# Jhanak

Jhanak is an Indian Hindi-language television drama series that premiered on StarPlus on 20 November 2023 and streams digitally on Disney+ Hotstar. Produced under Magic Moments Motion Pictures, it is a loose adaptation of Star Jalsha's Bengali series Jol Nupur and Guddi. The series stars Hiba Nawab and Krushal Ahuja.

## Plot

After her mother dies, Jhanak is forced to marry her cousin Arshi's fiancé, Aniruddh, to escape from her obsessive stalker, Tejas, who is twice her age. Aniruddh and Arshi are in a happy relationship for 7 years. Jhanak struggles to survive alone in the world, so she is taken by Aniruddh to his house. She works as a maid at the Bose house, and faces constant insults from Aniruddh's family members, Arundhati, Bipasha, Laal, Mimi, Rumi, Shubho and Tanuja. But the other Bose family members Amitabh, Anjana, Appu, Bablu and Choton treat Jhanak respectfully. Jhanak and Aniruddh constantly lie to Arshi and get romantic with each other behind her back.
Srishti suspects Jhanak and Aniruddh of having an affair. Eventually, Jhanak and Aniruddh's marriage is revealed to everyone. Arshi tries to leave Aniruddh but Aniruddh and Jhanak convince her to stay. Jhanak gets intimate with Aniruddh when he is intoxicated at Kashmir deceiving her sister,Arshi. They return to Kolkata and sign the annulment papers. Jhanak moves to Mumbai to start her career as a dancer, and she outgrows her timid nature. With her newfound confidence, Jhanak stands up to Aniruddh, Arshi, Srishti and any other Bose member, who disrespect or misbehave with her.
Jhanak and Aniruddh finally confess their mutual love. Arshi is heartbroken by constant lies and deceit by Aniruddh and Jhanak . Jhanak is targeted by Srishti and Tejas, and she is presumed dead. After her presumed death, Arshi and Aniruddh try to salvage their relationship, but Aniruddh misses Jhanak. Jhanak is rescued by Brijbhushan's apparent look-alike, who introduces himself as Kulbhushan. In a twist of fate, Jhanak learns that the one who rescued her is the real Brijbhushan and her biological father. Jhanak learns of the dark history and truth revolving Brijbhushan, Kulbhushan, Srishti and Urvashi.
Years ago, Brijbhushan was Srishti and Urvashi's dance teacher. Srishti, in a bid to climb the ladder of success quickly, seduced Brijbhushan and married him. Brijbhushan was deeply in love with her, but Srishti left him for the more successful Vinayak and married him and had a daughter, Arshi. After Srishti's betrayal, Brijbhushan is broken and Urvashi consoles him. Srishti, jealous of the growing closeness between Brijbhushan and Urvashi, returns to him. Brijbhushan is blinded by love so he once again accepts Srishti, who then gives birth to their daughter, Jhanak. Srishti, with Kulbhushan's help, gets Brijbhushan out of her way, because she is afraid that her name and fame will be tarnished. Kulbhushan believes he has murdered Brijbhushan and steals his identity and becomes Brijbhushan for the world. Urvashi, unaware of the identity switch, is ousted by Kulbhushan from the house along with Jhanak. Srishti spreads rumors that Urvashi had relations with Brijbhushan and gave birth to his daughter. Many people believe Srishti's lies and Urvashi accepts Jhanak as her own child to protect her.
After revealing the past, Brijbhushan compels Jhanak to retaliate against everyone who has wronged her and Urvashi. Thus, Jhanak returns as Nutan to finally expose Srishti and Kulbhushan's truth. On the day of Shristi and Vinayak's wedding anniversary party, Vinayak reveals the truth about Shrishti. Later, Brij Bhushan is murdered after the court case and Aniruddh returns Jhanak to his house. Aniruddh confesses to the Bose family that he loves Jhanak. To marry Jhanak, Aniruddh tells her that he has cancer. Arshi, on the other hand, falls pregnant with Aniruddh's child and returns to the Bose house to marry Aniruddh. On the day of Arshi and Aniruddh's wedding, Jhanak discovers that Aniruddh lied about having cancer and leaves the Bose house and goes to Mumbai with Aditya Kapoor.
In Mumbai, Jhanak is kidnapped. Later, Kulbhushan meets Jhanak and tells her to sign the property papers. Later, Jhanak flees from Kulbhushan's goons and faints on a truck and goes to Gujarat, where she meets Vihaan and his son, Ahaan, from America after his wife, Avni died. Vihaan asks Jhanak to act as his wife, Avni Parekh to hide the truth from his family. Kulbhushan searches for Jhanak and learns that she is in Gujarat. On the day of Priyanshi's wedding, Arshi informs the Parekhs that Jhanak is not Avni and that Avni is dead. The Parekhs arrange Jhanak and Vihaan's wedding nonetheless and Aniruddh and Arshi return to Kolkata. Later, Jhanak flees from the wedding but in the bus, she is caught by Kulbhushan's goons but she escapes again. Later an old man and woman bring her to Mumbai, then Jhanak finds herself in a red-light district area but flees and goes to the police. Choton takes Jhanak to Kolkata and she returns to the Bose house.
On the day of Arshi's baby shower ceremony, Shristi tells everyone that she is Jhanak's mother and apparently feels guilty for her misdeeds. Kulbhushan learns that Jhanak is in Kolkata and leaves for Kolkata along with his goons. Arshi makes Jhanak her child's caretaker, while Bipasha, Laal and Tanuja try to provoke Jhanak but she responds assertively. Shristi apologises to Jhanak for her past actions and decides to take her home but Jhanak refuses to go with her. Vihaan blames Ketki for Jhanak running away. Later, he discovers from Aniruddh that Jhanak is in the Bose house. Later, Jimli steals 50 lakhs and elopes with Anindo against her family's wishes. Anuradha and Lalon disown Jimli for her misdeeds, as well as disgracing their family. Later, Vihaan and Ahaan go to Kolkata for Choton's wedding and decides to take Jhanak back to Gujarat.
Later, the preparations for Choton and Mrinalini's wedding are made. On Haldi ceremony, Vihaan and Ahaan returns to Gujarat. Choton and Mrinalini get married. Arshi falls from the stairs, and blames Jhanak and Aniruddh for attending the wedding. Jimli learns that Anindo is not rich and feels guilty for giving him money. Meanwhile, Arshi's health worsens. Aniruddh and the family take Arshi to hospital. Arundhati's sister blames Mrinalini for Arshi's health. On the other hand, Jimli confronts Anindo about the fake necklace then Anindo slaps her. In the hospital, a woman threatens to kill herself if her baby dies, so her husband decides to steal Arshi's baby.
Jimli talks rudely with Anindo's mother and later he slaps her again. Anindo locks Jimli in her room and Jimli feels guilty for marrying him. Later, Vihaan returns to Gujarat and blames Ketki for Jhanak's departure. Sejal provokes Ketki against Jhanak. Anuradha, Lalon and Appu start missing Jimli. Aniruddh's family confronts Jhanak for going to the hospital. Lalon, Appu and Kajol are in a taxi when they spot Jimli with Anindo, but Anindo flees with Jimli. Kajol calls the police and the three follow Anindo and Jimli. Later, in the hospital, Shristi and Vinayak discuss the past and someone calls Srishti. Vinayak asks Shrishti who called. She responds that a company was calling. Later, Jhanak updates Shrishti and Vinayak about Arshi's health. Aniruddh returns to his house and rests. Later, a nurse, under the behest of the patient's husband, swaps Arshi's baby's name with the patient's stillborn baby's name. Jhanak doubts the nurses and the patient's husband. On the other hand, the police, in disguise, catch Anindo red-handed and arrest him for his crimes. Lalon, Appu and Kajol meet Jimli and thank the police. The nurses inform Aniruddh and his family that the baby is dead and Mimi tells Anirban about the same. Later, Jimli meets Anuradha and Kajol tells her about the situation. Jimli realises her mistake and apologises to Appu. Jhanak suspects that the baby was swapped by the nurses. Later, the patient's husband and the nurses accuse Jhanak of being a child thief but Jhanak disagrees. The police confront Anindo about the girls he sold. They also asked about the 50 lakh rupees that he had taken from Jimli. Anindo lies that he did not take money and that Jimli was lying. Arshi regains consciousness and learns that her child is dead. She blames Jhanak for it. Anindo tells the truth to the police and Lalon tells Jimli to go to court for the case of Anindo. Jhanak tells everyone about the baby swap but no one believes her.
Kulbhushan calls Srishti to know about Jhanak. Srishti tells him that she was acting of being good to Jhanak to withdraw the case. She also tells that Jhanak is in Bose house and also about Arshi's baby lost. Kulbhushan orders his goons to keep eye on Jhanak and kidnap and kill Jhanak. Rumi informs Mimi that the baby have been stolen by Jhanak but she doesn't believes her. Arshi returns to home and blames Jhanak for his daughter's demise. Jhanak tells Arshi that she will leave house. Aniruddh tells Jhanak that he can't live without her. Mimi tells Jhanak not to leave the house till her and Anirban's wedding. Srishti meets Kulbhushan and plans against Jhanak. They decides to kill Jhanak. Kulbhushan says that Brijbhushan's property is in his hands, he will do auction of Brijbhushan's property. He will call Jhanak for auction and kidnap her. Srishti talks with Arshi that she was acting of being good but Vinayak overhears the conversation. Arshi asks Aniruddh that when will Jhanak leave the house.
The Bose family plans for The Holi celebration. Mrinalini says to Choton to study and Choton decides to go to Institute to give exam. While, Bipasha talks badly with Mrinalini but Mrinalini gave a benifiting reply to Bipasha. Bipasha says to the family about Mrinalini but Mrinalini defends herself and Choton. Mrinalini brings clothes for everyone including Jhanak. The family questions Mrinalini about the clothes for Jhanak. Kajol tells Jimli to forget Anindo and start a new life. Lalon goes to find a new job. Arundhati asks Bipasha about her mother. Later, Bipasha's mother, Nandini calls Bipasha and asks her to meet her because a danger is coming. Jhanak decides to find Arshi's baby before she leave the house. Later, patient's husband, Omkar says to his wife that no one can steal his baby. Omkar's wife tells Omkar to kill Jhanak to keep the child. Bipasha meets Nandini in a cafe and tells her about the past. She tells her that she had married her first husband. She thought that he is dead. She marries to Bipasha's father. She later discovered that his first husband is alive and calls her. She tells Bipasha not to receive unknown's call she tells Bipasha tell the same. Lalon, Kajol, Aparajita, Anuradha and Jimli gets ready for holi celebration. Bipasha tells Laal not to receive any unknown call. Jhanak hears their conversation. Laal and Bipasha doubts that Jhanak is the one who says to unknown man to calls her but Jhanak defends herself. Jhanak is not ready to leave Bose House despite several pleas by Arshi.
On Holi celebration, Nandini asks Bipasha about the unknown calls. Mimi tells everyone that Jhanak is better dancer than Arshi. Arshi performs a dance. Srishti tells that she can't support Jhanak for dance. Jhanak also performs a dance. Everyone plays Holi. Meanwhile, Nandini's first husband and Bipasha's father, Sarveshwar came in Holi celebration and tells everyone the truth revolving around Bipasha, Nandini, Nandini's second husband and sarveshwar. He tells that she married him and was a famous dancer in Banaras. She betrayed him married with another man. Everyone got shocked after hearing this. Laal decides to leave Bipasha but Nandini tells him to divorce Bipasha. Anjana tells Jhanak not to support Bipasha and Nandini for their mistakes. Lalon asks Bipasha to leave their house. Mimi and Anirban came into a cafe and were talking about the consequences that will come in the wedding. Aniruddh and Arshi have a fight for going outside for dance. Arshi says that he and Jhanak are the reason for their child's death. She tells him that she will not divorce her. Jhanak hears their conversation and decides to find their baby before leaving the house. Later, Bipasha meets Sarveshwar in a cafe and plans against Jhanak. She tells Sarveshwar to take Jhanak along with him in Banaras instead of taking her. Srishti plans against Jhanak for Arshi. Aniruddh meets Jhanak in a market and tells her that he have not given place in his life. Jhanak found Omkar in the market and decides to expose him.

## Cast
### Main

* Hiba Nawab as Jhanak Raina/Nutan Bhanushali/Fake Avni Parekh: A dancer; Srishti and Brijbhushan's daughter; Urvashi's niece and adopted daughter; Vinayak's step daughter; Anjana and Bablu's daughter figure; Bharat and Laxman's niece; Arya's cousin; Arshi's half sister and rival; Aparajita's sister figure; Kulbhushan's rival; Rahul's college friend and ex lover; Tejas's ex-fiance; Aditya's friend and one sided lover; Aniruddh's ex love interest and ex wife; Vihaan's fake wife and ex fiance; Ahaan's foster mother (2023–present)
* Krushal Ahuja as Aniruddha "Ani" Bose: Shubhankar and Tanuja's son; Arundhati and Amitabh's grandson; Mimi and Rumi's brother; Laal and Aparajita's cousin; Tejas's rival; Jhanak’s ex love interest and ex husband; Arshi's former husband; Aditya's friend; Vihaan's best friend (2023–present)

### Recurring

* Chandni Sharma as Arshi Mukherjee Bose: A famous dancer; Srishti and Vinayak's daughter; Brijbhushan's step daughter; Bipasha's friend; Arya's cousin;Jhanak's half sister and rival; Aniruddh's rapist and second wife (2023–present)
* Kunal Verma as Vihaan Parekh: A doctor; Ketki and Mahendra's son; Hiten, Bhavesh and Mehek's brother; Avni's widower; Jhanak's fake husband and ex fiance; Ahaan's father; Aniruddh's best friend (2025—present)
* Dolly Sohi/Poorva Gokhale as Srishti Raina Mukherjee (formerly Bhanushali): A famous dancer; Bharat, Laxman and Urvashi's sister;Brijbhushan's ex wife and widow and student; Vinayak's wife; Jhanak and Arshi's mother; Kulbhushan's partner; Ahaan's foster grandmother (2023–2024)/(2024–present)
* Saurabh Agarwal as Vinayak Mukherjee: A scientist; Srishti's second husband; Arshi's father; Jhanak's step father; Ahaan's foster grandfather (2023–present)
* Sanjay Gandhi as
** Brijbhushan Bhanushali: A dance teacher; (2024)
** Kulbhushan Bhanushali/Fake Brijbhushan: Fake dance teacher; (2023–present)
* Shilpa Tulaskar as Urvashi Raina: A dancer; (2023)
* Kajal Pisal as Tanuja Bose: Shubhankar's wife; (2023–present)
* Sachin Verma as Shubhankar "Shubho" Bose: A lawyer; (2023–present)
* Puneet Panjwani as Rupankar "Choton" Bose: Amitabh and Arundhati's youngest son; (2023–present)
* Deepali Pansare/Ankita Sharma as Mrinalini "Minu" Ghosh Bose: Rupankar's wife (2024–2025) / (2025—present)
* Reena Pimpale as Anjana Bose: Bablu's wife; Aparajita and Laal's mother (2023–present)
* Ajay Chakraborty as Bablu Bose: Amitabh and Arundhati's eldest son; Anjana's husband; Aparajita and Laal's father (2023–present)
* Ankita Chakraborty as Aparajita "Appu" Bose Chatterjee: A singer; Bablu and Anjana's daughter; Laal's sister; Lalon's wife (2023–present)
* Bhavya Sachdeva as Lalon Chatterjee: A singer; Anuradha and Pranay's son; Aparajita's husband (2024–present)
* Sunny Sachdeva as Laal Bose: A college professor; Anjana abd Bablu's son; Aparajita's brother; Bipasha's husband (2023–present)
* Patrali Chattopadhyay as Bipasha Bose: Laal's wife; (2023–present)
* Madhuri Sanjeev as Arundhati Bose: Matriarch of the Bose family; Amitabh's wife (2023–present)
* Prithvi Zutshi as Amitabh Bose: Patriarch of the Bose family; Arundhati's husband (2023–present)
* Srijani Banerjee as Mimi Bose: Tanuja and Shubhankar's elder daughter; Rumi and Aniruddh's sister; Anirban's love interest (2023–present)
* Meghna Kukreja/Aarshavi Joshi as Rumi Bose: Tanuja and Shubhankar's younger daughter; Mimi and Aniruddh's sister (2023–2024)/(2024–present)
* Rishi Kaushik as Tejas Kumar: A politician; Jhanak's obsessive love interest turned enemy (2023–2024)
* Pankaj Bijlani as Dr. Anirban Sen: Mimi's love interest (2024–present)
* Salman Shaikh as Aditya Kapoor: A famous actor; Jhanak's friend and one sided love interest (2024–present)
* Barsha Chatterjee/Unknown as Anuradha Chatterjee: Pranay's widow; Lalon and Jimli's mother (2024–2025)/(2025-present)
* Komal Thakur as Jimli Chatterjee: Anuradha and Pranay's daughter; Lalon's sister; Anindo's wife (2024–present)
* Isha Pandey/Unknown as Kajol Sen: A teacher; Jimli and Aparajita's friend; Lalon's friend and one sided love interest (2024–2025)/(2025-present)
* Ajeet Agarwal as Guru Ji: Head of Ashram; Brijbhushan's friend (2024)
* Amit Dolawat as Advocate Devashish Roy: Jhanak and Brijbhushan's lawyer (2024–present)
* Tarun Raj Nihalani as Rudra "Guru Ji" Pratapsingh: A dance teacher; Pallavi's husband;Jhanak's mentor (2024)
* Satvik Sankhyan as Rahul: Jhanak's college best friend and one sided lover (2023–2024)
* Sanjana Sinha as Pallavi Pratapsingh: Rudra's wife (2024)
* Bharat Kaul as Bharat Raina: Srishti, Laxman and Urvashi's brother; Kaushalya's husband; Arya's father (2023–2024)
* Ekta Sharma as Kaushalya Raina: Bharat's wife; Aarya's mother (2023)
* Anand Sharma as Laxman Raina: Bharat, Srishti and Urvashi's brother; Urmila's husband (2023)
* Neetu Bhatt as Urmila Raina: Laxman's wife (2023)
* Rajani Gupta as Radha: Urvashi's friend (2023)
* Saurabh Gumber as Anindo: A fraudster; Jimli's husband (2025—present)
* Vaishali Thakkar as Ketki Parekh: Matriarch of the Parekh family; Mahendra's wife; Bhavesh, Hiten, Vihaan and Mehek's mother; Priyanshi, Riddhi and Ahaan's grandmother (2025—present)
* Muni Jha as Mahendra Nath Parekh: Patriarch of the Parekh family; Ketki's husband; Bhavesh, Hiten, Vihaan and Mehek's father; Priyanshi, Riddhi and Ahaan's grandfather (2025–present)
* Piyali Munshi as Prachi Parekh: Bhavesh's wife; Priyanshi's mother (2025–present)
* Jignesh Joshi as Bhavesh Parekh: Ketki and Mahendra's eldest son; Hitesh, Vihaan and Mehek's brother; Prachi's husband; Priyanshi's father (2025–present)
* Soniyaa Kaur as Sejal Parekh: Hitesh's wife; Riddhi's mother (2025–present)
* Aarya Dharamchand Kumar as Hitesh Parekh: Ketki and Mahendra's second son; Bhavesh, Vihaan and Mehek's brother; Sejal's husband; Riddhi's father (2025–present)
* Rupali Thapa as Mehek Parekh: Ketki and Mahendra's daughter; Bhavesh, Hitesh and Vihaan's sister (2025–present)
* Jia Narigara as Riddhi Parekh: Sejal and Hitesh's daughter; Priyanshi and Ahaan's cousin (2025–present)
* Mahi Khan as Priyanshi Parekh: Bhavesh and Prachi’s daughter; Riddhi and Ahaan’s cousin (2025-present)

## Production
### Development

Jhanak was produced by Leena Gangopadhyay and Saibal Banerjee under Magic Moments Motion Pictures.

### Casting

Hiba Nawab was cast in the titular role of Jhanak. Krushal Ahuja was cast as Aniruddha opposite Hiba Nawab. Chandni Sharma was cast as Arshi and was the last to be cast on the show. Dolly Sohi was cast as Arshi's mother Srishti, while Kajal Pisal was cast as Aniruddh's mother Tanuja. Rishi Kaushik was cast as Tejas, Jhanak's obsessive lover.
In January 2024, Sohi quit the show and was replaced by Poorva Gokhale. In April 2024, Deepali Pansare was cast as Mrinalini, opposite Puneet Panjwani.

### Filming

The shooting of the series began in September 2023. It was primarily based in Kashmir and Kolkata, and some initial episodes were shot in both locations.
Nawab had learned to row a shikara within two days for the role of Jhanak.