha is alive but lies that she ruined Tapasya's life. Initially in denial, Meethi develops a negative opinion of Ichcha when she learns she was in prison for murder. Kanha reveals Ichcha was imprisoned for murder but omits that she killed Avinash to save Veer. Despite Damini and Kanha's efforts, Meethi disbelieves them and rejects Ichcha. Sumitra brainwashes Mukta, who grows close to Yuvraj.
Later, he tries to rape Mukta, but Ichcha saves her. Mukta realizes she misunderstood her and Meethi. Yuvraj is arrested and finds out Ichcha is his mother. His hatred for her further intensifies as she testifies against him in court, and he is incarcerated for 5 years. Veer who has still no memories, lives with Gunvanti and Amla. Reformed after living in US for years, Tapasya comes back and restores his memory. Vishnu encourages Meethi, who finally accepts Ichcha.
Eventually, Veer and Ichcha unite. Meethi marries Vishnu on Ichcha's arrangement. He is actually Avinash's son, Akash, who wants revenge. Mukta discovers his truth and tries to locate the real Vishnu, a humble blue-collar worker for an NGO, to expose Akash. He orders his goons to kidnap and kill Mukta. Fortunately, Raghuvendra saves her. At Akash and Meethi's wedding, Mukta tries to expose him but no one except Sumitra believes her.
Meanwhile, Ichcha and Tapasya risk their life to save Mukta from Veer's uncle Tej, who shoots Tapasya. Fatally, Ichcha gets hit by a truck. Before dying, Ichcha donates heart to Tapasya. Later, Raghuvendra gets the evidence to expose Akash. Surbhi turns out as Akash's maternal cousin sister. His mom, Ekadashi orders him to kill Meethi but he falls in love with her. Meethi leaves the house. Tapasya throws the pregnant Surbhi out.
Surbhi repents for her actions and dies after delivering their child. Kanha forgives her and promises to raise their child. As Vishnu and Mukta love each other, they marry and soon have a son, Manav. Meethi and Akash unite. She is accepted by his family. After undergoing a plastic surgery, Yuvraj returns as Mukta's boss for revenge. He kidnaps her. While saving her, a pregnant Meethi miscarries and disowns Yuvraj before Ekadashi banishes her. She travels to Srinagar.
Caught up in a terrorist attack by Asgar, Meethi slips into a river and is transported by the current across the border to Gilgit. Ashfaq saves her. He falls in love with and helps her in returning to India. He bids her a tearful goodbye. Akash and Meethi unite. She adopts Rani as Nandini is imprisoned because she saved Akash from and murdered his old enemy. Meethi and Akash also adopt Tamanna, whom Rani hates. Sumitra reforms.
Eventually, Sumitra and Damini convince Mukta and Meethi to unite, and in the end, reflect the everlasting friendship of Ichcha and Tapasya.

## Cast
### Main

* Tina Datta as
** Ichcha Singh Bundela (nee Bharti): Damini and Rajendra's daughter, Veer's wife, Yuvraj and Meethi's mother, Akash's mother in-law, Rani and Tamanni's adoptive grandmother; (2009 - 2012) (Dead)
*** Sparsh Khanchandani as Child Ichcha Bharti (2008 - 2009)
** Meethi Chatterjee (nee Singh Bundela): Ichcha and Veer's daughter, Yuvraj's sister, Akash's wife, Rani and Tamanni's adoptive mother; (2012 - 2015)
* Rashami Desai as Tapasya Rathore aka Tapu (nee Thakur) (formerly Singh Bundela): Divya and Jogi's daughter, Ichcha's childhood friend, Veer's ex-wife, Raghuvendra's wife, Mukta's mother, Manav's grandmother; (2009 - 2013)
** Ishita Panchal as Child Tapasya Thakur (2008 - 2009)
* Nandish Sandhu / Vikas Bhalla as Veer Singh Bundela: Gunvanti and Umed's younger son, Vansh's brother, Tapasya's ex-husband, Yuvraj and Meethi's father, Akash's father in-law, Rani and Tamanni's adoptive grandfather; (2009 - 2012) / (2012) (dead)
* Gaurav Chopra as Raghuvendra Pratap Rathore: Ex-husband of Malvika; (2010 - 2013)
* Mrunal Jain as Akash Chatterjee aka fake Vishnu Kashyap: Avinash and Ekadashi's elder son; (2013 - 2015)
* Sreejita De as Mukta Kashyap (nee Rathore): Tapasya and Raghuvendra's daughter; (2012 - 2015)
* Ajay Chaudhary as Vishnu Kashyap: Mukta's husband; (2013 - 2015)
* Sourabh Raaj Jain / Bharat Chawda as Yuvraj Singh Bundela : Ichcha and Veer's elder son; (2012) / (2014)

### Recurring

* Vaishali Thakkar as Damini Bharti: Rajendra's widow; Ichcha's mother; (2008–2015)
* Sunil Chauhan as Rajendra Bharti: Damini's husband; Ichcha's father; (2009)
* Pragati Mehra / Pyumori Mehta Ghosh as Divya Thakur: Pushkar's cousin; (2008–2015)
* Ayub Khan as Jogi Thakur: Divya's husband; Tapasya's father; (2008–2015)
* Pratima Kazmi as Sumitra Devi Jaiswal: Pushkar's mother; (2008–2015)
* Arun Singh Sharma as Pushkar Jaiswal: Sumitra's son; (2008–2012)
* Akanksha Awasthi as Rohini Jaiswal: Pushkar's wife (2009–2013)
* Akhil Mishra as Umed Singh Bundela: Baldev's son; (2009–2013)
* Beena Banerjee as Gunvanti Bundela: Umed's wife; (2009–2015)
* Rohit Khurana as
** Vansh Singh Bundela: Gunvanti and Umed's elder son; (2009 - 2010)
** Rocky Shah: Vansh's lookalike (2011 - 2012) (Dead)
* Shamim Sheikh as Baldev Singh Bundela: Umed and Tej's father; (2009–2013)
* Pawan Mahendru as Kasa Seth: Bundela family's maid (2009–2014)
* Sunil Sinha/Kiran Karmarkar as Tej Singh Bundela: Baldev's son; (2009–2013)
* Sharhaan Singh as Siddharth aka Sid: Tapasya's ex-boyfriend (2009–2012)
* Rishina Kandhari as Malvika (formerly Rathore): Raghuvendra's ex-wife; (2014–2015)
* Vividha Kirti as Ambika Rathore Chatterjee: Malvika and Raghuvendra's daughter; (2013–2015)
* Varun Toorkey as Sankrant Chatterjee: Ekadashi and Avinash's younger son; (2013–2015)
* Gaurav S Bajaj as Aman Verma (2012)
* Chaitanya Choudhury as Kanha Singh Bundela: Jignesh's son; (2012–2014)
* Pranitaa Pandit as Surbhi Singh Bundela (nee Yadav): Agarth and Kadambari's daughter; (2012–2013)
* Raj Singh Verma as Avinash Chatterjee: Prasad's son; (2011–2012)
* Krutika Desai Khan as Ekadashi Yadav Chatterjee: Agarth, Gomati and Pavitra's sister; (2012–2015)
* Arishfa Khan as Rani Chatterjee: Nandini's daughter; (2014–2015)
* Unknown as Tamanna Chatterjee: Khanna's daughter; (2015)
* Rumi Khan as Nirbhay Yadav: Agarth and Kadambari's son; (2013)
* Arti Singh as Kajri Yadav: Nirbhay's widow (2013–2014)
* Girija Shankar as Agarth Yadav: Ekadashi, Gomati and Pavitra's brother:(2013)
* Neena Singh as Gomati Yadav: Ekadashi, Agarth and Pavitra's sister (2013–2015)
* Hetal Yadav as Pavitra Yadav: Ekadashi, Agarth and Gomati's sister (2013–2014)
* Sonica Handa as Amla: Veer's nanny (2012–2013)
* Rajesh Khera as Maharani (2014)
* Tiku Talsania as Colonel Swarnik Agnihotri (2014)
* Krip Suri as Asgar Rizvi: Saba, Nusrat, and Ashfaque's brother; (2014)
* Gaurav Vasudev as Babar (2014)
* Sahil Phull as Ashfaque Rizvi: Saba, Nusrat and Asgar's brother (2014)
* Anchal Sabharwal as Fida: Asgar's second wife (2014)
* Shriya Jha as Nandini "Chameli" Sharma: Akash's ex-lover; (2014–2015)
* Madhura Naik as Nilofer Naaz: Ashfaque's wife; (2014)
* Mansi Sharma as Saba Mehrami: Nusrat, Asgar and Ashfaque's sister (2014)
* Samikssha Batnagar as Zubeida Ahmed: Asgar's first wife (2014)
* Rakesh Pandey as Rizvi Gulzar: Saba, Nusrat, Asgar and Ashfaque's father (2014)
* Charu Rohatgi as Mumtaz Begum: Saba, Nusrat, Asgar and Ashfaque's mother;(2014)
* Amrin Chakkiwala as Nusrat Rizvi (2014)
* Vineett Kumar/Rrajvir Singh as Khalid: Saba's husband; (2014)
* An unknown actor as Mushtaq Ansari Sahab (2014)
* Baby Farida as Anjum Jalalan (2008–2014)
* Usha Bachani as Jailaxmi Khurana (2009)
* Aastha Chaudhary as Madhuran Sethi (2011)
* Sharad Kelkar as Satyaveer Singh (2011)
* An unknown actress as Kuki Arora (2009)
* An unknown actress as Jyoti Bhatia: Lali's sister; (2008–2010)
* Shivshakti Sachdev as Lali Thakur: Jyoti's sister (2009)
* An unknown actor as Maharaj Karvansh: Thakur family's maid (2008–2009)
* Priya Marathe as Ruby Shekhawat: Rocky's fiancée (2011–2012)
* Harsha Khandeparkar as Sanchi Singh (2011)
* Apurva as Kinjal (2010)
* Nikita Sharma as Masoom (2010)
* Arun Bali as Godman (2014)
* Vikas Sethi as Inspector Abeeran Mattoo (2010)
* Nikhil Arya as Inspector Suryakant Tarte (2011–2012)

## Production
### Casting

The show initially starred Sparsh Khanchandani as young Ichcha with Ishita Panchal as young Tapasya in December 2008 to June 2009.
It later took a generation leap and from June 2009 to March 2012, it focused on the characters of Ichcha, Tapasya, Veer and Vansh played by Tina Datta, Rashami Desai, Nandish Sandhu and Rohit Khurana respectively. Sandhu quit the show as he doesn't want to be the part of 18 years leap and was replaced by Vikas Bhalla in 2012.
Another 18-year leap was introduced in March 2012 and then the story centered around the life of Meethi, Mukta, Yuvraj, Akash and Vishnu portrayed by Tina Datta, Sreejita De, Saurabh Raj Jain, Mrunal Jain and Ajay Chaudhary until its end in January 2015.

## Reception

Uttaran's premiere had a 3.25 target rating point (TRP) and it became one of the top-rated Hindi GEC, and the second most watched program of Colors TV after Balika Vadhu at the time. It was one of the show that helped Colors TV to briefly gain first position in Hindi GEC, breaking the nine-year run of Star Plus. From 2008 until the first quarter of 2012, Uttaran maintained its top position mostly on the ratings charts.

## Adaptations

| Language | Title | Original release | Networks | Last aired | Notes |
| Hindi | Uttaran उतरन | 1 December 2008 | Colors TV | 16 January 2015 | Original |
| Marathi | Asava Sundar Swapnancha Bangla असावा सुंदर स्वप्नांचा बंगला | 7 January 2013 | Colors Marathi | 19 March 2016 | Remake |

## Awards

The series has won the following awards:
| Year | Category | Recipient(s) |
| ITA Awards |||
| 2009 | GR8! Ensemble Cast | Uttaran |
| 2010 | Best Actor in a Supporting Role | Ayub Khan |
| 2010 | Best Actress Popular | Rashami Desai |
| Indian Telly Awards |||
| 2010 | Best Actor in a Supporting Role | Ayub Khan |
| 2010 | Best Actress in a Negative Role | Rashami Desai |
| 2010 | Best Daily Serial | Film Farm |
| 2010 | Best Actress in a Supporting Role Jury | Vaishali Thakkar |
| 2013 | Best Actor in a Negative Role Jury | Kiran Karmarkar |
| Apsara Awards |||
| 2010 | Best Director | Nandita Mehra |
| 2010 | Best Actor in a Drama Series | Ayub Khan |
| 2010 | Best Actress in a Drama Series | Tina Datta |
| 2011 | Best Ensemble Cast | Uttaran |
| 2011 (ColorsGolden Awards) | Popular Jodi | Tina Datta Nandish Sandhu |
| 2012 | Best Writer | Mitali Bhattacharya |
| Zee Gold Awards |||
| 2010 | Best Debut Male | Nandish Sandhu |
| 2010 | Best Actor In Supporting Role (Popular) | Ayub Khan |
| 2010 | Best Actress In Negative Role (Popular) | Rashami Desai |
| 2010 | Best Story | Mitali Bhattacharya |
| 2011 | Best Actress (Critics) | Rashami Desai |
| 2011 | Best Actor In Supporting Role (Popular) | Ayub Khan |
| 2013 | Best Actor In Negative Role (Critics) | Kiran Karmarkar |
| 2013 | Gold Producer's Honour for Completing 1000 episodes | Film Farm |
| FICCI Frames Excellence Awards |||
| 2010 | Best TV Series (Fiction) | Film Farm |
| 2010 | Best TV Actor (Male) | Ayub Khan |
| 2011 | Best TV Actor (Female) | Rashami Desai |