Shakti — Astitva Ke Ehsaas Ki () is an Indian Hindi-language social drama television series produced by Rashmi Sharma Telefilms airing from 30 May 2016 to 1 October 2021 on Colors TV. It starred Vivian Dsena, Rubina Dilaik, Jigyasa Singh, Simba Nagpal and Cezanne Khan. This show is the fourth longest-running television show of Colors TV.
Plot Set in rural Punjab, Maninder and his mother Nalini try to bury the one-year-old Soumya alive. They are caught by Nimmi who saves her and warns Maninder that if he and Nalini try to kill Soumya again, she will not spare them.
Soumya is a quiet and simple girl, raised lovingly by Nimmi but is hated by Maninder and Nalini. Her sister, Surbhi receives all of their father and grandmother's love and attention.
Now grown up, Soumya mostly lives inside. Currently in college, Surbhi teaches a lesson to the spoilt troublemaker Harman. Vengeful, he vows to punish her but mistakenly kidnaps Soumya. Harman's father, Harak Singh orders Harman to marry Soumya in order to avoid social embarrassment. They marry and soon fall in love. Nimmi reveals Soumya's truth that she is an intersex.
This leaves Harman enraged, but he later starts loving Soumya. Knowing Soumya's truth, Harman's mother, Preeto, traumatizes Nimmi, who dies of cardiac arrest. Later, Preeto asks Soumya to pitch Harman and Surbhi. For Soumya's sake, the two marry but Surbhi later divorces Harman in order to not come between him and Soumya. Preeto tells the truth to Harman that she first married Harak's elder brother, but after few years of marriage he left her, then she married Harak Singh and they give birth to Harman and Raavi. Harak's nephew, Varun, who hates Harak, marries Surbhi to remain close to them pretending to be supportive. Eventually, Preeto realizes her misdeeds and accepts Soumya.
After numerous twists, Varun is finally disowned by Harak, who finds out his intentions. Pregnant, Surbhi returns from Delhi. In a confrontation, Varun ends up accidentally injuring her. Before dying, Surbhi delivers a son, Soham and hands over Soumya his responsibility. Varun is jailed for Surbhi's murder.
Preeto again starts hating Soumya, as she had to do widow's ritual, after her first husband, Nihaal's death. Thus, Soumya leaves them with Soham and lives in Mallika's community. She takes care of Vedant Bansal, who falls for her. As she rejects him, Vedant gets Harman jailed to blackmail Soumya. Soumya fakes her marriage to save Harman, who misunderstood her. In envy, Harman marries Mahi.
Soon after, Harman has liver problems due to excessive drinking. Mahi is pregnant. Harman finds out the truth about Soumya and Vedant's fake marriage and how Vedant threatened Soumya. He comes to save her but gets assumed dead as Vedant pushes him off a cliff and thus is jailed. Soumya and Preeto reunite and adopt Vedant's nephew, Rohan. Later, Mahi delivers an intersex child and disowns her. Soumya and Preeto stop Mahi and take responsibility of the child. Harak names the child Heer, unaware of her truth.
Heer is a bubbly girl, brought up by Soumya and Preeto. On knowing her truth, Harak intends to kill Heer but is arrested. Bailed, Varun returns and tries to get Soham back. But Maninder exposes he killed Surbhi so Soham disowns him. The police allows Harak to meet Preeto. Harak asks to send Soumya away if she wants him to accept Heer. Preeto agrees; Soumya leaves with a tearful goodbye but vows to return after years.
Heer is grown into a strong girl and is fiercely protected by Soham and Rohan. Heer falls in love with Virat and they elope to marry. However, Preeto reveals Heer's truth to Virat who initially hates her. Later, Virat realizes that he loves Heer and hides her truth. Virat and Heer marry. Eventually, everyone learns Heer's long-hidden truth. Heer blames her family for hiding her truth but soon understands their love for her. Angel manipulates Heer into joining their clan. Later, Virat comes to get her but gets beaten up. Heer falls off a cliff and presumed died while trying to save Virat.
After 6 months, Heer is shown to be alive and working as a caretaker and namesake family member of Dr. Akshay's family. Virat has gone mad. Heer returns to her family finding about Virat, who recovers and reunites with her. They are attacked by Angel. Soumya returns home after 16 years to protect her family. Surprisingly back and alive, Harman also reconciles with the family after years, proving he is Harman, though his face changed (as he got surgery). Angel is jailed. Soumya and Harman unite with Heer after years, who also remarries Virat. Heer hires a maid Gitu, who is molested by Virat's brother, Daljit. Heer fights for Gitu's justice but is killed by Parmeet, Daljeet and Sant Baksh.
Soumya, Harman and Virat eventually learn about Heer's death. They make Parmeet, Daljeet and Santbaksh confess their crime who get arrested. Raavi's son, Chintu returns to destroy Harak's family. Preeto and Soumya save a transgender baby from being buried alive. They adopt the child, being supported by entire family. Chintu and Angel team up to snatch the family happiness, but finally realize their mistakes. Preeto names the baby as Shagun. Soumya wills to protect and raise her by letting her know her truth. The show ends on a happy note, with the family united.
Cast Main Rubina Dilaik as Soumya Singh: An Intersex; Maninder and Nimmi's daughter; Surbhi's sister; Harman's wife; Harak and Preeto's daughter-in-law; Heer's step-mother; Rohan's adoptive-mother (2016—2020; 2021) Mahira Khurana as Child Soumya Singh (2016) Vivian Dsena as Harman Singh: Harak and Preeto's son; Soumya's husband, Heer's father; Rohan's adoptive father (2016—2019) Cezanne Khan replaced Vivian Dsena as Harman Singh (2021) Jigyasa Singh as Heer Virat Singh: An Intersex; Harman and Mahi's daughter; Soumya's stepdaughter; Chintu and Soham's cousin; Virat's wife (2020–2021) Sumaiya Khan as Child Heer Singh (2019–2020) Simba Nagpal as Virat Singh: Parmeet and Sant Baksh's younger son; Daljeet and Simran's brother; Heer's widower (2020–2021)
Recurring Kamya Panjabi as Preeto Kaur Singh: Payal's daughter; Sukhwinder's sister; Nihaal's ex-wife; Harak's wife; Harman and Raavi's mother; Chintu and Heer's grandmother (2016–2021) Sudesh Berry as Harak Singh: Nihaal, Veeran and Harjeet's brother; Preeto's husband; Harman and Raavi's father; Chintu and Heer's grandfather (2016–2021) Lakshya Handa as Varun Singh: Harjeet and Amarinder's son; Surbhi's ex-husband; Sweety's husband; Soham's father (2016–2019; 2019–2020) Garima Jain as Raavi Singh: Preeto and Harak's daughter; Harman's sister; Balwinder and Jeet's ex-wife; Chintu's mother (2016–2018) Pooja Singh replaced Jain as Raavi (2018–2021) Bhuvan Chopra as Veeran Singh: Nihaal, Harak and Harjeet's brother; Shanno's husband; Sindhu and Praval's father (2016–2021) Aarya Rawal as Shanno Singh: Veeran's wife; Sindhu and Praval's mother (2016–2021) Ekta Singh as Mallika Khanna: Transgender; Milkha's sister; Soumya's mother-figure (2016–2021) Kajol Saroj as Kareena: Transgender; Soumya and Heer's enemy (2016–2018; 2019; 2020; 2021) Tushar Kawale as Chintu "Angad" Singh: Raavi and Balwinder's son (2021) Nidhi Bhavsar as Sindhu Khurana: Veeran and Shanno's daughter; Praval's sister; Ankush's wife (2019–2020) Vaani Sharma replaced Bhavsar as Sindhu (2020–2021) Ashlesha Thakur as Child Sindhu Singh (2016–2017) Meherzan Mazda as Rohan Singh: Rekha and Vidhaan's son; Soumya's adoptive son; Simran's husband (2020–2021) Meet Mukhi as Child Rohan Singh (2019–2020) Avinash Mukherjee as Soham Singh: Surbhi and Varun's son; Soumya and Harman's adopted son (2020) Vivaan Yogesh Sharma as Child Soham Singh (2019–2020) Sarika Dhillon as Mahi Singh: Harman's ex-wife; Heer's mother (2019–2021) Parag Tyagi as DSP Sant Baksh Singh: Baksh's son; Tejinder's brother; Parmeet's husband; Daljeet, Simran and Virat's father (2020–2021) Gauri Tonk as Parmeet Singh: Sant Baksh's wife; Daljeet, Simran and Virat's mother (2020) Jasveer Kaur replaced Tonk as Parmeet (2020–2021) Rachana Mistry: Parmeet and Sant Baksh's daughter; Daljeet and Virat's sister; Rohan's wife (2020–2021) Visha Vira as Simran Singh replaced Mistry (2021) Aakash Talwar as Daljeet Singh: Parmeet and Sant Baksh's elder son; Simran and Virat's brother; Gurwinder's husband (2020–2021) Ekroop Bedi as Gurwinder Singh: Daljeet's wife (2020–2021) Nimisha Vakharia as Tejinder Singh: Baksh's daughter; Sant Baksh's sister (2020) Kanwarjit Paintal as Baksh Singh: Sant Baksh and Tejinder's father; Daljeet, Simran and Virat's grandfather (2020) Sonam Arora as Angel: Transgender; Maharani's disciple; Soumya and Heer's enemy (2020–2021) Roshni Sahota as Surbhi Singh: Nimmi and Maninder's younger daughter; Soumya's sister; Harman and Varun's ex-wife; Soham's mother (2016–2018) Iti Kaurav replaced Sahota as Surbhi (2018–2019) Tasheen Shah as Child Surbhi Singh (2016) Reena Kapoor as Nimmi Kaur Singh: Anjana's daughter; Maninder's wife; Soumya and Surbhi's mother; Soham's grandmother (2016) Ayub Khan as Maninder Singh: Nalini's son; Nimmi's widower; Soumya and Surbhi's father; Soham's grandfather (2016–2019; 2019–2020) Dishi Duggal as Anjana Singh: Nimmi's mother; Soumya and Surbhi's grandmother; Soham's great-grandmother (2016–2019) (Dead) Mamata Luthra as Nalini Singh: Maninder's mother; Soumya and Surbhi's grandmother; Soham's great-grandmother (2016–2019; 2019–2020) Tanvi Kishore as Sweety Singh: Varun's wife (2019) Prakash Ramchandani as Nihal Singh: Harak, Veeran and Harjeet's brother; Preeto's ex-husband (2019) (Dead) Rishikesh Ingley as Balwinder Singh: Kishanlal's son; Raavi's former husband; Chintu's father (2017–2019) Kush Sharma replaced Ingley as Balwinder (2021) Krutika Desai Khan as Payal Singh: Preeto and Sukha's mother; Harman, Raavi and Garry's grandmother (2018) Jaswant Menaria as Sukhwinder Singh: Payal's son; Preeto's brother; Sunaina's husband; Gurmeet's father (2019) Shivani Gosain as Sunaina Singh: Sukhwinder's wife; Gurmeet's mother (2019) Rohit Chandel as Gurmeet Singh: Sunaina and Sukhwinder's son (2019) Sahil Uppal as Vedant Bansal: Sunil's son; Rekha's brother; Soumya's obsessive lover (2019) Shweta Sinha as Rekha Bansal: Sunil's daughter; Vedant's sister; Vidhaan's wife; Rohan's mother (2019) Rajesh Puri as Sunil Bansal: Harak and Harman's business partner; Rekha and Vedant's father; Rohan's grandfather (2019) Ayaz Ahmed as Arjun: Vedant's ally (2019) Hitanshu Jinsi as Ankush Khurana: Sindhu's husband (2019) Preeti Puri as Dr. Gayatri Mathur (2019) Avisha Shahu as Reet Mathur: Gayatri's daughter; Heer, Rohan and Soham's friend (2019) Rohit Roy as Nishant Bhalla (2019) Emir Shah as Monty: Harman's friend (2016) Shivani Chakraborty as Mahima: Shanno's relative; Harman's ex-fiancée (2016) Mahi Sharma as Kalsi: Soumya and Surbhi's best friend (2016–2017) Kishori Shahane as Sharmani: Transgender (2016–2017) Sara Khan as Mohini: Harak's former mistress (2017–2018) Anand Goradia as Maharani: Transgender; Soumya's enemy from Bangkok; Angel's mentor (2017; 2018; 2019) Chhavi Awasthi as Chameli: Transgender (2017–2021) Sonal Handa as Jeet Singh: Motilal's son; Jasleen's brother; Raavi's former husband (2018) Amrita Prakash as Jasleen Kaur Singh: Motilal's daughter; Jeet's sister; Harman's childhood friend (2018) Hemant Choudhary as Motilal Singh: Jasleen and Jeet's father; Harak's friend (2018) Dheeraj Gumbar as Sumit Kapoor: Surbhi's business partner and friend (2018) Sahil Mehta as Sameer Singh: Gopika's son; Soumya's obsessive lover (2018) Tiya Gandwani as Dr. Lavneet Kaushal: Harman's obsessive lover (2018) Alka Mogha as Gopika Singh: Sameer's mother (2018) Shiva Gupta as Esha: Heer's friend (2020) Prerna Panwar as Nutan: Transgender; Heer's best friend (2020) Sonyaa Ayoddhya as Jharna Narula: Uttam's daughter; Virat's former fiancée (2020)