Mann Kee Awaaz Pratigya

Mann Kee Awaaz Pratigya is an Indian television series which aired on STAR Plus. The series premiered on 7 December 2009 and was ended on 27 October 2012. It starred Pooja Gor and Arhaan Behll. All episodes of the series re-telecasted at Star Bharat from October 2020 to March 2021. A new season of the series Mann Kee Awaaz Pratigya 2 premiered on 15 March 2021 on Star Bharat produced by Director's Kut Productions.

Plot
It is the story of a woman Pratigya Saxena who will go to any lengths to fight for her rights. Krishna Singh Thakur belongs to the Thakur family known for their power in Allahabad. The Thakurs, headed by Krishna's father, Sajjan Singh Thakur, are rooted deep in tradition and superstition. The Saxena family, however, are traditional but believe in progressive thinking and educating their daughters Pratigya and Aarushi.

Krishna is Pratigya's secret admirer, and he forces her to marry him. To protect Pratigya, her elder brother Adarsh marries Komal, Krishna's younger sister. Pratigya is not satisfied with her marriage, but over time she realises Krishna's genuine love for her. Angad, Pratigya's stalker from college, is killed in an altercation between him and Adarsh. Adarsh is later bailed.

Krishna's elder brother, Shakti, causes his wife Kesar to lose her mental stability. As a result, Pratigya starts caring for Shakti and Kesar's son, Samar. Shakti marries Menaka Shakti Singh Thakur, who wants to usurp the property of the Thakur family. Abhimanyu Singh Yadav, Sajjan's illegitimate son, emerges and stakes claim to his rights and starts planning against the family. Meanwhile, in the Saxena household, Tanmay Srivastav, Aarushi's husband, plans to kill Adarsh and frames Krishna for Adarsh's murder after killing him. Later, Pratigya, with the help of her lawyer proves Krishna innocent and Tanmay the murderer of Adarsh. Tanmay is sentenced to life imprisonment and after that Arushi divorces and leaves Tanmay forever. Abhimanyu too tries to kill Komal and her daughter Chinky when Komal finds out his true colors as he was planning against Krishna and Sajjan Singh, but both are saved by Kartik, Krishna and Pratigya. Abhimanyu's truth comes in front of everyone, and he is arrested. Later, Komal marries Kartik after Chinky pleads and requests Sajjan Singh for the marriage. Sumitra, Krishna's mother, returns after a long struggle, but Sajjan initially rejects her for staying with another man. He later accepts her on Dussehra when she tries to kill herself. The show takes a leap when Pratigya and Krishna officially adopt Samar. The show ends with Pratigya giving birth to a daughter, and the whole family celebrates.

Main

 * Pooja Gor as Pratigya Saxena Singh Thakur: Naina and Shyam's elder daughter; Adarsh and Aarushi's sister; Krishna's wife; Kriti's mother; Samar's adoptive mother (2009−2012)
 * Arhaan Behll as Krishna Singh Thakur: Sajjan and Sumitra's younger son; Shakti and Komal's brother; Abhimanyu's half-brother; Pratigya's husband; Kriti's father; Samar's adoptive father (2009−2012)

Recurring

 * Parvati Sehgal as Komal Singh Thakur Saxena: Sajjan and Sumitra's daughter; Shakti and Krishna's younger sister; Abhimanyu's half-sister; Adarsh's widow; Kartik's wife; Chinky's mother (2009–2012)
 * Shahab Khan as Shyam Saxena: Naina's widower; Adarsh, Pratigya and Aarushi's father; Chinky and Kriti's grandfather (2009–2012)
 * Monica Singh as Naina Saxena: Shyam's wife; Adarsh, Pratigya and Aarushi's mother; Chinky and Kriti's grandmother (2009–2011) (Dead)
 * Avantika Hundal as Aarushi Saxena: Naina and Shyam's younger daughter; Adarsh and Pratigya's sister; Shakti and Tanmay's ex-wife.
 * Ankit Gera / Aniruddh Singh as Adarsh Saxena: Naina and Shyam's son; Pratigya and Aarushi's brother; Komal's husband; Chinky's father (2009–2011) / (2012) (Dead)
 * Drishti Hemdev as Chinky Saxena: Adarsh and Komal's daughter (2011–2012)
 * Arya Dhramchand Kumar / Malhar Pandya as Kartik Saxena: Komal's second husband (2012)
 * Kunal Karan Kapoor as Angad Yadav: Thug; Pratigya and Komal's foe (2010) (Dead)
 * Mrunal Jain as ASP Iqbal Khan IPS Officer: Shyam's student; Pratigya and Aarushi's childhood friend; Krishna and Komal's wellwisher (2009–2012)
 * Anupam Shyam as Sajjan Singh Thakur: Sumitra's husband; Shakti, Krishna, Komal and Abhimanyu's father; Chinky, Samar and Kriti's grandfather (2009–2012)
 * Asmita Sharma as Sumitra Singh Thakur: Sankata's sister; Sajjan's wife; Shakti, Krishna and Komal's mother; Chinky, Samar and Kriti's grandmother (2009–2012)
 * Jaswant Menaria as Shakti Singh Thakur: Sajjan and Sumitra's elder son; Krishna and Komal's brother; Abhimanyu's half-brother; Kesar and Menaka's husband; Samar's father; Aarushi's ex–husband (2009–2012)
 * Kalpna Bohra / Aalika Sheikh as Kesar Shakti Singh Thakur: Shakti's first wife; Samar's mother (2009–2012)
 * Eklavya Ahir as Samar Singh Thakur: Kesar and Shakti's son; Krishna and Pratigya's adopted son (2011–2012)
 * Soni Singh as Menaka Singh Thakur: Shakti's second wife (2011)
 * Asha Sharma as Mrs. Saxena: Shyam's mother; Adarsh, Pratigya and Aarushi's grandmother (2009–2012)
 * Mohit Malik as Advocate Abhimanyu Singh Yadav: Sajjan and Shakuntala's son; Shakti, Krishna and Komal's half-brother (2011–2012)
 * Abhishek Rawat as Tanmay Srivastav: Aarushi's ex-husband; Adarsh's murderer
 * Amita Udgata as Mrs. Singh Thakur: Sajjan's mother; Shakti, Krishna, Komal and Abhimanyu's grandmother
 * Akhilendra Mishra as Sankata Singh: Sumitra's brother
 * Sana Amin Sheikh as Ganga: Sajjan's mistress (2011)
 * Deeya Chopra as Anu Mathur: Aman's wife (2011)
 * Piyush Sahdev as Advocate Aman Mathur: Sarveshwardayal's second son; Gaurav and Jay's brother; Aarushi's ex-fiancé; Anu's husband (2010–2011)
 * Sachin Sharma as Gaurav Mathur: Sarveshwardayal's eldest son; Aman and Jay's brother; Nandini's husband (2010)
 * Mayank Arora as Jay Mathur: Sarveshwardayal's youngest son; Gaurav and Aman's brother (2010)
 * Chetan Pandit as I.G. Sarveshwardayal Mathur: Gaurav, Aman and Jay's father (2010)
 * Sehrish Ali as Roli: Pratigya's best friend; Adarsh's lover (2010)
 * Manmohan Tiwari as Radhe
 * Prachi Pathak as Maayi
 * Kunal Jaisingh as Sarang "Gunga" (2011)
 * Kunal Madhiwala as Lucky
 * Dinesh Soi as Jugnu
 * Vinay Rajput as Tunna
 * Pratima Kazmi as Guru Maa
 * Sonal Jha as Shakuntala: Sajjan's mistress; Abhimanyu's mother (2012)
 * Nirbhay Wadhwa as Goon
 * Raj Premi as Makhnu Singh
 * Jaydeep Suri as Chandu
 * Abner Reginald as Judge (in Angad Yadav murder case) (2010)
 * Ruchi Savarn as Sunehri (2011)
 * Chaitanya Choudhury as Abhishek: Neelima's husband; Pratigya's college friend (2011)
 * Akanksha Juneja as Neelima: Abhishek's wife; Pratigya's college friend (2011)
 * Neha Kaul as Meera: Krishna's one–sided lover (2011)
 * Deepak Advani as Mr. Batra: Abhishek and Neelima's boss (2011)
 * Deepika Singh as Sandhya
 * Sanaya Irani as Khushi
 * Manasi Parekh as Gulaal

Promotion
As a part of promotion of the series before its launch, in December 2009, a campaign was done as Meri Pratigya at Nariman Point in Mumbai where along with lead Pooja Gor, 500 women as a chain to create an awareness on eve-teasing and ill treatment of women.

Casting
Parvati Sehgal who played Komal's role in the show was originally approached for Aarushi's role but got rejected because of a look test but later got selected for Komal's role when she was approached for the second time.

Falaq Naaz was originally signed to play an uneducated village girl Shakun in the show who was Abhimanyu's wife but things couldn't work out as she chose another show of Star Plus Khamoshiyan later her role got scrapped from the show. Rohit Khurana was finalized for Krishna's role but rejected it as he was busy with Uttaran at that time.

In mid 2011, Monica Singh playing Naina quit the series and was hoped for coming back after a break. However, as she refused returning, the makers decided to end her character and she agreed to shoot for two days but did not turn up. Thus, her character was mentioned dead in a car accident.

Cancellation and future
The series was off aired in October 2012. In early 2013, the series was confirmed returning with a new season based on story of lead character Pratigya and Krishna's daughters. Neha Marda was roped as one of the leads and the pilot episode was shot and approved by the channel but the series was dropped when the discussions between the production house and channel stalled. However, on 19 February 2021, the series was confirmed returning with a new season on Star Bharat. Mann Kee Awaaz Pratigya 2 premiered on 15 March 2021, is produced by former season producer Pearl Grey along with Rajan Shahi under Director's Kut Productions.

Filming
Based on the backdrop of Uttar Pradesh, Allahabad, the series was mainly filmed at sets in Film city in Mumbai while some sequences were also shot at Allahabad.

Critics
The Indian Express stated, "It's a perfect Hindi heartland show - over-the-top drama and aggressive, regressive as well as progressive in characters and content."

In November 2010, Deccan Herald criticised, "The serial that broke many a record on Star Plus because of its unique anti-eve teasing storyline, seems to have changed track completely. Today, it’s boiled down to a tale where a woman is humiliated at home, her self respect trampled on by her in-laws and husband instead of portraying her to be a strong woman who stands her ground."

The Hindu criticised, "From the current crop of serials, a very good example of enthusiastic consumption of a bizarre plot line is the serial “Mann ki Awaaz Pratigya”. The production house, Star TV, bills it a “fight against disrespect of women”. And what does the lead character do? She marries a goon who eve-teases her. Then she tells him that he can win her body but not her love. You fight disrespect by marrying the eve-teaser, taking the battle into his home."

Ratings
Pratigya opened with a rating of 3.7 TVR. As in April 2010, it was one of the top ten Hindi GEC which garnered 4.5 TVR. As in July 2010, it was at second position with ratings ranging 4 to 5.3 TVR. In weeks 24 and 25 of 2010, it garnered 4.8 and 5.5 TVRs. In week 4 of 2011, it garnered 5.7 TVR. As in week 29 of 2011, it dropped to 3.9 TVR while its peak ratings garnered were around 6 TVR in its run time. In the week ending 27 September 2011, it garnered 4.27 TVR occupying fourth position. When the ratings dropped ranging between 2 and 2.5 TVR, it was off aired on October 2012.