Zee TV’s Vishkanya brings a supernatural love story between a cursed girl and a sweet guy. It is set in Kolkata city and brings an extraordinary story of a beautiful young couple. There has been many love stories where the lovers seemed impossible to unite. This is also one of those exceptional love story where the beautiful girl is cursed and this truth does not let her unite with her lover. The story looks a fairy tale with romance and suspense in it.
The female lead Aparajita/Apu was never allowed to step out of her house. She was bound to her home because of the curse. Her mother Kalpana tells everyone that Apu was unwell for many years and was home-schooled. The male lead Malay meets Apu and gets completely mesmerized by her beauty. But he does not know the dark truth of Apu’s reality. The curse will affect both families and also their love’s future. Apu gets to know that she is Vishkanya and whoever she will marry can’t survive. She is cursed of widowhood. Apu makes herself away from Malay to avoid his unfortunate death.
Main Characters:
Aparajita Ghosh aka Apu:
Apu is a very sweet and innocent girl. She is cursed by some incident happened in her past. Apu does not know the real truth of why her skin turns blue. Apu believes that its her skin deficiency which heals by using neem-tulsi leaves. Apu has been limited to her house till now. She is now happy to be able to go out and see the world. She wants to meet people, like them and get friendly. She is set free to even fall in love. Apu is quiet by nature and gets scared pretty soon. She has been raised in a protective environment by her mother Kalpana.
Kalpana Ghosh:
She is Apu’s mother. She is very protective, caring and a smart lady. She is mysterious and hides her life’s biggest motive. She is beautiful, stunning and a clever planner. She secures Apu from the world and has hidden Apu’s Vishkanya truth from the world and from Apu too. Kalpana lives with her mother and two daughters Apu and Tapur. She favors Apu in every case as she is hiding Apu’s big secret. She supports Apu knowing Apu is not a normal girl. Kalpana has revengeful motives against Mittal family.
Malay Mittal:
Malay is smart, handsome, sweet and a daring guy. Malay is the only son of the Mittal family. He is fun loving and polite by nature. He has returned to Kolkata after 10 years. He was sent to London because of the past related to the witch. He has again met Apu after 10 years and wants to know her more. Malay falls in love with Apu and is mesmerized by her beauty. Malay does not know Apu’s truth that she has cursed widowhood. He is unaware that Apu is a big risk to everyone around her.
Cast:
Aishwarya Khare as Aparajita Ghosh/Apu
Vin Rana as Malay Mittal
Rohini Banerjee as Kalpana Ghosh
Medha Bhattacharya as Tapur
Kashish Duggal as Nandita Mittal
Tanya Sharma as Kumkum
Ekta Sharma
Amit Khanna
Story So Far:
Malay and his cousin Avi race the cars. Malay’s heroic entry happens by his victory in the race. The brothers have a talk about Malay returning home from London after ten years. Meanwhile, Aparajita/Apu is seen happy looking at the rabbit playing in garden outside her home. Two men cut the woods for holika dahan. They call Apu’s home a witch’s house. The woods fall over the rabbit. Apu looks out for rabbit being concerned. She gets tensed and her body starts turning blue.
Apu panics and goes to relax in neem water, as her mother Kalpana suggested neem-tulsi is the cure of her strange disease. Kalpana lies to Apu and tells about her premature birth, which caused some deficiency in her body, such that her skin turns blue. Kalpana locks Apu at home and goes for the puja with her other daughter Tapur. Malay tells Avi that he will get inside the witch’s house and also take a selfie with her. Malay recalls his childhood moment when he entered Apu’s house. He gets inside Apu’s room and looks for her. Malay sees her in bath tub and takes selfie with her. Apu thinks to look for the rabbit. Malay hides and sees her getting dressed. Kalpana shows her hatred towards Marwadi lady. She does holika dahan puja with the ladies.
Apu screams seeing Malay and he shuts her mouth. Kalpana hears Apu shouting and rushes back to home with the ladies. Apu’s tears falls on Malay’s hand and hurts him. The ladies get shocked seeing Malay at Kalpana’s house. Kalpana hides Apu and ties neem-tulsi leaves to her hand to normalize the blue colored skin. Apu’s skin turns normal. Kalpana thinks Malay did not see Apu’s truth, else he would have not been so calm. Kalpana tells Apu that her room will not be locked from now onwards and she can meet people, get friendly and love someone.
Kalpana wants Apu and Malay to fall in love, as she has some hidden motto behind it. Malay’s mother Nandita is superstitious and burns red chillies to get off bad sight from Malay. Avi asks Malaya about the witch. Malay tells him that he will see her directly today. Apu is happy to mingle with people. Malay picks the rabbit and gives it to Apu. He fails to see her face. He invites her for the party and faints by the affect of her poisonous tear which fell on his hand. Kalpana aids Malay and drops him home. Nandita calls for doctor. Doctor checks Malay and says Malay has high fever.
Nandita decides to go back to London for Malay’s safety. Kalpana makes excuses and want them to stay back. She convinces them to stay back. Kalpana gives a kada for Malay. He gets fine by it and thanks Kalpana. Kalpana asks him to thank Apu for saving him. Malay asks Nandita not to cancel the party. Kalpana tells Apu that she will meet Malay at party tonight. Kalpana’s mother scolds Kalpana for slapping Tapur. She defends Tapur. Kalpana complains that Tapur did not take care of Apu. Malay looks through binoculars and can’t believe seeing Apu’s hand turning blue.
She ties a neem-tulsi thread and her hand gets normal. Malay thinks it was his imagination. Holi celebrations begin. Kalpana wishes happy holi to Malay’s father Harshvardhan Mittal, who is paralyzed and seen on wheelchair. Kalpana recalls an accident in the past. She tells him that a new chapter will begin soon. Malay and Avi bet whether Apu will come in party or not. Malay asks Kalpana about Apu and tells her that he has won the bet. Nandita stops Malay from meeting Apu. Kalpana talks to her mother about sending Apu in the party. Her mother asks her to think of the consequences, if the people see Apu’s blue skin or if anyone gets hurt by her touch, questions will be raised against Apu. Kalpana tells her that she will accompany Apu in the party and will manage everything.
Tapur hears Kalpana telling that she broke FD kept for Tapur to buy clothes and jewelry for Apu. Tapur gets sad and feels Kalpana loves Apu more than her. Apu talks to rabbit and tells about going out to mingle with people. Her nail hurts the rabbit and its blood turns black. Kalpana takes the injured rabbit and asks Apu to get ready for the rabbit. Kalpana cries seeing the dead rabbit and buries it in the jungle. Her mother asks her not to take Apu in party, it’s a risk for people’s life. Malay gets bhaang drinks and wants to make the party rocking.
Our Take:
Apu’s growing up in the overprotective shield by her mother and her isolation from the world drew some suspense in the tale. Kalpana has raised Apu and her hidden motives will be shown later, how she uses Apu’s poison to seek revenge from her enemies. Apu and Malay are destined to meet and fall in love with each other. The sweetness and charm in their love story is seen by the chemistry between the leads Aishwarya Khare and Vin Rana. The leads are doing their parts well. The supporting cast is good in their roles.
The ones who shine by the performance are the actresses Rohini Banerjee and Kashish Duggal. They both have strong screen presence and good dialogue delivery to highlight the scene. The concept looks a fairy tale romance with revenge, mystery and family drama. It will surely excite the viewers. Music background is okay as per the show theme. The set of the show is impressive and very much convincing according to the show plot. The story is different and a good experiment. It is a family entertainer show. USP of the show remains the concept. Vishkanya looks really promising, if the concept does not drag and deviate from main story line.
Overall:
The love story with impossible culmination is truly a interesting concept. The curse truth with suspense layers of revenge motives draws more to the concept. The show has family clashes of Ghosh vs Mittals, some old secrets, revengeful motives and then two lovers who want to unite by getting rid of the curse. Vishkanya seems a good watch. A nice attempt on a different subject by Zee channel.
Our Rating:
3 out of 5
Feel free to post your reviews in comments below. All off-topic comments will be deleted.