Santhwanam (transl. Consolation) is an Indian Malayalam-language soap opera directed by Aadithyan.^[3] The first season aired from 21 September 2020 to 27 January 2024 on Asianet and airs on-demand through Disney+ Hotstar.^[4] It is an official remake of Tamil soap opera Pandian Stores.^[5] It stars Rajeev Parameshwar, Chippy Renjith, Girish Nambiar, Raksha Raj, Sajin TP, Gopika Anil, Achu Sugandh and Manjusha Martin. The second season of the show, Santhwanam 2 which is a remake of Pandian Stores 2 will premiere soon. It will serves as a spirtual spin-off of Santhwanam.^[6]

Plot

Krishnan's four sons (Balakrishnan, Harikrishnan, Shivaramakrishnan, and Muralikrishnan) run Krishna Stores, a famous grocery store in their hometown Ambalathara.

Balakrishnan is married to Sreedevi, who leads the Krishna stores with him and looks after Lakshmi, Balan's paralyzed mother. Sreedevi raises her brothers-in-law as her sons.

Hari gets engaged to Anjali, who loved Hari since they were kids. However, Hari was in love with his collegemate Aparna. So, Anjali gets married to Shivan, while Aparna marries Hari. Muralikrishnan (Kannan), during this point in time Lakshmi feels disappointed that Hari married Aparna so she doesn't give blessings to Hari and Aparna except to Anjali and Shiva. Savithri and Jayanthi insult Sreedevi and humiliate her. Aparna is not used to the Santhwanam house's interior. The plot centers on Devi and how she brings the joint family back together after the arrival of the new in-laws, Anjali and Aparna. And then it is revealed that Kannan like Aishwarya

Hari and Aparna are blessed with a baby girl. Shivan opens a tea stall, which is closed by Thambi. Kannan goes to Chennai to study. Meanwhile, Lakshmi Amma passes away. During these days the family passes through a series of financial crises due to Anjali and Sivan's previous furniture business and Krishna Stores' burn. But after some days Susan visited the family and handed over a Thirty lakh cheque to Anjali as she got as a balance amount from her client. The family cleared all their financial issues and lived peacefully.

After five years

The story leaps over five years,^[7] Hari and Aparna started an advertising company. But it got stopped due to their inefficiency in business. Hari moved back to Krishna Stores. Shivan's Ootupura has turned into a local sensation, winning the hearts and palates of natives and Anjali is handling the catering section of their venture.Some days later, the family came to know that Anjali was pregnant.^[8] One day Kannan returns to the house but starts to behave differently.^[9] Kannan is planning to start a new company in Chennai with his friends for which he needs at least 15 lakhs. He requests Balan to give the money as the house is in his name. Learning that the family may get divided after partition, Appu tries to separate Devu from Devi. Late, Balan promises that they will not interfere in any matters of Devu this cooling Appu. Devi and Balan are heartbroken in the absence of Devu. Balan made arrangements for the partition of the family so that Kannan would let his money. Balan and Devi leave the house after writing a letter to family members. The family mourns after learning about their disappearance. Later, Kurup informs the family that Balan and Devi purposefully avoided children for taking care of their siblings. This made everybody heartbroken.

After three years

Kannan in regret decides to leave his business plans and runs Krishna's Stores. Anjali gave birth to a male child, Balakrishnan (Balu Kuttan). Hari is working as a regional manager in an advertising company. Aparna is also working in an IT company remotely. Devootty is grown up. Shivan's friend, Rahul informs him that he saw Balan and Devi at Suchindram temple. Hari, Shivan, and Kannan find Devi and Balan. They are running a shop of flowers and Pooja materials near the temple. They both have a girl child, Lakshmi. The brothers insist Balan and Devi accompany them to Santhwanam which Balan denies. Later, Devi promises them that they will visit Santhwanam during Onam. The brothers further tell them that they will visit them again with Appu and Anju. The show ends with teary-eyed Balan and Devi bidding goodbye to the brothers.

Cast

Main

• Rajeev Parameshwar as Balakrishnan Pillai a.k.a. Balan: Devi's husband, Krishnan and Lakshmi's elder son; Hari, Shivan and Kannan's elder brother; Shankaran's nephew via Lakshmi; Bhadran's and Sudha's nephew via Krishna; Lakshmi’s father, Devika & Balu’s paternal uncle. He is the householder who runs a merchant with his brothers. He is a bit educated
• Chippy Renjith as Sreedevi Balakrishnan a.k.a. Devi: Balan's wife; Madhavan and Subhadra’s daughter; Jayanti's sister-in-law; Hari, Shivan and Kannan's sister-in-law and mother-figure & Lakshmi’s (the younger one) mother.
• Sajin T. P. as Shivaramakrishnan Pillai a.k.a. Shivan:^[10] Anjali's husband, Krishnan and Lakshmi's third son; Balan and Hari's younger brother and Kannan's elder brother; Balu’s father, Shankaran's nephew via Lakshmi; Bhadran's and Sudha's nephew via Krishna.
• Gopika Anil as Anjali Shivaramakrishnan a.k.a. Anju:^[11] Shiva's wife; Hari's ex-fiance, Shankaran and Savitri's daughter; Balu’s mother, Jayanti's cousin; Lakshmi's niece and daughter-in-law.
• Raksha Raj as Aparna Harikrishnan a.k.a. Appu: Hari's wife, Thampi and Ambika's elder daughter and heiress of Amaravati; Devika's mother; Ammu's sister; Rajalakshmi and Rajesh wari's niece.
• Girish Nambiar as Harirama Krishnan: a.k.a. Hari: Appu's husband, Krishnan and Lakshmi's second son. Thampi and Ambika's son-in-law, Shiva and Kannan's elder brother and the younger brother of Balan. Devika's father and Balu and Lakshmi's uncle.

Recurring

• Apsara Ratnakaran as Jayanthi, Anjali's cousin, Savithri's niece (paternal) Sreedevi's sister-in-law, Sethu's wife, Balu, and Lakshmi's aunt.
• Baby Evelyn as Lakshmi Balakrishnan: Daughter of Balan and Devi; granddaughter of Krishnan and Lakshmi via Balan and Subhadra via Devi
• Baby Izzah Fathima/ Baby Nila as Devika Harikrishnan a.k.a. Devooty: Daughter of Hari and Aparna; granddaughter of Krishnan, Lakshmi via Hari & Thampi, Ambika via Appu.
• Achu Sugandh as Muralikrishnan Pillai a.k.a. Kannan: Aishwarya's boyfriend; Krishnan and Lakshmi's youngest son; Balan, Hari, Shivan's younger brother; Shankaran's nephew via Lakshmi; Bhadran's and Sudha's nephew via Krishna; Devika, Balu & Lakshmi’s paternal uncle.
• Girija Preman as Lakshmi Krishnan a.k.a. Lakshmiyamma: Balan, Hari, Shivan, and Kannan's mother; Devi, Aparna, Anjali's mother-in-law; Devika, Balu & Lakshmi’s paternal grandmother; Shankaran's sister. (Dead)
• Manjusha Martin as Aishwarya Gopinathan a.k.a. Achu: Kannan's girlfriend, Gopinathan and Sudha's daughter; Krishna, Bhadran's niece; Abhishek's sister.
• Yathikumar as Shivashankaran a.k.a. Shankaran: Lakshmi's brother; Savithri's husband; Anjali's father; Balan, Hari, Shiva and Kannan's maternal uncle & Balu’s maternal grandfather.
• Bijesh Avanoor as Sethu: Devi's brother; Unni's father; Balan's best friend, Jayanthi's husband & Lakshmi’s maternal uncle.
• Divya Binu as Malikapurackal Savithri Shivashankaran a.k.a. Savitri: Shankaran's wife; Anjali's mother; Jayanthi's paternal aunt & Balu’s maternal grandmother.
• (Late) Kailas Nath as Narayana Pillai a.k.a. Pillai: A helper in Krishna Stores and father figure to the brothers.
• Saji Surya as Shathrudharan Pillai a.k.a. Shathru: Pillai's nephew.
• Rohit Ved as Rajasekharan Thampi a.k.a. Thampi: Ambika's husband, Rajeshwari and Rajalakshmi's brother, Appu and Ammu's father; Devika's maternal grandfather.
• Rajamauli S. S. as Mahindra: Thampi's Steward.
• Mohan Ayroor as Bhadran Pillai: Lalita's husband; Balan, Hari, Shiva, Kannan's paternal uncle; Achu's maternal uncle; Krishna, Sudha's brother; Lakshmi's brother-in-law.
• Dr. Nita Gosh as Hemambika Rajasekharan a.k.a. Ambika: Thampi's wife; Appu and Ammu's mother; Devika's maternal grandmother.
• Aju Thomas as Varun Bhadran Pillai. Lalita and Bhadran's son; Balan, Hari, Shiva, Kannan, Aishwarya, Abhishek's cousin brother; Arun's elder brother.
• Unknown as Arun Bhadran Pillai. Lalita and Bhadran's son; Balan, Hari, Shiva, Kannan, Aishwarya, Abhishek's cousin brother; Varun's younger brother.
• Pramod Mani as Abhishek Gopinathan: Achu's brother; Gopinath and Sudha's son; Varun, Arun, Balan, Hari, Shiva, Kannan's cousin brother; Krishna, Bhadran's nephew.
• Sajana Chandran as Gopinathan: Sudha's husband; Abhishek and Aishwarya's father; Krishna, Bhadran's brother-in-law.
• Sindhu Manu Varma as Sudha Gopinathan: Gopinathan's wife; Aishwarya and Abhishek's mother; Krishnan and Bhadran's sister; Balan, Hari, Shiva, Kannan, Arun, Varun's paternal aunt.
• Deepika Mohan as Lalitha: Bhadran's wife; Arun and Varun's mother.
• Hareendran as Rahul: Shivan's friend.
• Shilpa Shaji as Malu: Rahul's wife.
• Renjith Renju as Sumesh: Shivan's friend.
• Geetha Nair as Subhadra: Devi and Sethu's mother; Jayanti and Balan's mother-in-law; Unni's paternal grandmother & Lakshmi’s maternal grandmother.
• Zeenath as Rajeshwari: Thampi's elder sister, Appu, and Ammu's aunt.
• Saritha Balakrishnan as Rajalakshmi a.k.a. Lachu: Thampi's younger sister, Appu and Ammu's aunt
• Kalyani as Amritha Thampi a.k.a. Ammu: Thampi and Ambika's daughter, Appu's younger sister.
• Prabha R. Krishnan as Vanaja
• J. Padmanabhan Thampi as Thomachan
• Mithun M. K. as Aneesh
• Archana Krishna as Susan
• Athira Praveen as Manjima: Hari's classmate and colleague
• Sreelakshmi Sreekumar as Jancy: Anju's friend
• Liju Mathew Abraham as Deepu: Hari's friend
• Nihas Khan as Rajesh: Shivan's friend
• Renjith as Sumesh: Shivan's friend
• Unknown as Balakrishnan Shivaramakrishna a.k.a. Balu: Son of Shivan and Anjali; grandson of Krishnan and Lakshmi via Shivan and Shankaran and Savitri via Anjali (photo appearance)
• Baby Evelyn as Lakshmi Balakrishnan: Daughter of Balan and Devi; granddaughter of Krishnan and Lakshmi via Balan and Subhadra via Devi
• Arjun Sunil as Dakshinamurthy

Production

The series is produced by Chippy Renjith after success of their previous venture Vanambadi.^[12] In 2021, the second wave of COVID-19 resulted in the show pausing production for about 2 months.^[13] The director of the show, Adithyan passed away on 19 October 2023 due to heart attack.^[14]

Adaptations

Spin-off

A spirtual spin-off of Santhwanam will premiere soon on Asianet. It is a remake of Tamil TV series Pandian Stores 2.^[15][16][17]