Meri Durga

Meri Durga
Genre	Soap opera
Created by	Paperback Films
Written by	Madhu Bastola Raghuvir Shekhawat Pankhuri Gangwal
Directed by	Ravindra Gautam
Starring	Ananya Agarwal Vicky Ahuja Srishti Jain Paras Kalnawat
Country of origin	India
Original language	Hindi
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	383
Production
Producers	Ravindra Gautam Pradeep Kumar (producer)
Production locations	Haryana Punjab Mumbai
Production company	Paperback Films
Original release
Network	STAR Plus
Release	26 January 2017 (2017-01-26) – 17 March 2018 (2018-03-17)

Meri Durga (translation: My Durga) is an Indian television series on Star Plus produced by Ravindra Gautam and Pradeep Kumar under the banner Paperback Films. It starred Ananya Agarwal, Vicky Ahuja, Srishti Jain and Paras Kalnawat. ^{[1] [2]} The show premiered on 26 January 2017 and went off air on 17 March 2018. ^[3] The series is digitally available on Disney+ Hotstar.

Plot

The story traces the journey of Durga Choudhary, a girl from Barwala, who aspires to become a runner. It revolves around the sensitive relationship of a father and his daughter. Highlighting the realities of life, Durga's father, Yashpal Choudhary works as a peon in a school in Haryana. His only dream is to educate his daughter Durga for a better future despite the odds. But despite trying hard to study and prove herself, Durga can't reach Yashpal's expectations. Yashpal works as a school peon and has a progressive viewpoint when it comes to educating a girl or a boy – unlike his relatives. Durga, on the other hand, is a lively, positive twelve-year-old who enjoys her childhood in and around the corners of Haryana. She loves running behind kites and climbing on the mango tree. Besides enjoying her childhood, Durga strives to fulfill her father's dream. But she cannot understand the calculations and hence finds herself confused between alphabets and numbers. Influenced by her coach, Rajveer Rana, Yashpal allows Durga to become an athlete and has her admitted to a school in Hisar. Durga emerges as the winner in the national race but the runner-up, Arti, has drugs mixed in her food. So Durga tests positive for drugs when she is tested and is expelled from running for five years. So her family faces the villagers' ire and even her best friend Sanjay Singh Ahlawat (SP) believes Arti and shuns Durga, stunning Durga, who then quits running forever.

5 years later

After five years Durga is now grown up and is responsible for the care of her family as well as her dreams. She meets SP again in college in Hisar. When SP finds out that Durga has joined the same college as him, he threatens her to leave the college as he still believes that Durga really consumed drugs to win the race, but the situation normalises when SP discovers the truth and they fall in love. Later Durga learns that SP's mother, Gayatri Devi, a politician and businesswoman from Hisar, had put drugs in her food five years earlier and exposes her to the media. So Gayatri misleads SP by attempting suicide, turning him against Durga. SP and Arti then plot against Durga. Amidst this, SP and Durga marry each other and Durga moves in with the Ahlawat family in Hisar. After being tortured by SP and his family, Durga learns that Gayatri was a national athlete Jassi who was expelled from the sports academy for getting involved in physical intimacy with her coach and helps her to keep it a secret. Arti tries to frame Durga in charges of sexual abuse of a doctor appointed by the sports authority but SP discovers this and takes the blame to save both Durga and Arti's dignity and in a weak moment Durga and SP consummate their marriage. SP meets with a deadly accident while dropping Durga at her state championship post, so he suspects Gayatri of foul play as she lies that she brought him to hospital (which actually Durga did and the former partially remembers because of his unconscious state due to severe head injury and bleeding at that time). He feigns insanity, then realises Durga's innocence and his mother's involvement in their suffering. He initially breaks all ties with his mother but reconciles after she realises her mistakes and encourages Durga to fulfill her dreams. The family coalesces and Durga begins to train for the nationals. Arti's father threatens to destroy Durga's family if she participates in the national race. He kidnaps her family on the day of the race but SP and Durga rescue them and Durga wins the race. Durga is admitted to the academy in Rohtak for being qualified for international championships. There SP is hired as a security guard due to their business being taken over by Arti's father in revenge. However a new competitor, Tanvi, the niece of the head director of the sports academy, plots to oust Durga from the academy to secure her first position. She even tries to defame Durga and SP for having an extramarital affair and tries to show Durga pregnant after learning of SP and Durga being married to each other as her final attempt. However Arti has a change of heart after her defeat at nationals and exposes her father's involvement with Tanvi as his attempt to retaliate against Durga. The series concludes with Durga succeeding in her attempts and SP and Durga regaining their family business and home from Purushottam's ownership and both the Chaudhary and Ahlawat families celebrating their victory in Hisar.

Cast

Main

• Srishti Jain as Durga Choudhary Ahlawat: Yashpal and Annapurna's adopted younger daughter; Amrita's adopted younger sister; Santoshi's granddaughter; Shilpa and Bantu's cousin; Umang's aunt; Sanjay's childhood friend turned wife (2017–2018)
  • Ananya Agarwal as Young Durga (2017)
• Paras Kalnawat as Sanjay Singh "SP/Prince" Ahlawat: Gayatri and Neelkant's younger son; Gagan's younger brother; Durga's childhood friend turned husband (2017–2018)
  • Yash Mistry as Young Sanjay (2017)
• Vicky Ahuja as Yashpal "Yash" Choudhary: Santoshi's elder son; Brijpal's elder brother; Annapurna's husband; Durga's adoptive father; Amrita's father; Umang's grandfather; Shilpa and Bantu's uncle; Sanjay's father-in-law (2017–2018)

Recurring

• Urfi Javed/Kate Sharma as Arti Singhania: Purushottam's daughter; Sanjay's childhood friend turned one-sided obsessive lover; Durga's arch rival (2017) / (2017–2018)
  • Arishfa Khan as Young Arti (2017)
• Rajesh Shringarpure / Ankur Nayyar as Rajveer Rana: Durga's former coach (2017) / (2017–2018) ^[4]
• Rashmi Shaw / Mrigrash Dubey as Annapurna Choudhary: Yashpal's wife; Durga's adoptive mother; Amrita's mother; Umang's grandmother; Shilpa and Bantu's aunt; Sanjay's mother-in-law (2017) / (2017–2018)
• Rajiv Khanna as Brijpal "Brij" Choudhary: Yashpal's younger brother; Santoshi's younger son; Sheela's husband; Shilpa and Bantu's father; Amrita and Durga's uncle (2017–2018)
• Jyotika Kukrety as Sheela Choudhary: Brijpal's wife; Shilpa and Bantu's mother; Amrita and Durga's aunt (2017–2018)
• Akshay Choudhary as Chote
• Amardeep Jha as Santoshi "Santo" Choudhary: Yashpal and Brijpal's mother; Durga's adoptive grandmother; Amrita, Shilpa and Bantu's grandmother; Umang's great-grandmother (2017–2018)
• Raj Sharnagat as Manohar
• Prince Singh as 2/2 Bhagwat
• Raquib Arshad as SRK
• Dolly Sohi as Gayatri Devi Ahlawat alias Jassi (track name): Neelakant's wife; Gagan and Sanjay's mother; Anjana and Durga's mother-in-law; a former athlete (2017–2018)
• Rajiv Kumar as Neelkant Singh Ahlawat: Gayatri's husband; Gagan and Sanjay's father; Anjana and Durga's father-in-law (2017–2018)
• Paras Sharma as Gagan Singh Ahlawat: Gayatri and Neelkant's elder son; Sanjay's elder brother; Anjana's husband; Durga's brother-in-law (2017–2018)
• Jiya Chauhan as Anjana Ahlawat: Gagan's wife; Sanjay's sister-in-law (2017–2018)
• Aishwarya Sharma Bhatt/Sonal Parihar/Swapnil Sengar as Amrita Choudhary (formerly Deshmukh): Yashpal and Annapurna's elder daughter; Durga's adoptive elder sister; Santoshi's granddaughter; Brijpal and Sheela's niece; Madhav's ex-wife; Umang's mother (2017)/(2017)/(2017–2018)
• Adhvik Mahajan as Madhav Deshmukh: Amrita's ex-husband; Umang's father (2017–2018)
• Advait as Umang Deshmukh: Amrita and Madhav's son; Durga's nephew; Annapurna and Yashpal's grandson; Santoshi's great-grandson (2017–2018)
• Ashna Kishore as Shilpa Choudhary: Brijpal and Sheela's daughter; Bantu's elder sister; Amrita and Durga's cousin; Annapurna and Yashpal's niece; Santoshi's granddaughter (2017–2018)
• Ramansh Bundela as Bantu Choudhary: Brijpal and Sheela's son; Shilpa's younger brother; Amrita and Durga's cousin; Annapurna and Yashpal's nephew; Santoshi's grandson (2017–2018)
• Shanaya Shivi as Kuljeet: Durga's friend
• Soham Jadhav as Young Manohar
• Sanjay Kaushik as Rishi (2017)
• Apala Bisht As Laxmi (2018)
• Rakhi Vijan as Subhadra (2017)
• Nandani Master as Srijita
• Mohsin as Bhagwat
• Mohammad Saud as Bansi
• Satya Tiwari as Samrat "Sam" Singh: Durga's former one-sided obsessive lover, Sanjay and Aarti's rival (2017)
• Ritu Bhagwani as Tanvi (2018)
• Urmila Sharma as Rohini
• Tariq Khan as Kadam
• Vishal C. Bhardwaj as Purushottam Singhania: Aarti's father (2017–2018)
• Dimple Jhangiani as senior district magistrate ^[5]
• Nia Sharma as Palasha Trivedi: Durga's friend (2017–2018)
• Rishina Kandhari as Durga's teacher
• Apurva Agnihotri as Coach Bhagat (2017–2018)
• Anchal Sahu

Production

Speaking about the series, producer Ravindra Gautham said, "Meri Durga is the introspection of a father's mind and heart. We very rarely see the father's side onscreen. And the show also supports girl education which I feel is the need of the hour." ^[2] Before its premiere, the series was promoted by the main cast in Ludhiana, Punjab on 16 January 2017. ^[6]

The series was mainly filmed at Powai. ^[7] However some scenes were also filmed at Haryana and Punjab. ^[8]

In June 2017, the storyline took a leap of five years. ^[9] Initially it starred Ananya Agarwal and Vicky Ahuja as young Durga and Yashpal. ^[10] After the leap, it starred Srishti Jain as adult Durga, Paras Kalnawat as adult SP opposite Jain along with Ahuja. ^{[11] [12]}

Initially, Aalisha Panwar was cast to play adult Durga after the leap. But, on the last moment as she joined another show, Jain was cast. ^[13] Vishal Bharadwaj was supposed to play Madhav. ^[14] However as he was considered not suitable for the character in his first scene itself, Adhvik Mahajan was cast. ^[15]

References

1. "TV show Meri Durga's courageous father will remind you of Aamir Khan in Dangal". The Indian Express.
2. "Ravindra Gautam: Meri Durga is a tale of a father's mind and heart – Times of India". The Times of India.
3. "Meri Durga to go off air on March 17 – Times of India". The Times of India. Retrieved 17 March 2018.
4. "Ankur Nayyar confident about replacing Rajesh Shringarpure in show". The Asian Age.
5. "Dimple Jhangiani back in action with 'Meri Durga'". The Times of India.
6. "Actors visit city to promote soap opera". Tribune India .
7. "'Meri Durga' first episode screened on its sets for cast and crew". The Times of India.
8. "A unique bond". The Hindu.
9. "OMG! 'Meri Durga' to take HUGE LEAP". ABP News.
10. "Meri Durga child actor Ananya Agarwal talks about her favourite person on sets". The Times of India.
11. "This 20 Year Old TV Actress Was Rejected Several Times for Being 'Too Fat'; Amazes Everyone by Losing 10 Kgs in One Month!". Daily Bhaskar.
12. "Model Paras Kalnawat to make his acting debut with Meri Durga". The Times of India.
13. "'Meri Durga' producer miffed with newbie Aalisha Panwar". The Times of India.
14. "Vishal enters Meri Durga". Tribune India.
15. "Adhvik Mahajan to make a comeback with Meri Durga". The Times of India.

External links

• Meri Durga Streaming on Hotstar