"Astitva Ek Prem Kahani" is a popular soap of Zee TV. The story of "Astitva Ek Prem Kahani" was basically a story of Dr. Simran Mathur, the protagonist of the story. She crosses many boundaries to stand in life and lastly finds herself alone in her thoughts. The serial, "Astitva Ek Prem Kahani" was produced by Ananda Telecommunications and Ajay Sinha directed the show. This was one of the few serials that broke out of the general mould and portrayed a strong female protagonist. The serial was aired from 17th November, 2002 to 13th January, 2006.

Plot of Astitva Ek Prem Kahani
The serial had a woman oriented story that revolves around the life of Doctor Simran Mathur, a successful gynecologist. She devoted her entire life towards achieving success. Simran lived with her parents Saurabh and Padma and her two siblings Rashmi and Kavita. She spent her childhood trying to get high rank in school and medical college, and then she owns her nursing home. But she misses something in her life which she sometimes thinks of. After the wedding of her sister Rashmi, Simran`s parents get worried about her as she was at her early thirties and yet unmarried. After Simran saves Anadi`s life, his brother, Abhimanyu comes into her life. Abhi reminds Simran of the past, which she has buried and forgotten. Abhimanyu or Abhi was 10 years younger than her, brings out the feminine side of Simran by bringing her face to face with her wishes and needs. Initially, Simran resists him but gradually Abhi confronts her with his love. Simran feels helpless and is attracted by Abhi. Simran is unable to resist and is left with no alternatives when Abhi goes and asks for her hand from her parents. Her parents are shocked but cannot do anything in front of their love. All are against to their marriage because of their age difference. As a result of her marriage, Saurabh, Simran`s father, quits his job out of frustration and anger. Upset by her daughter`s decision to get married, Saurabh runs into the comfort of Anjali, with whom he was having an extra-marital affair. Kavita, her sister, gets jealous of Simran and starts finding opportunities to humiliate her.

Simran finds no happiness after she comes to her in laws house. Through many struggles Simran somehow manages to stay there but it did not last long and they shifted to a different house. When Simran is pregnant Abhi gets upset and persuades her to drop the child. Abhi gets attached to Kiran, a girl who worked with him as an assistant director. Simran eventually learns about the affairs of her father and her husband and on hearing the news, Simran again feels lonely and asks Abhi to leave the house.

Abhi achieves great success in his career. Simran finally losses her daughter when she was only two years old. On the other hand, Abhi got married to Neha, a journalist but dies at the time of their child`s birth. The serial takes a leap of 18 years. Abhi is leaving alone in a secluded place; Sia their daughter goes there and tries to find his father. Aastha, who was Abhi and Neha`s daughter lives with Simran and thinks that she is her own daughter. When Sia comes to their life, Aastha gets angry after knowing the fact that she is not Simran`s own daughter. Eventually she dies in an accident. Sia gets engaged with Manas` son Siddharth. The serial had a happy ending with a positive note about life of a successful woman.

Cast of Astitva Ek Prem Kahani: The star cast of "Astitva Ek Prem Kahani" are enlisted below:

Niki Aneja Walia as Dr. Simran Mathur
Varun Badola as Abhimanyu Saxena a.k.a. Abhi
Ajit Mehra as Mr. Mehta
Komal Kumari as Baby Aastha
Yuvika Chaudhury as Aastha
Upasana Shukla as Sia Sarin
Vineeta Thakur as Neha
Rajendra Chawla as Bhavani Shankar
Alok Nath as Saurabh Mathur
Harsh Chhaya as Dr. Manas Awasthi
Bhairavi Raichura as Urmila
Neeru Bajwa / Kamya Panjabi as Kiran
Abbas Khan / Vishal Singh as Dr. Siddhant Awasthi a.k.a. Sid
Susheel Parashar as Mr. Saxena
Kanika Shivpuri as Mrs. Saxena
Parmeet Sethi as Dr. Brian
Himani Shivpuri as Neha`s mother
Mahesh Thakur as Dr. Abhimanyu Joshi a.k.a. Manu

Recognitions to Astitva Ek Prem Kahani
The soap opera received several awards, which are as follows:

2nd Apsara Awards Best Drama Series - 2005

2nd Apsara Awards Best Actress - Niki Aneja Walia - 2005

2nd Apsara Awards Best Actor - Varun Badola - 2005

Indian Television Academy Awards Best Actor (Drama) - Varun Badola - 2005

Indian Television Academy Awards Best Teleplay - 2005