Naamkarann

Naamkarann
Genre	Drama
Written by	Gautham Hedge; Nikita Dhond; Shipra Arora; Aayush Agrawal; Mitali Bhattacharya; Arundhati Sharma; Ishan Bajpai;
Directed by	Mahesh Bhatt[1]; Loknath Pandey; Faheim Inamdar`; Sandeep Vijay; Jafar Shaikh; Yusuf Ansari; Creative Director * Ishika Sahani ; Aayush Agrawal
Starring	Arsheen Naamdaar; Aditi Rathore; Zain Imam; Barkha Sengupta; Viraf Patel; Reema Lagoo; Ragini Shah;
Country of origin	India
Original language	Hindi
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	463
Production
Executive producer	Aayush Agrawal
Producers	Guroudev Bhallan; Dhaval Gada;
Cinematography	Santosh Suryavanshi; Raj Panth; Shivankar Arora;
Editor	Sudhir
Camera setup	Multi-camera
Running time	21 minutes
Production company	Dhaval and Guroudev Productions Pvt. Ltd
Distributor	Star India
Release
Original network	Star Plus
Picture format	576i; HDTV 1080i;
Original release	12 September 2016 –; 18 May 2018[2]
External links
	Website

Naamkarann (transl. Naming ceremony) is an Indian drama television series which premiered 12 September 2016 on Star Plus, replacing Diya Aur Baati Hum.[3] Inspired by the 1998 Bollywood film Zakhm, it was based on the life of filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt.[4]

The show initially starred child actor Arsheen Naamdaar as Avni Ayesha, besides Viraf Patel, Barkha Sengupta and Reema Lagoo from September 2016 to March 2017.[5] It then took a fifteen year-leap and focused on Avni Ayesha (Aditi Rathore) and Neil Khanna (Zain Imam).[6] In May 2017, Ragini Shah replaced Reema Lagoo due to the latter's demise. The show ended on 18 May 2018 completing 463 episodes and its slot was taken by Krishna Chali London.[7]

Plot

Avni Ayesha is an illegitimate child who lives with her mother, Ayesha Haider. Avni's father is the famous film director Ashish Mehta who meets them in secret due to his mother, Dayawanti Mehta; a deeply religious Hindu woman who disapproves of his relationship with Ayesha who is a Muslim. Dayawanti rejects Avni at every step determined for her son to break his relations with his "illegitimate" family. Ashish is forced to marry Neela Parikh, a kind-hearted lady. Avni becomes friends with Neela who helps Avni in her battle for justice by fighting against Dayawanti for Avni's rights.

Ayesha gives birth to her and Ashish's son, Aman. Dayawanti suffocates and murders Ayesha and takes Aman away renaming him Amol. She also manipulates an emotionally distraught Ashish into believing that Avni killed Ayesha. Ashish, blindly believing Dayawanti, sends Avni behind bars. Neela gets her out of prison and decides to leave with Avni. Dayawanti tricks Avni into meeting her alone and shoots her but Neela saves her.

15 years later

Avni is now a grown woman and uses the name Ananya Verma while she lives with Neela. She steals money from rich people and donates it to hospitals. ACP Neil Khanna is recruited to find out her identity. Avni's childhood friend, Ali is shown to be Neil's best friend.

A series of events bring Avni and Neil closer. Meanwhile, Aman is shown to have grown into a spoilt brat. Neil starts developing a soft corner for Avni after Neela tells him about her childhood. After a series of investigations, it is revealed that Ashish was murdered by Dayawanti after he had discovered that she was Ayesha's murderer. Dayawanti is arrested. Neil gets critically injured in a bomb blast but is saved by Avni. It is revealed that the blast was planned by Aman, who is working for Dayawanti.

Neil falls in love with Avni. Aman realises Dayawanti has been using him and turns over a new leaf. Circumstances end in Aman burning Dayawanti alive, which results in her death and him being sentenced. Avni forgives Aman and feels proud of him for getting justice for their mother Ayesha.

Juhi tells Neil about "their" illegitimate daughter, Mishti who is being held captive by Vidyut. Avni rescues Mishti and they bond. It is then revealed that Mishti is in fact Vidyut's daughter. Avni and Neil find out Juhi's truth and get her to confess. Vidyut makes it look like Avni shot Juhi forcing Neil to put Avni behind bars.

6 months later

Heartbroken by the accusation of killing Juhi and the lack of trust between her and Neil, Avni learns fighting skills in prison to fight against the crimes she didn't commit. Neil manages to get Vidyut to confess that Avni is innocent. Neela gets shot during a black out at the Khanna house. Avni mourns over Neela's death. Eventually, Avni and Neil consummate their relationship.

Vidyut threatens Avni to marry him in order to save Prakash. Avni decides to burn Vidyut's house. The fire fighters find two dead bodies in the house leaving Avni's fate unknown. Avni who escaped from Vidyut's house, erases her everything and leaves with Mishti.

10 years later

Neil quits his job as a police officer and becomes a radio jockey. Avni changed her name as Nilanjana and dedicates her life to the well-being of illegitimate children in an orphanage(Sukoon house). She takes care of Saisha, who is actually Mishti, along with other orphaned children. Sayesha is shown to be an aspiring singer and an ardent fan of actor Karan Kapoor. Later Saisha gets married to Karan.

Avni decides to leave the city with her and Neil's son Mowgli so that Neil can start a new life with Mitali while Mitali asks Neil to return to Avni as he can only be happy with her. Thus, Avni and Neil reunite.

Cast

Main

Aditi Rathore as Avni Khanna (née Ayesha/Mehta) aka Ananya Verma / Nilanjana – Ayesha and Ashish's daughter; Neela's adoptive daughter; Aman's sister; Neil's wife; Mowgli's mother; Mishti's adoptive mother; Jhaan didi of children in Sukoon house.(2017–2018)[8]
- Arsheen Naamdaar as Young Avni Ayesha / Mehta (2016–2017)
Zain Imam as Neil Khanna aka Tillu – Shweta and Prakash's son; Avni's husband; Mowgli's father; Mishti's adoptive father (2017–2018)[8]
Reema Lagoo / Ragini Shah as Dayawanti Mehta – Ashish, Ketan and Diksha's mother; Avni, Aman and Riya's grandmother (2016–2017) (Dead)[9][10]
Barkha Sengupta as Ayesha Banu/Mehta – Ashish's wife; Fatima's daughter; Avni and Aman's mother (2016–2017) (Dead)[11]
Viraf Patel as Ashish Mehta – Dayawanti's son; Kehtan and Diksha's brother; Ayesha's husband; Avni and Aman's father; Neela's former husband (2016–2017) (Dead)[11]
Sayantani Ghosh as Neela Parikh – Ashish's former wife; Avni's adoptive mother (2016–2018) (Dead)

Recurring

Gulfam Khan as Fatima Banu – Ayesha's mother; Avni and Aman's maternal grandmother (2016–2017)
Kunwar Amarjeet Singh as Aladdin aka Kabir (2016)
Anaya Soni as Hetal Mehta– Ketan's wife, Riya's mother; Avni's and Aman's aunt (2016–2017)
Puru Chibber as Ketan Mehta – Dayawanti's son; Ashish and Diksha's brother; Riya's father, Avni and Aman's uncle (2016–2017)
Neelam Sivia as Diksha – Dayawanti's daughter; Ashish and Ketan's sister; Avni, Aman and Riya's aunt (2016–2017)
Vivek Madan as Hansmukh – Diksha's former husband (2016)
Gautam Vig as Ali – Avni's childhood best friend; Neil's best friend (2017–2018)
- Shubh Kalra as Young Ali (2016)
Nalini Negi as Riya Mehta – Ketan and Hetal's daughter; Avni and Aman's cousin. (2017)
- Palak Dey as Young Riya (2016)
Sushant Mohindru as Aman Mehta aka Amol – Ayesha and Ashish's son; Avni's brother (2017)
Shruti Ulfat as Shweta Khanna– Prakash's wife; Neil's mother (2017–2018)
Sanjay Swaraj as Prakash Khanna– Shweta's husband, Neil's father (2017–2018)
Neelu Kohli as Harleen Khanna– Prakash's mother; Neil's grandmother (2017–2018)
Poonam Preet as Juhi – Neil's former girlfriend; Mishti's mother (2017)
Karam Rajpal as Vidyut – Ragini's son, Mishti's father; Avni's obsessive lover (2017–2018)
Jahaan Arora as Dakhal Dayal aka DD – Neil's friend and colleague; A police officer; Sunheri's love interest (2017–2018)
Soni Singh as Sunehri– Avni's friend and well-wisher (2017–2018)
Sana Amin Sheikh as Mitali Sharma – Police inspector, Neil's friend (2017–2018)
Prakriti Nautiyal as Tara – Avni's friend; earlier a prisoner. (2017–2018)
Pragya Nautiyal as Sitara – Avni's friend; earlier a prisoner. (2017–2018)
Kabir Shah as Mowgli Khanna aka Pillu – Avni and Neil's son (2018)
Payal Bhojwani as Mishti aka Saisha Kapoor – Juhi and Vidyut's daughter; Avni and Neil's adoptive daughter; Karan's wife (2018)
- Aayesha Vindhara as Young Mishti (2017–2018)
Zaan Khan as Karan Kapoor aka "KK" – Film industry's superstar; Saisha's husband (2018)
Jayati Bhatia as Kamini Kapoor – Karan's mother (2018)
Bhavesh Balchandani as Samrat – an orphan at Sukoon house (2018)
Swasti Katyal as Pinki – An orphan who lives with Avni (2018)
Pawani Sharma as Daisy – An orphan at Sukoon house (2018)
Mohit Chauhan as Mr. Sharad Kapoor – Karan's father (2018)
Manini Mishra as Ragini Pandit – Vidyut's mother; leader of a human trafficking racket (2017–2018)
Priya Tandon as Monica – A prisoner (2017–2018)
Karan Jagdish Singh as Avni's lawyer (2018)

Production