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 loosely based on Star Jalsha's Bengali series Sreemoyee. It stars Rupali Ganguly, Sudhanshu Pandey, Madalsa Sharma and Gaurav Khanna. It is one of the longest-running Indian television soap operas.

Plot

Cast

Main
 Rupali Ganguly as Anupamaa "Anu" Joshi Kapadia: Kanta's daughter; Bhavesh's sister; Vanraj's ex-wife; Anuj's wife; Paritosh, Samar and Pakhi's mother; Anu's foster mother; Aarya's grandmother (2020–present)
 Sudhanshu Pandey as Vanraj "V" Shah: Leela and Hasmukh's son; Dolly's brother; Anupamaa's ex-husband; Kavya's husband; Paritosh, Samar and Pakhi's father; Aarya's grandfather (2020–present)
 Madalsa Sharma as Kavya Shah: Nandini's aunt; Aniruddh's ex-wife; Vanraj's wife (2020–present)
 Gaurav Khanna as Anuj "AK" Kapadia: Malati Devi's son; GK's foster son; Malvika's adopted brother; Ankush's adopted cousin; Anupamaa's husband; Anu's foster father (2021–present)
 Naksh Dhaval Adhyaru as Child Anuj (2022)

Recurring
 Paras Kalnawat / Sagar Parekh as Samar "Bakuda" Shah: Anupamaa and Vanraj's younger son; Paritosh and Pakhi's brother; Nandini's former love-interest; Dimple's husband (2020–2022) / (2022–2023)
 Vidhvaan Sharma as Child Samar (2022) (archival footage of Anupama: Namaste America)
 Aashish Mehrotra as Paritosh "Toshu" Shah: Anupamaa and Vanraj's elder son; Samar and Pakhi's brother; Kinjal's husband; Aarya's father (2020–present)
 Dheer Bhanushali as Child Paritosh (2022) (archival footage of Anupama: Namaste America)
 Muskan Bamne as Pakhi "Sweety" Shah Mehta: Anupamaa and Vanraj's daughter; Paritosh and Samar's sister; Adhik's wife (2020–present)
 Alpana Buch as Leela Shah aka Baa: Jignesh's sister; Hasmukh's wife; Vanraj and Dolly's mother; Paritosh, Samar, Pakhi and Meenali's grandmother; Aarya's great-grandmother (2020–present)
 Arvind Vaidya as Hasmukh Shah aka Bapuji: Leela's husband; Vanraj and Dolly's father; Paritosh, Samar, Pakhi, and Meenali's grandfather; Aarya's great-grandfather; Gopichand's best friend (2020–present)
 Madhavi Gogate / Savita Prabhune as Kanta Joshi: Anupamaa and Bhavesh's mother; Paritosh, Samar, Pakhi and Nihar's grandmother; Aarya's great-grandmother (2020–2021) / (2021–present)
 Mehul Nisar as Bhavesh Joshi: Kanta's son; Anupamaa's brother; Nihar's father (2020–2021, 2022–present)
 Yachit Sharma as Nihar Joshi: Bhavesh's son; Paritosh, Samar and Pakhi's 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 (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)
 Jasveer Kaur as Devika Mehta: Anupamaa and Anuj's best-friend (2020–present)
 Bhakti Chauhan as Jhilmil: Gudiya's mother; Shah family's former househelp (2020)
 Nidhi Shah as Kinjal "Kinju" Dave Shah: Rakhi and Pramod's daughter; Paritosh's wife; Aarya's mother (2020–present)
 Tasneem Sheikh as Rakhi Dave: Pramod's wife; Kinjal's mother; Aarya's grandmother (2020–2023)
 Farooq Saeed as Pramod Dave: Rakhi's husband; Kinjal's father; Aarya's grandfather (2020)
 Anagha Bhosale as Nandini "Nandu" Iyer: Kavya's niece; Rohan and Samar's former love-interest (2020–2022)
 Rushad Rana as Aniruddh Gandhi: Kavya's ex-husband (2020–2021; 2023)
 Tulika Patel as Kaamini: Leela's niece-in-law (2020)
 Vivan Singh Rajput as Siddharth "Sid" Desai: Pakhi's psycho classmate who blackmailed her (2020)
 Riyaz Panjwani as Mr. Dholakia: Vanraj, Kavya, and Kinjal's former boss who tried to molest Kinjal. (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 and mentor (2021)
 Sunita Rai as Mansi 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 househelp and foster father; Hasmukh's best friend (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 adoptive sister; Ankush's cousin; Vanraj's former business partner (2021–2022)
 Rohit Bakshi as Ankush Kapadia: Malvika's cousin; Anuj's adoptive cousin; Barkha's husband; Sara and Romil's father (2022–present)
 Ashlesha Sawant as Barkha Mehta Kapadia: Adhik's sister and foster mother; Ankush's wife; Sara's mother; Romil's step-mother (2022–present)
 Alma Hussein as Sara Kapadia: Ankush and Barkha's daughter; Romil's half-sister; Samar's best-friend (2022)
 Adhik Mehta as Adhik Mehta: Barkha's brother; Ankush and Barkha's foster son; Pakhi's husband (2022–present)
 Asmi Deo as Anu "Chhoti Anu" Kapadia: Maya's daughter; Anupamaa and Anuj's foster daughter (2022–present)
 Noorain Khan as Aarya "Pari" Shah: Kinjal and Paritosh's daughter (2022–present)
 Nishi Saxena as Dimple "Dimpy" Shah: Nirmit's ex-wife; Samar's widow (2022–present)
 Rishabh Jaiswal as Nirmit: Dimple's ex-husband (2022)
 Nitesh Pandey as Dheeraj Kapoor: Anuj's best friend (2023)
 Amit Pachori as Mohit: Kavya's modeling photographer (2023)
 Chhavi Pandey as Uttara aka Maya: Priest's daughter; a former prostitute; Anu's mother; Anuj's former obsessive one-sided lover (2023)
 Renuka Sharma as Sushma: A former prostitute and Maya's friend (2023)
 Mahi Soni / Yashti Pamnani as Bhairavi: Daughter of a poor vegetable vendor and student at Anupamaa Dance Academy (2023) / (2023–present) 
 Apara Mehta as Gurumaa Malati Devi: Owner of Gurukul; Anuj's mother; Anupamaa's dance teacher (2023–present)
 Khushali Jariwala as Young Malati Devi (2023)
 Aman Maheshwari as Nakul: Malati's student and accomplice (2023)
 Viraj Kapoor as Romil Kapadia: Ankush's illegitimate son; Barkha's step-son; Sara's half-brother (2023–present)
 Lovish Saini as Shivansh "Sonu" Rathore: Suresh's son; a goon; Samar's murderer (2023–present)
 Kumar Hegde as Suresh Rathore: A politician; Shivansh's father (2023–present)

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" () in a Gujarati, Hindi and English fusion.

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, a public conflict arose between cast members, one group led by Rupali Ganguly with Alpana Buch, Aashish Mehrotra and Muskaan Bamne, and another by Sudhanshu Pandey, with Madalsa Sharma, Paras Kalnawat and Anagha Bhosale.

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 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 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.

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 like Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai, Mann Kee Awaaz Pratigya 2 and Aai Kuthe Kay Karte 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.

Crossover
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.

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."

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 on Disney+ Hotstar

2020 Indian television series debuts
StarPlus original programming
Hindi-language television shows
Indian television soap operas
Television shows set in Gujarat