Bandini (TV series)

Santu Waghela is a poor but spirited girl who lives in the village of Dharampur with her maternal grandfather, Madhav Solanki, an experienced diamond cutter working for the middle-aged diamond merchant Dharamraj Mahiyavanshi. As an incentive to his best worker, Dharamraj offers to arrange and sponsor Madhav's granddaughter's marriage. Hours before the wedding, the bridegroom backs out and Madhav's fellow workers get agitated. Dharamraj, a widower, comes forward to marry the bride, Santu. For Dharamraj, the decision to marry Santu is purely a business calculation for appeasing his workforce. Dharamraj is still in love with his dead wife Subhadra, who has left him with 5 children: Hiten, Kadambari a.k.a. Kaddu, Maulik, Birwa and Suraj. Once home, he ignores Santu and she is constantly abused by his older sister, Tarulata a.k.a. Taru. After a long time, however, Dharamraj and most of his family members accept Santu as a member of the Mahiyavanshi family. Dharamraj finds his long-lost son Arjan. But eventually, because of some misunderstandings and complications, Arjan assaults Dharamraj. Birwa, trying to save her father, accidentally kills Arjan. To save Birwa, Santu takes the blame for the murder and goes to jail.

After 10 years Santu returns from prison. The Mahiyavanshis don't want her. Everyone in the Mahiyavanshi house is pretending to live happily. But Santu forces her way into the house, takes charge and starts many quarrels among family members. This brings many hidden problems to light. Dharamraj has shut himself away in a room and stopped mixing with people. But Santu with her love and honesty once again wins Dharamraj's love and family gets reunited. A woman named Megha comes forward with her son, Vishal and she claims that Dharamraj is the father of this boy. To everyone's surprise, medical tests prove that Vishal is actually Dharamraj's son. However, Dharamraj denies having any relationship with Megha. Then Santu discovers that Vishal is her own son, who was born while she was in prison. Megha had stolen Vishal from the jail hospital and Santu had been told that the baby was dead. Santu and Dharamraj reunite. Vishal comes to stay with Dharamraj and Santu, but Megha kidnaps him again.

After 16 years, Dharamraj's grandchildren have grown up. Santu is still waiting for her son Vishal to come home. After an extensive search, Vishal is found. He seems to be a good person, but this is just a mask. Megha has poisoned his mind against the Mahiyavanshis. He wants to separate Dharamraj and Santu. Dharamraj and Hiten, on finding out the truth, chase Vishal out of the house. Santu is shocked and becomes ill. Dharamraj is forced to take Santu to Vishal's house. But Vishal is exposed. Disillusioned, Santu comes back to the Mahiyavanshi house. Then Megha reappears and uses Vishal to get back at the Mahiyavanshi family. Vishal forces Dharamraj and Santu to leave the house. They go and live in Mumbai, where Dharamraj starts a new diamond business. After some time, they return to Dharampur. Meanwhile, Vishal has changed for the better. He realizes that Megha has used him as a pawn. He apologizes to his parents. Santu and Dharamraj forgive Vishal when they see that his regret is genuine. Santu finds out that she is pregnant once again. The whole Mahiyavanshi family is happy together.

After the exit of directors Santaram Verma later replaced by Kaushik Ghatak, the main lead Ronit Roy himself directed the series for few episodes.[4]

In June 2010, Leena Jumani playing Kheemi quit as she was unhappy with the shaping of her character.[5]

• Bandini