Ek Hasina Thi (TV series)

Ek Hasina Thi (transl: "There was a beautiful woman") is a Hindi crime thriller television series created by Cinevistaas Limited. It aired from 14 April 2014 to 20 December 2014 on StarPlus. Produced by Prem Krishen, the series starred Sanjeeda Sheikh, Vatsal Sheth, Bhuvnesh Mann and Simone Singh.

Overview
The show that revolves around power and revenge. Durga Thakur, leaves her home in the US and returns to Kolkata along with her father, an influential cancer surgeon, Dr. Dayal Thakur. It is shown from the very first episode that the duo have plans against the Goenkas. She takes care of Payal Mitra, daughter of the Goenkas' driver, who had filed a rape case against Shaurya and his friends 2 years ago.

The Goenkas are the most influential business family of Kolkata. Sakshi Goenka is a vicious and cunning woman who would do anything for her son, Shaurya Goenka, a spoilt brat. Rajnath Goenka, Sakshi's husband, has built his empire on the graves of many, always accompanied by his wife's plotting. Shaurya has a special whistle he sounds out every time he does something morally wrong - which is almost all the time. Kangana Goenka is Shaurya's younger sister who naively believes that her family is right.

Suchitra Goenka is the widow of Rajnath's elder brother, Arnab Goenka, who runs a charitable school in her husband's memory. Her son, Dev Goenka is a humble, respectful man, returning from his studies in the US, in the search for his best friend, Nitya Mitra - Payal's elder sister - and the love of his life.

Cast

 * Sanjeeda Sheikh as Durga Dev Goenka / Nitya (née: Mitra/Thakur)– Mansi's elder daughter; Dayal's adoptive daughter; Payal's sister; Shaurya's ex-fiancée; Dev's best friend turned wife. (2014)
 * Aditi Sajwan as Nitya Mitra (before plastic surgery) - Mansi's elder daughter; Payal's sister; Dev's best friend (2014)
 * Vatsal Sheth as Shaurya Goenka – Sakshi and Rajnath's son; Kangana's brother; Dev's cousin; Durga's ex-fiancé. (2014)
 * Bhuvnesh Mann as Dev Goenka – Suchitra and Arnav's son; Shaurya and Kangana's cousin; Nitya's best friend turned husband. (2014)
 * Simone Singh as Sakshi Goenka – Rehmat's ex-wife; Rajnath's wife; Shaurya and Kangana's mother. (2014)
 * Anchal Sahu as Younger Sakshi (2014)
 * Ayub Khan as Rajnath Goenka – Arnav's brother; Sakshi's husband; Shaurya and Kangana's father. (2014)

Recurring

 * Kamalika Guha Thakurta Mansi Mitra – Nitya's and Payal's mother. (2014)
 * Teena Chopra as Payal Mitra – Mansi's younger daughter; Dayal's adoptive daughter; Nitya's sister (2014)
 * Kishwer Merchant as Raima Maheshwari – Sakshi's best friend(2014)
 * Unknown as Arnav Goenka - Rajnath´s brother; Suchitra´s husband; Dev´s father. (2014) He was a kind man who was shot and killed by Rajnath so he couldn´t be exposed for his scam
 * Jyoti Gauba as Suchitra Goenka – Arnav's widow; Dev's mother. (2014) She is a kind-hearted person and believes in social work.
 * Poonampreet Bhatia as Kangana Goenka – Sakshi and Rajnath's daughter; Shaurya's sister.(2014)
 * Mihir Mishra as Akram Khan – Rehmat's son; Sakshi's step-son.(2014)
 * Vicky Arora as Karan Basu – Girish's son; Shaurya's best friend and culprit of Payal (2014)
 * Ravjeet Singh / Vikram Singh Chauhan as Rishi Zaveri – Shaurya's former friend turned into enemy due to Payals protection. (2014)
 * Aliraza Namdar as Girish Basu – Karan's father.(2014)
 * Bhupinder Singh as Dr. Dayal Thakur – Durga's father; Nitya's and Payal's adoptive father. (2014)
 * Amit Behl as Navin Mathur – Goenkas' former employee. (2014)
 * Aamir Ali as Dr. Neil Bhattacharya – Durga's fake groom.(2014)
 * Vicky Arora as Karan Basu – Shaurya's friend. (2014)
 * Shalmalee Desai as Sagarika Ganguly (2014)
 * Ahmad Harhash as Rajveer Singh Nitya and Shaurya friend (2014)

Cameo

 * Allu Sirish to promote Kotha Janta (2014)
 * Sohail Khan to promote Jai Ho (2014)

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

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.

Critics


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."

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."

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."

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."

Audience
The series was well received among audience. It had constantly ranked among  top 10 in TRP chart. Last episode of the series was earned highest trp on its slot.

Awards

 * Indian Telly Awards 2014
 * Best Actress in a Negative Role - Simone Singh
 * Indian Television Academy Awards 2014
 * Best Series - Drama - Ek Hasina Thi
 * Best Actor in a Negative Role - Ayub Khan
 * Best Actress in a Negative Role - Simone Singh
 * Gr8! Performer of the Year (Female) - Sanjeeda Sheikh
 * Nominated for Best Actor (Male) - Vatsal Sheth