Indian social drama
Udaan (transl. "Flight") is an Indian soap opera that premiered on Colors TV on 18 August 2014, replacing "Madhubala". This show is the fifth longest running television shows of Colors TV. The story revolves around Chakor, a victim of bonded child labour who fights for her village's freedom and aspires to break free. It starred Spandan Chaturvedi as a child version of Chakor until it took a generation leap in February 2016 &amp; actress Meera Deosthale was roped in to play the role of an adult Chakor. Produced by Mahesh Bhatt, it was originally conceived as a film but that plan was eventually shelved.
Plot.
Kamal Narayan, a wealthy landlord in Azadganj village, uses the villagers as bonded labourers. Couple Bhuvan Singh and Kasturi face financial difficulty; as collateral for a loan, they has to let Kamal use their unborn child as a servant. Then, Kasturi gives birth to a girl and names her Chakor.
7 years later.
Chakor, now a bonded labourer, is an aspiring marathon runner and has a younger sister, Imli. She befriends Kamal's nephew, Vivaan and campaigns for the villagers' rights. She is unaware that she also has a twin sister, Chunni, who was secretly raised in Mumbai. Kamal kills Chunni, motivating Chakor to seek revenge. She escapes with her marathon coach to pursue her dreams and vows to return to the village in 10 years. Vengeful for the betrayal, Kamal gets Chakor's grandmother buried alive.
10 years later.
Chakor returns after becoming a famous marathon runner. Imli hates her for leaving them all behind. Chakor learns about her grandmother's death and gets Kamal and his son, Suraj arrested. Vivaan and Chakor fall in love while Imli falls for Suraj.
However, Suraj comes back as he promised to be a government witness against his father's deeds. Later, Kamal tries to kill him for his betrayal but he escapes with the help of Chakor, Imli and Vivaan. Suraj, whose marriage is arranged to Tina Raichand, also impregnates Imli. A double ceremony is planned for both Suraj and Vivaan. Imli explains this to Chakor who conspires to switch places in the ceremony. Suraj shows his cruelty by switching them, marrying Imli to Vivaan while he marries Chakor. Imli miscarries and later Vivaan and Imli fall in love. Kamal Narayan returns and forces Suraj to be a bonded laborer. In the process to set him free, Chakor and Suraj also realize their love for each other.
Imli turns evil and gives Vivaan a sleeping pill, putting him into coma. She also conspires with Kamal to have kill Chakor, which presumably succeeds. Chakor survives and learns that she's pregnant with Suraj's child. Suraj finds Chakor and they reunite and return to Azadganj, after forgiving Imli. Kamal kidnaps Chakor and she miscarries. In return, Chakor kills Kamal to avenge the deaths of her family and his prior sins. She gets jailed for 5 years elsewhere Imli hits Suraj with an iron rod, causing him to lose his memory.
5 years later.
Chakor is released and shocked to learn Imli's truth. She's hurt when Suraj fails to recognize her as he has lost his memory. Chakor motivates villagers to fight back against Imli and Ranvijay's cruelty. One day when Ranvijay tries to kill Chakor, Suraj regains his memories and saves Chakor. They reunite and the couple shares some romantic moments together. Eventually, Chakor becomes pregnant with Suraj's child and gives him the good news. They both come up with a plan and expose Imli and Ranvijay and eventually succeed. Imli has an accident and is presumed dead.
1.5 years later.
Chakor and Suraj lead a happy life with their baby daughter, Saanvi. Imli returns and tries to create rift in their relationship. Chakor suspects that Imli is alive.
Vivaan also comes back leaving both Suraj and Chakor shocked as they thought he died 7 years ago. Vivaan also believes that Imli is alive igniting Chakor's doubt about the same. Eventually, They find Imli and locks her in a room. Gun dealer Yashwant tries to kill Suraj; when Vivaan gets in the way, Chakor accidentally shoots him to death. Imli swears revenge and kidnaps Saanvi and fakes her death. Suraj blames Chakor for Saanvi's death and severs ties with her. Suraj moves to New York and Chakor moves to a different town while Imli makes Saanvi a bonded labourer.
7 years later.
Both Chakor and Suraj return to village for work and form a bond with Saanvi, who's now known as Anjor, unaware of the fact that she's their daughter. Imli finally tells them the truth and an apologetic Suraj reconciles with Chakor and Saanvi. Suraj is killed in a bomb-blast, a result of a political fallout. Chakor, pays Suraj's look-alike, Raghav Khanna to take Suraj's place, rather than telling the truth to Saanvi and family. Imli turns good and dies while saving Chakor life. Chakor gets jailed for 10 years under false charges and Saanvi is adopted by a rich couple.
10 years later.
Chakor traces her daughter and tries to get close to her. The rich couple tries to separate them and kills Raghav, causing Saanvi to leave them. Saanvi marries Sameer and they move to Sitapur. Sameer is brutally killed by Ranvijay, who had helped Imli earlier. Chakor and Saanvi unite to get revenge and Ranvijay is burnt alive. Finally, Chakor comes back to Azadganj as Saanvi decides to stay in Sitapur.
Production.
It replaced the long-running series "Madhubala: Ek Ishq Ek Junoon". The show was produced by Bollywood filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt and was based on his unreleased movie of the same name.
Reception.
"Udaan" was the fourth longest-running Indian television series of Colors TV after "Balika Vadhu", "Sasural Simar Ka" and "Uttaran". With more than 1300 episodes, it was one of the longest running Indian television series.
References.
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