One of the Finest Show on Indian Television, Charitraheen is a Hindi TV serial that aired on Doordarshan DD National. It was also aired on DD Metro in 2002 along with Gali Aage Mudti Hai. The story is inspired by the Bengali novel “Choritrohin”, written by Sarat Chandra, a great Bengali author. The serial is directed by Pankaj Parashar.
The serial focuses on the adversities faced by women due to orthodox households, which led them to make certain poor decisions in life. The serial features four women, Savitri, Kiranmayi, Surbala, and Sarojini, the former two being the major characters. Savitri is a brahmin widow who gets kicked out of the house by her in-laws. Having no other choice, she works as a maidservant in a youth hostel run by a man named Satish. Savitri and Satish fall in love but do not disclose their feelings to each other owing to the social taboo surrounding the remarriage of a widowed woman. When people start suspecting that Savitri and Satish have feelings for each other, they are tagged characterless. Unable to cope with the accusations, Savitri flees to Varanasi.
Kiranmayi enters the frame. She is a beautiful and lusty woman who is grounded by her mother-in-law and husband, Haran Babu, who is currently on his death bed. He entrusts his property over to his friend Upendra knowing that he would take care of his family. Surbala is Upendra’s wife. Satish is a friend of both Upendra and Haran Babu. When Kiranmayi learns that Upendra is to inherit their property, she believes that her beauty is unparalleled and would make Upendra fall for her but to her surprise, Upendra remains faithful to his dead friend.
A woman named Sarojini falls in love with Satish, and their love story remains to be on-again-off-again. Kiranmayi elopes with an immature orphan called Divakar. Throughout the serial, all the characters have made their fair share of mistakes. By the end of it, all of them realize their mistakes and try to redeem themselves. The story perfectly portrayed all the things that go through locked minds, from selfishness to adultery. It depicts the shattering truth of the burden posed by the norms of society.