Faltu (transl. Useless) is an Indian Hindi-language drama television series produced under Boyhood Productions, starring Niharika Chouksey and Aakash Ahuja. It premiered on 2 November 2022 on StarPlus and digitally streams on Disney+ Hotstar. It ended on 20 August 2023.
Contents
Plot
The story revolves around an unwanted girl, Faltu, named useless after her parents' frustration at the birth of a third girl and a stillborn twin son.
18 years later
Faltu grew up in a feudal family in rural Rajasthan, being ill-treated and disregarded by everyone except her father and cousin Pratap for her gender, birth order, and passions. Rejecting the traditional role of a meek and homemaking woman, Faltu harbors a love for cricket, playing with various improvised bats like sticks and brooms, further drawing the mockery of the village while she fights against the stigma trying to make her family proud.
5 months later
After 5 months, things change when Faltu crosses paths with Ayaan Mittal, who is the son of a wealthy CEO and a proficient cricketer despite swearing off the sport. He is visiting her village with his cousin Suhana for business. He notices her talent despite bad first impressions, and his offer of coaching her begins a new journey in her unacknowledged life.
Complications in their budding relationship loom as Ayaan is engaged to Tanisha in an arranged marriage among family friends back in Mumbai. Faltu must also resist an arranged marriage with an older man and many other social ills along the way. Ayaan comes and takes Faltu with him to Mumbai and takes her to his Paternal Aunt Rijwala. Pappi (Faltu's fianće) comes behind Faltu till Mumbai. Soon Ayaan's family invites Rijwala and her husband to Ayaan's wedding and Faltu also comes with them. Ayaan helps Faltu achieve her Dreams in Mumbai and sends her to Mumbai Women's National Cricket Academy. But unfortunately, one day when Faltu visits the doctor is informed that she has an illness that can cause blindness and she has only three months to see. She does not want Ayaan to know the truth and increase his troubles.
Suddenly one day everybody learns the truth that Ayaan eloped Faltu from her wedding and that he had gone mia from his pre-wedding rituals multiple times trying to help Faltu. They disapprove of Faltu staying with them. Faltu leaves the house and starts living on the streets and faces many harsh circumstances. On Ayaan's wedding day with Tanisha, Pappi discovers Faltu's whereabouts and kidnaps her. Pappi tries to forcefully marry Faltu but Ayaan learns that Faltu has been kidnapped and comes to save Faltu, but only after taking permission from Tanisha this time.
Ayaan gets injured, accidentally fills Faltu's hairline with vermillion, and falls unconscious. Soon Faltu also gets blind and cannot see anything. The police arrive and take Ayaan with them but Faltu runs away and hides in a jungle. Ayaan still asks the police for Faltu but they do not tell him anything. Ayaan arrives home and starts the rituals for marrying Tanisha. Tanisha also chooses to trust him and asks the police to locate Faltu seeing Ayaan worried, making him happy. Faltu meanwhile escapes the police as she wants to go away from Ayaan's life to not make his life difficult, but starts wearing vermillion and mangalsutra of Ayaan's name.
Tanisha soon learns about the truth with the help of Ayaan's cousin, Siddharth, who is insanely in love with the former. Suspecting and eventually growing envious, Tanisha begins plotting against Faltu, including creating distances and misunderstandings between her and Ayaan. During this, she gets framed for using unfair means to achieve her dreams and Ayaan learns of his marriage with Faltu. He then secretly tries to locate Faltu, who is missing. Faltu then enters the Mittal mansion as Rocky to learn who framed her. However, the truths are soon revealed and Tanisha is exposed in front of the family.
Cast
Main
Niharika Chouksey as Faltu Singh Mittal: Charan and Jamuna's youngest daughter; Lajwanti and Antima's sister; Pappi's ex-fiancee; Ayaan's wife (2022–2023)
Aakash Ahuja as Ayaan Mittal: Savita and Prakash's son; Janardhan's step-son; Kinshuk's half-brother; Tanisha's ex-husband; Faltu's husband (2022–2023)
Recurring
Drishti Thakur as Tanisha Mittal: Kanika's estranged daughter; Ayaan's ex–wife and one-sided obsessive love interest; Siddharth's estranged wife (2022–2023)
Thakur Rajveer Singh as Pappi: Faltu's ex-fiancé who is twice Faltu's age(2022-2023)
Farida Venkat as Mayavati Thakur: Janardhan, Govardhan, Harshvardhan and Rijula's mother; Kinshuk, Siddharth and Suhana's grandmother; Ayaan's adoptive grandmother(2022–2023)
Mahesh Thakur as Janardhan Mittal: Mayavati's elder son; Govardhan, Harshvardhan and Rijula's elder brother; Savita's husband; Kinshuk's father; Ayaan's step-father(2022–2023)
Vibhavari Pradhan as Savita Mittal: Janardhan's wife; Prakash former lover; Ayaan and Kinshuk's mother(2022–2023)
Azhar J Malik as Kinshuk Mittal: Janardhan and Savita's son; Ayaan's younger half-brother; Ayesha's husband(2022–2023)
Esha Pathak as Ayesha Mittal: Kinshuk's wife(2022–2023)
Jiten Mukhi as Govardhan Mittal: Mayavati's middle son; Janardhan's younger brother; Harshvardhan and Rijula's elder brother; Sumitra's husband; Siddharth's father(2022–2023)
Rakhi Vijan as Sumitra Mittal: Govardhan's wife; Siddharth's mother(2022–2023)
Rajat Verma as Siddharth "Sid" Mittal: Govardhan and Sumitra's son; Tanisha's estranged husband(2022–2023)
Rajeev Bhardwaj as Harshvardhan Mittal: Mayavati's younger son; Janardhan and Govardhan's younger brother; Rijula's elder brother; Kumkum's husband; Suhana's father(2022–2023)
Production
Casting
Niharika Chouksey was cast as the female lead, and later Aakash Ahuja was confirmed as the male lead.
Development
The series was announced by Boyhood Productions and confirmed in September 2022 by StarPlus. The shooting of the series began in September 2022 in Jaipur, India.
Release
The first promo was released on 30 September 2022, featuring the leads Niharika Chouksey and Aakash Ahuja. StarPlus released and promoted the show as a "unique story of an unwanted girl child."
Cancellation
Despite positive response from the audience, Faltu was slated to go off-air on 7 August 2023, to make way for Director's Kut Productions' Baatein Kuch Ankahee Si, however the show received an extension. The show finally went off-air on 20 August 2023.