Shakti – Astitva Ke Ehsaas Ki

Shakti – Astitva Ke Ehsaas Ki
Genre	Drama
Created by	Rashmi Sharma
Written by	Rashmi Sharma Shanti Bhushan Madhu Pandey Vikram Khurana Screenplay Shilpa F D'Mello Sancheeta Bose Dialogues Sharad Chandra Tripathi
Directed by	Pankaj Kumar
Creative directors	Soniaa Mehta Palash Mandloi
Starring	Rubina Dilaik Vivian Dsena Jigyasa Singh Simba Nagpal Cezanne Khan
Theme music composer	Anand Raaj Anand
Country of origin	India
Original language	Hindi
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	1360
Production
Producers	Rashmi Sharma Pawan Kumar Marut
Cinematography	Danny Santosh
Camera setup	Multi-camera
Running time	21 minutes approx.
Production company	Rashmi Sharma Telefilms
Original release
Network	Colors TV
Release	30 May 2016 (2016-05-30) – 1 October 2021 (2021-10-01)

Shakti — Astitva Ke Ehsaas Ki (transl. Strength — feeling of existence) is an Indian Hindi-language social drama television series produced by Rashmi Sharma Telefilms airing from 30 May 2016 to 1 October 2021 on Colors TV. It starred Rubina Dilaik, Vivian Dsena, Jigyasa Singh, Simba Nagpal and Cezanne Khan. This show is the fourth longest-running television show of Colors TV.

Plot

Set in rural Punjab, Maninder and his mother Nalini try to bury the one-year-old Soumya alive. But Nimmi who saves her and warns Maninder that if he and Nalini try to kill Soumya again, she won't spare them.

8 years later

Soumya is a quiet and simple girl, raised lovingly by Nimmi but hated by Maninder and Nalini. Her happy-go-lucky and bubbly sister, Surbhi gets all the love and attention in the family from their father and grandmother.

14 years later

Grown-up, Soumya mostly lives inside. Currently in college, Surbhi teaches a lesson to the spoilt troublemaker Harman. Vengeful, he vows to punish her by kidnapping her, but he mistakenly kidnaps Soumya. Harman takes care of Soumya all night and drops her to her house safe and sound the following morning. However, the villagers start throwing stones at Soumya, assuming that her and Harman slept together. Even when Harman saves Soumya from the villagers and attests to her purity, the villagers do not believe them and decide to punish Harman instead. Harman's father, Harak Singh orders Harman to marry Soumya in order to avoid social embarrassment. Harman and Soumya then marry according to all social rituals. Nimmi tries several times to tell Harman the truth about Soumya but is never able to. Finally, Harman finds out the truth that Soumya is an eunuch.

This leaves Harman enraged and he tells Soumya to stay away from him but later becomes friends with her. Soon, the Kinnar (eunuch) community kidnap Soumya and Harman vows to retrieve her. Harman starts loving Soumya and realizes he can't live without her. Soumya too loves Harman, but doesn't confess as she believes she has no right to love anyone as she is a eunuch. When Harman's mother finds out about Soumya, she brutally berates and traumatizes Nimmi, who then dies of cardiac arrest. After Nimmi's death, Maninder (Soumya's father) refuses to accept her and tells her to go back to the Kinnars (eunuch) community. Harman then brings Soumya home and tells his family that Soumya will stay with him and he will always protect her.

Later, Preeto emotionally manipulates Soumya that she is ruining Harman's life as she can't give him a wife's love and children. Preeto asks Soumya to have Surbhi marry Harman so that Harman can have a normal life. Harman is furious as he only loves Soumya but Soumya compels him to marry Surbhi. For Soumya's sake, Harman and Surbhi get married. Initially, Surbhi supports Soumya and wants equal rights for her but slowly Preeto corrupts Surbhi's mind and she turns against Soumya for not letting her be with Harman. Hurt by Surbhi's words, Soumya tries to kill herself but Harman saves her. Surbhi realizes her mistake and decides to divorce Harman in order to not come between him and Soumya.

Harman and Soumya adopt a child from the orphanage and name him Aditya. Harman says that now that he has a kid, Preeto and Harak should accept Soumya. Preeto refuses and says that she wants her own blood. Preeto tells the truth to Harman that she first married Harak's elder brother, but after few years of marriage he left her, then she married Harak Singh and they give birth to Harman and Raavi. She emphasizes the importance of pure blood and that someone from an orphanage is not his own son or blood. Preeto pays the orphanage owner to take Aditya back and has him taken out of country so Harman and Soumya cannot get him back.

Fed up with Harman's refusal to leave Soumya, Preeto and Harak expel him from the house and tell him to survive on his love only. Harman and Soumya start living in a small hut where Harman secretly works as a dangerous stuntman to earn money. One night, Soumya and Harman are attacked by two men but Harman cannot fight back as he is drunk so Soumya fights both men and saves him. Harman is proud that even Soumya can protect him. To force Harman to come home, Harak has him sent to jail on false murder charges. Soumya uses her identity as a eunich to learn the truth and save Harman from the jail. Harman decides to leave Gurdaspur forever as his parents won't let him and Soumya live in peace.

Preeto and Harak welcome Soumya and Harman back and pretend to accept Soumya so Harman will stay at home while they secretly plot to separate them forever. Meanwhile, Harak's nephew, Varun, who hates Harak, marries Surbhi to remain close to them pretending to be a well-wisher. One day, a eunuch (kinnar) is shot in the street by an angry mob and dies in Harmna's arms. Harman is traumatized by this incident as he believes someone might try to kill Soumya and take her away from him. Preeto realizes Harman does not want the public to know Soumya's truth and makes a plan to separate the two forever. She lies to Soumya that she wants to publicly accept Soumya as her daughter-in-law with her real identity and that she should convince Harman. When Harman refuses to tell Soumya's truth to the public (because he's scared someone might try to kill or harm her), Soumya thinks Harman only loves her beauty and not her real self. Heartbroken, Soumya leaves home and goes to live in the Kinnar (eunuch) community as "Tarana". Harman realizes his mistake and tries to bring Soumya back but she is totally broken and refuses to come.

Harman tries to win Soumya back several times but she refuses. Soon, Soumya is transported to Bangkok by some Kinnars who plan to sell her at an auction to the highest bidder. Harman finds out and reaches the venue, where he bids 20 lakh rupees and takes Soumya home. Soumya is furious as Harman forces her to come home with him. Harman asks Soumya to forget everything but Soumya says he never loved her with her identity and they can't be together. In anger, Harman tells Soumya that he is her owner and she must do whatever he says. Preeto and Harak tell Soumya to become bad in Harman's eyes and hurt him so he lets her go. Soumya loves Harman but decides to leave so he moves on and has a normal life. Harman realizes how hurt she is and lets her go back to the Kinnar (eunuch) community where the Kinnars try to make Soumya into "Gurumaa" (the godmother of the Kinnars) which means she would have to forever cut off all her other ties (with Harman and her family). One last time, Harman requests Soumya not to be Gurumaa and come back to him. Just before becoming Gurumaa, Soumya realizes she can't ever live without Harman. She finally confesses her love for him and they both hug. Preeto and Harak are furious that Soumya dared to express her love to Harman.

However, now the Kinnars no longer trust Harman and forcibly take Soumya with them and say that Harman cannot take Soumya until he fulfills all their conditions to prove his love for her. In order to prove his love for Soumya, Harman moves in with the Kinnar community and starts begging on the streets with them. Desperate to bring Harman back home, Preeto and Harak make a master plan where they pretend that Harak has fallen in love with a prostitute, Mohini and brought her home and kicked Preeto out. Preeto pretends to kill herself to convince Harman that it is not a fake plan. Soumya convinces Harman to return home to protect Preeto. But soon Harman finds out that it was all a huge lie. He feels extremely betrayed by Preeto and denounces his relationship with his parents. Overwhelmed by grief, Harak turns to Mohini for comfort where he falls in love with Mohini and actually expels Preeto from the house. But this time no one believes Preeto and refuses to help her. Soumya is the only one who stands by Preeto. She brings Preeto to the Kinanr's house and takes care of her, even though Harman gets angry at her for getting trapped by Preeto again. Soumya compels Harman to return home and help Preeto. Preeto finally sees Soumya's goodness; she finally realizes her misdeeds and accepts Soumya where Harak still hates Soumya and tries to separate her from Harman. Eventually, Soumya is able to expose Mohini and kicks her out of the house and Preeto-Harak reunite.

Soon, Soumya becomes obsessed with the idea of getting an operation to become a whole woman so that she can give Harman the love he deserves. Harman gets angry and tells her that he loves her as she is and doesn't want her to change; he loves her with her identity and wants to accept her in front of the whole world with her identity. Soumya learns of a Kinnar pooja where Kinnars do some rituals for the Aravan God so that in the next birth, she will be born a woman. Harman forbids her to participate however Soumya secretly goes not knowing that the rituals require her to dress up as a widow, break her bangles, her wedding chain and sindoor. Harman finds out and reaches the venue and sees the Kinnars forcibly breaking Soumya's bangles and taking away her wedding signs. He gets furious and says today Soumya has killed him because his love was not enough for her and says he will never forget her. He leaves in anger and gets into an accident. Soumya does a lot of tests to make Harman get better. Finally Harman recovers, but he denounces Soumya and says she has proved that she is a Kinnar and not someone who loves him. With Preeto's help, Soumya tries very hard to get Harman to forgive her but Harman hates her for breaking his trust. Harman decides to marry his childhood friend, Jasleen, and says Soumya can stay until the wedding is done, then she has to leave forever. On the wedding day, Soumya leaves a letter and leaves the house. Harman realizes he only loves Soumya and tries to stop her but she is long gone.

For the next few months, Harman spends all his time looking for Soumya so he can apologize but he can't find her anywhere meanwhile Soumya thinks Harman is married to Jasleen and living a happy normal life. Soumya has been working with a man named Sameer who has a small toy shop. Sameer falls in love with Soumya and ruins all of Harman's efforts in finding Soumya. Soumya tells Sameer that she is a Kinnar (eunich) and only someone with a heart like Harman can love her. Sameer helps Harman find Soumya whereas Harak tries to kill Soumya to get rid of her once and for all. Finally, Harman and Soumya are reunited where they promise never to leave each other again. Preeto is happy Soumya is back. Soon, Harak kicks Harman out of the house again because he won't leave Soumya.

Then Varun and Harman's uncle and aunty, Veeran and Shanno, attack Soumya and Harman, beat them, and throw them into the river. Harman and Soumya both survive but end up in Mumbai where they have both lost their memory and don't remember each other. Harman thinks his name is Jolly and Soumya thinks her name is Khushi. They fall in love with their new identities but Harman/Jolly finds out Khushi/Soumya is a kinnar (eunich) and publicly insults her saying he can never love a kinnar. Soumya/Khushi is heartbroken and leaves. Sameer comes back and realizes Soumya has lost her memory and lies to her that he is her fiance. Harman then gets his memory back and realizes that he hurt Soumya again. He gets angry at Harak for purposely leaving Soumya in Mumbai to separate her from him again. When Harman tries to make Soumya regain her memory, she gets angry at him and says she is marrying Sameer. Eventually, Soumya gets her memory back and comes back home with Harman.

After numerous twists, Varun is finally disowned by Harak, who finds out his intentions. Pregnant, Surbhi returns from Delhi. In a confrontation, Varun ends up accidentally injuring her. Before dying, Surbhi delivers a son, Soham and hands over Soumya his responsibility. Varun is jailed for Surbhi's murder. Harman and Soumya fight a court case to get Soham's custody, which is opposed by everyone as people don't think a Kinnar (eunich) should raise a child - but Harman and Soumya win the case and get Soham's custody. Soon, Soumya saves the family from a bomb and finally Harak accepts her.

Soumya finds a man on the road who is injured and needs help and brings him home. This man is revealed to be Nihal Singh, Harak's older brother and Preeto's first husband. Preeto is furious with Soumya for bringing Nihal Singh home and ruining Preeto's marriage. Soon, Nihal Singh dies and the villagers force Preeto to do a widow's ritual for Nihal even though Harak Singh is also her husband and still alive. Preeto is shaken to the core and again starts hating Soumya and plotting to separate her and Harman. Harman yells at Soumya for hurting Preeto and makes comments about her identity as a Kinnar. Soumya realizes that no matter what happens, her identity will always be a point of contention between her and Harman. Thus, Soumya leaves home with Soham and lives in Mallika's community where she becomes Gurumaa. Harman is tired of Soumya always running away after every fight instead of working it out and says he will never return to get her. Soumya makes Harman promise that he will never meet Soham and Harman is unable to say no to her.

Soon, Soumya starts working in the house of a man named Vedant Bansal, who falls for her. As she rejects him, Vedant gets Harman jailed to blackmail Soumya. Soumya fakes her marriage to save Harman, who misunderstood her. Preeto takes advantage of this situation and forces Soumya to continue her charade so Harman will also move on. In envy, Harman marries Mahi but he realizes his mistake as he only loves Soumya. He tells Mahi he can never love her and not to come near him. Preeto is furious.

Soon after, Harman has liver problems due to excessive drinking because he misses Soumya so much. One night, when Harman is excessively drunk and intoxicated, Preeto forces Mahi to dress up as Soumya and go to Harman, who drunkenly sleeps with her thinking Soumya has come back to him. Soon, Mahi is pregnant. Harman finds out the truth about Soumya and Vedant's fake marriage and how Vedant threatened Soumya. He comes to get Soumya but she refuses to go back with him saying now he has to focus on his wife and child. Harman cries as Preeto and Mahi betrayed him and made him lose his love and his loyalty to Soumya. Soumya says they had to do this for his future and she will always love him. Soon, Harman finds out Vedant is forcing Soumya to marry him for real. He comes to save her but Vedant pushes him off a cliff. Harman is assumed dead, and Vedant goes to Jail. Harman's ghost comes back and pleads with Preeto to accept Soumya as his only remnant in this world. Soumya and Preeto reunite and adopt Vedant's nephew, Rohan. Later, Mahi delivers a transgender child and disowns her. Soumya and Preeto stop Mahi and take responsibility of the child. Harak names the child Heer, unaware of her truth.

5 years later

Heer is a bubbly girl, brought up by Soumya and Preeto. On knowing her truth, Harak intends to kill Heer but is arrested. Bailed, Varun returns and tries to get Soham back. But Maninder exposes he killed Surbhi so Soham disowns him. The police allows Harak to meet Preeto. Harak asks to send Soumya away if she wants him to accept Heer. Preeto agrees; Soumya leaves with a tearful goodbye but vows to return after years.

16 years later

Heer is grown into a strong girl and is fiercely protected by Soham and Rohan. Heer falls in love with Virat and they elope to marry. However, Preeto reveals Heer's truth to Virat who initially hates her. Later, Virat realizes that he loves Heer and hides her truth. Virat and Heer marry. Eventually, everyone learns Heer's long-hidden truth. Heer blames her family for hiding her truth but soon understands their love for her. Angel manipulates Heer into joining their clan. Later, Virat comes to get her but gets beaten up. Heer falls off a cliff and presumed died while trying to save Virat.

After 6 months, Heer is shown to be alive and working as a caretaker and namesake family member of Dr. Akshay's family. Virat has gone mad. Heer returns to her family finding about Virat, who recovers and reunites with her. They are attacked by Angel. Soumya returns home after 16 years to protect her family. Surprisingly back and alive, Harman also reconciles with the family after years, proving he's Harman, though his face changed (as he got surgery). Angel is jailed. Soumya and Harman unite with Heer after years, who also remarries Virat. Heer hires a maid Gitu, who is molested by Virat's brother, Daljit. Heer fights for Gitu's justice is killed by Parmeet, Daljeet and Sant Baksh.

Soumya, Harman and Virat eventually learn about Heer's death. They make Parmeet, Daljeet and Santbaksh confess their crime who get arrested. Raavi's son, Chintu returns to destroy Harak's family. Preeto and Soumya save a baby from being buried alive. They adopt the child, being supported by entire family. Chintu and Angel team up to snatch the family happiness, but finally realize their mistakes. Preeto names the baby as Shagun. Soumya wills to protect and raise her by letting her know her truth. The show ends on a happy note, with the family united.

Cast

Main

• Rubina Dilaik as Soumya Singh – Transgender; Nimmi and Maninder's elder daughter; Surbhi's sister; Harman's wife; Heer's stepmother; Soham, Rohan and Shagun's adoptive mother (2016–2020; 2021)
  • Mahira Khurana as Child Soumya Singh (2016)
• Vivian Dsena / Cezanne Khan as Harman Singh – Preeto and Harak's son; Raavi's brother; Surbhi and Mahi's ex-husband; Soumya's husband; Heer's father; Soham and Shagun's adoptive father (2016–2019) / (2021)
• Jigyasa Singh as Heer Singh – Transgender; Harman and Mahi's daughter; Soumya's stepdaughter; Chintu and Soham's cousin; Virat's wife (2020–2021) (Dead)
  • Sumaiya Khan as Child Heer Singh (2019–2020)
• Simba Nagpal as Virat Singh – Parmeet and Sant Baksh's younger son; Daljeet and Simran's brother; Heer's widower (2020–2021)

Recurring

• Kamya Panjabi as Preeto Kaur Singh – Payal's daughter; Sukhwinder's sister; Nihaal's ex-wife; Harak's wife; Harman and Raavi's mother; Chintu and Heer's grandmother (2016–2021)
• Sudesh Berry as Harak Singh – Nihaal, Veeran and Harjeet's brother; Preeto's husband; Harman and Raavi's father; Chintu and Heer's grandfather (2016–2021)
• Lakshya Handa as Varun Singh – Harjeet and Amarinder's son; Surbhi's ex-husband; Sweety's husband; Soham's father (2016–2019; 2019–2020)
• Garima Jain / Pooja Singh as Raavi Singh – Preeto and Harak's daughter; Harman's sister; Balwinder and Jeet's ex-wife; Chintu's mother (2016–2018) / (2018-2021)
• Bhuvan Chopra as Veeran Singh – Nihaal, Harak and Harjeet's brother; Shanno's husband; Sindhu and Praval's father (2016–2021)
• Aarya Rawal as Shanno Singh – Veeran's wife; Sindhu and Praval's mother (2016–2021)
• Ekta Singh as Mallika Khanna – Transgender; Milkha's sister; Soumya's mother-figure (2016–2021)
• Kajol Saroj as Kareena – Transgender; Soumya and Heer's enemy (2016–2018; 2019; 2020; 2021) (Dead)
• Tushar Kawale as Chintu "Angad" Singh – Raavi and Balwinder's son (2021)
  • Unknown as Child Chintu Singh (2017–2018)
• Nidhi Bhavsar / Vaani Sharma as Sindhu Khurana – Veeran and Shanno's daughter; Praval's sister; Ankush's wife (2019–2020) / (2020–2021)
  • Mahek Thaakur as Child Sindhu Singh (2016–2017)
• Meherzan Mazda as Rohan Singh – Rekha and Vidhaan's son; Soumya's adoptive son; Simran's husband (2020–2021)
  • Unknown/Meet Mukhi as Child Rohan Singh (2019–2020)
• Avinash Mukherjee as Soham Singh – Surbhi and Varun's son; Soumya and Harman's adopted son (2020)
  • Vivaan Yogesh Sharma as Child Soham Singh (2019–2020)
• Sarika Dhillon as Mahi Singh – Harman's ex-wife; Heer's mother (2019–2021)
• Parag Tyagi as DSP Sant Baksh Singh – Baksh's son; Tejinder's brother; Parmeet's husband; Daljeet, Simran and Virat's father (2020–2021)
• Gauri Tonk/Jasveer Kaur as Parmeet Singh – Sant Baksh's wife; Daljeet, Simran and Virat's mother (2020) / (2020–2021)
• Rachana Mistry/Visha Vira as Simran Singh – Parmeet and Sant Baksh's daughter; Daljeet and Virat's sister; Rohan's wife (2020–2021) / (2021)
• Aakash Talwar as Daljeet Singh – Parmeet and Sant Baksh's elder son; Simran and Virat's brother; Gurwinder's husband (2020–2021)
• Ekroop Bedi as Gurwinder Singh – Daljeet's wife (2020–2021)
• Nimisha Vakharia as Tejinder Singh – Baksh's daughter; Sant Baksh's sister (2020)
• Kanwarjit Paintal as Baksh Singh – Sant Baksh and Tejinder's father; Daljeet, Simran and Virat's grandfather (2020)
• Sonam Arora as Angel – Transgender; Maharani's disciple; Soumya and Heer's enemy (2020–2021)
• Roshni Sahota/Iti Kaurav as Surbhi Singh – Nimmi and Maninder's younger daughter; Soumya's sister; Harman and Varun's ex-wife; Soham's mother (2016–2018) / (2018–2019) (Dead)
  • Tasheen Shah as Child Surbhi Singh (2016)
• Reena Kapoor as Nimmi Kaur Singh – Anjana's daughter; Maninder's wife; Soumya and Surbhi's mother; Soham's grandmother (2016) (Dead)
• Ayub Khan as Maninder Singh – Nalini's son; Nimmi's widower; Soumya and Surbhi's father; Soham's grandfather (2016–2019; 2019–2020)
• Dishi Duggal as Anjana Singh – Nimmi's mother; Soumya and Surbhi's grandmother; Soham's great-grandmother (2016–2019) (Dead)
• Mamata Luthra as Nalini Singh – Maninder's mother; Soumya and Surbhi's grandmother; Soham's great-grandmother (2016–2019; 2019–2020)
• Tanvi Kishore as Sweety Singh – Varun's wife (2019)
• Prakash Ramchandani as Nihal Singh – Harak, Veeran and Harjeet's brother; Preeto's ex-husband (2019) (Dead)
• Unknown/Rishikesh Ingley/Kush Sharma as Balwinder Singh – Kishanlal's son; Raavi's former husband; Chintu's father (2016-2017) / (2017–2019) / (2021) (Dead)
• Unknown as Kishanlal Singh – Balwinder's father; Chintu's grandfather (2016–2018; 2021)
• Krutika Desai Khan as Payal Singh – Preeto and Sukha's mother; Harman, Raavi and Garry's grandmother (2018)
• Jaswant Menaria as Sukhwinder Singh – Payal's son; Preeto's brother; Sunaina's husband; Gurmeet's father (2019)
• Shivani Gosain as Sunaina Singh – Sukhwinder's wife; Gurmeet's mother (2019)
• Rohit Chandel as Gurmeet Singh – Sunaina and Sukhwinder's son (2019)
• Sahil Uppal as Vedant Bansal – Sunil's son; Rekha's brother; Soumya's obsessive lover (2019)
• Shweta Sinha as Rekha Bansal – Sunil's daughter; Vedant's sister; Vidhaan's wife; Rohan's mother (2019) (Dead)
• Unknown as Vidhaan Singh – Rekha's husband; Rohan's father (2019) (Dead)
• Rajesh Puri as Sunil Bansal – Harak and Harman's business partner; Rekha and Vedant's father; Rohan's grandfather (2019)
• Ayaz Ahmed as Arjun – Vedant's ally (2019)
• Hitanshu Jinsi as Ankush Khurana – Sindhu's husband (2019)
• Preeti Puri as Dr. Gayatri Mathur (2019)
• Avisha Shahu as Reet Mathur – Gayatri's daughter; Heer, Rohan and Soham's friend (2019)
• Rohit Roy as Nishant Bhalla (2019)
• Emir Shah as Monty – Harman's friend (2016)
• Shivani Chakraborty as Mahima – Shanno's relative; Harman's ex-fiancée (2016)
• Mahi Sharma as Kalsi – Soumya and Surbhi's best friend (2016–2017)
• Kishori Shahane as Sharmani – Transgender (2016–2017)
• Sara Khan as Mohini – Harak's former mistress (2017–2018)
• Anand Goradia as Maharani – Transgender; Soumya's enemy from Bangkok; Angel's mentor (2017; 2018; 2019)
• Chhavi Awasthi as Chameli – Transgender (2017–2021)
• Sonal Handa as Jeet Singh – Motilal's son; Jasleen's brother; Raavi's former husband (2018)
• Amrita Prakash as Jasleen Kaur Singh – Motilal's daughter; Jeet's sister; Harman's childhood friend (2018)
• Hemant Choudhary as Motilal Singh – Jasleen and Jeet's father; Harak's friend (2018)
• Dheeraj Gumbar as Sumit Kapoor – Surbhi's business partner and friend (2018)
• Sahil Mehta as Sameer Singh – Gopika's son; Soumya's obsessive lover (2018)
• Tiya Gandwani as Dr. Lavneet Kaushal – Harman's obsessive lover (2018)
• Alka Mogha as Gopika Singh – Sameer's mother (2018)
• Shiva Gupta as Esha – Heer's friend (2020)
• Prerna Panwar as Nutan – Transgender; Heer's best friend (2020)
• Sonya Ayodhya as Jharna Narula – Uttam's daughter; Virat's former fiancée (2020)
• Naveen Saini as DIG Uttam Narula – Jharna's father (2020)
• Sikandar Kharbanda as Indrajit Shergill (2020)
• Aniruddh Dave as Shyam – Transgender; Angel's partner (2021)
• Pankaj Bhatia as Jagjit Singh – Jatinder's elder son; Akshay's brother; Archana's husband (2021)
• Bhawna Hada / Kaveri Priyam as Dr. Isha Hooda – Virat's childhood friend (2021)
• Anahita Jahabaksh as Jatinder Kaul – Jagjit and Akshay's mother; Kuhu's grandmother (2021)
• Neha Narang as Archana Kaul – Jagjit's wife (2021)
• Kapil Nirmal as Jeet (2021)
• Sanjeev Siddharth as Harishchandra – Jeet's grandfather (2021)
• Puneett Chouksey as Dr. Akshay Kaul – Jatinder's younger son; Jagjit's brother; Kuhu's father; Heer and Virat's friend (2021)
• Salman Shaikh as Arjun Randhawa – Kamini's son; Nayantara's brother; Simran's ex-boyfriend (2021)
• Dharti Bhatt as Nayantara Randhawa – Kamini's daughter; Arjun's sister; Virat's former bride (2021)
• Unknown as Kamini Randhawa – Parmeet's childhood friend; Arjun and Nayantara's mother (2021)
• Paras Zutshi as Guru – Heer and Virat's friend (2021)
• Abigail Jain as Riya (2019)
• Mouli Ganguly as Shruti Bhalla (2019)
• Nikita Sharma as Archana Kapoor (2019)
• Rushad Rana as Advocate Navjot Chaddha (2019)
• Ronit Roy as Advocate Rajat Singh (2019)
• Preetika Chauhan as Sneha Singh (2019)
• Roopal Tyagi as Manasvi (2019)

Special appearances

• Salman Khan to promote Big Boss 10 (2016)
• Parineeti Chopra and Ayushmann Khurrana to promote Meri Pyaari Bindu (2017)
• Jay Soni as Bakool Vasavda from Bhaag Bakool Bhaag (2017)
• Helly Shah as Devanshi Bakshi from Devanshi (2017))
• Piyush Sahdev as Pavan Bakshi from Devanshi (2017)
• Varun Kapoor as Dr. Veer Malhotra from Savitri Devi College & Hospital (2017)
• Swarda Thigle as Dr. Saachi Malhotra/Mishra from Savitri Devi College & Hospital (2017)
• Vikram Sakhalkar as Dr. Kabir Kapoor from Savitri Devi College & Hospital (2017)
• Meera Deosthale as Chakor Rajvanshi from Udaan (2017)/(2018)
• Sahil Uppal as Kunal Singhania from Ek Shringaar-Swabhiman (2017)
• Sangeita Chauhan as Meghna Singhania from Ek Shringaar-Swabhiman (2017)
• Sidharth Shukla as Parth Bhanushali from Dil Se Dil Tak (2017)
• Rashami Desai as Shorvori Parth Bhanushali from Dil Se Dil Tak (2017)
• Jasmin Bhasin as Teni Bhanushali from Dil Se Dil Tak (2017)
• Arjun Bijlani as Deep Raj Singh/Deep Raichand from Ishq Mein Marjawan (2018)
• Aalisha Panwar as Aarohi Raichand from Ishq Mein Marjawan (2018)
• Ritvik Arora as Ahaan Dhanrajgir from Tu Aashiqui (2018)
• Sanjay Dutt and Aditi Rao Hydari to promote Bhoomi (2017)
• Krystle D'Souza as Roopa from Belan Wali Bahu (2018)
• Harshad Chopda as Aditya Hooda from Bepannah (2018)
• Jannat Zubair Rahmani as Pankti Dhanrajgir from Tu Aashiqui (2018)
• Affan Khan as Young Roopendra Singh Vaghela to promote Roop - Mard Ka Naya Swaroop (2018)
• Ankita Lokhande on Ganesh Chaturthi (2018)
• Mouni Roy on Ganesh Chaturthi (2018)
• Gauahar Khan on Ganesh Chaturthi (2018)
• Shashank Vyas as Roopendra Singh Vaghela from Roop - Mard Ka Naya Swaroop (2018)
• Avika Gor as Anushka Sangwan from Laado 2 (2018)
• Drashti Dhami as Nandini Thakur from Silsila Badalte Rishton Ka (2018)
• Aashish Kaul as Milkha Singh Khanna – Mallika's brother (2019)
• Arjit Taneja as Azaan from Bahu Begum (2019)
• Samiksha Jaiswal as Noor from Bahu Begum (2019)
• Kunal Jaisingh as Reyansh Khurana from Pavitra Bhagya (2020)
• Nimrit Kaur Ahluwalia as Meher from Choti Sarrdaarni (2020)
• Siddharth Kumar For Online Promotion of NIIT Class (2021)
• Meenakshi Sharma as Meenakshi: Akshay's former's girlfriend, Kuhu's mother (only in flashbacks) (2021)

Production

Casting

After a ten-year leap in June 2016, child actors Mahira Khurrana and Tasheen Shah were replaced by Rubina Dilaik and Roshni Sahota respectively. Vivian Dsena was roped in as the male lead. Besides them Kamya Panjabi, Sudesh Berry, Garima Jain, Bhuvan Chopra, Aarya Rawal, Mahek Thakur and Lakshya Handa joined the cast.

In November 2016 Reena Kapoor quit the series and her character Nimmi died. It had a crossover with Sasural Simar Ka in April 2017 and Savitri Devi College & Hospital in June 2017. In August 2017 Anand Goradia was chosen to play Maharani. In November 2017 Sara Khan bagged the series as Mohini. Three months later, Jain left the show and was replaced by Pooja Singh. Later Amrita Prakash was roped in to play Jasleen. Some other new cast entered including Sahil Mehta, Hemant Choudhary, Alka Mogha and Sonal Handa.

Afterwards Krutika Desai Khan played Payal but she later quit the show. The same month Sahota too quit. During Soumya and Harman's memory loss story, Tiya Gandwani joined the cast as Lavneet Kaushal whereas Mehta and Mogha returned. In very late of December 2018 Iti Kaurav replaced Sahota as Surbhi, but quit after a short 10 episodes in January 2019, before Jaswant Menaria, Shivani Gosain and Rohit Chandel joined the cast. In March 2019, Rohit Roy, Ronit Roy, Mouli Ganguly and Roopal Tyagi were cast and Aashish Kaul appeared in a special appearance.

Next month, Nidhi Bhavsar and Hitanshu Jinsi entered. In May 2019, Nikita Sharma and Prakash Ramchandani were seen in the series. In June 2019, Sahil Uppal entered in a negative role along with Rajesh Puri. In July 2019, Sarika Dhillon became a part of the show. Next month, Shweta Sinha was cast for a short appearance and Dsena quit because of not wanting to play a father, as a five-year leap was confirmed.

In September 2019, child actors Sumaiya Khan, Vivaan Sharma and Meet Mukhi were cast in the series. In October 2019, Mamta Luthra, Handa and Ayub Khan returned while Preeti Puri and Avisha Shahu became a part of the show. Initially the 16 year leap was planned for November 2019, but got extended to January 2020. Dilaik quit the show, and several actors joined the cast, with Jigyasa Singh and Simba Nagpal as new leads. Others included Avinash Mukherjee, Meherzan Mazda, Parag Tyagi, Gauri Tonk, Kanwarjit Paintal, Aakash Talwar, Vaani Sharma, Ekroop Bedi and Rachana Mistry. In February 2020, Sonyaa Ayodhya, Prerna Panwar and Naveen Saini were hired. In late June 2020 actress Gauri Tonk quit the show and was replaced by Jasveer Kaur. In October 2020, Avinash Mukherjee also left the show.

In February 2021, Aarya Rawal who played as Shanno quit the show. In March 2021, Rubina Dilaik joined the show again. In April 2021, Cezanne Khan replaced Vivian Dsena and joined the show as Harman Singh.

Adaptations

Language	Title	Original Release	Network(s)	Last aired	Notes
Hindi	Shakti - Astitva Ke Ehsaas Ki शक्ति - अस्तित्व के एहसास की	30 May 2016	Colors TV	1 October 2021	Original
Marathi	Lek Majhi Durga लेक माझी दुर्गा	14 February 2022	Colors Marathi	24 September 2022	Remake
Hindi	Aaina - Roop Nahin, Haqeeqat Bhi Dikhaye आइना - रूप नहीं, हकीकत भी दिखाये	11 December 2023	Dangal TV	7 April 2024

External links

• Shakti – Astitva Ke Ehsaas Ki at IMDb