Mahanadhi (TV series)

Mahanadhi – Sagotharigalin Kadhai (transl. The Great River – The Story of Sisters) is a 2023 Indian Tamil-language drama television series that premiered on Star Vijay on 23 January 2023.^[2][3] It is produced by Praveen Bennett under the banner of Global Villagers. It is also available on the digital platform JioHotstar.^[4][5]

Mahanadhi
Genre	Drama
Written by	Priya Thambi
Directed by	Praveen Bennett
Starring	see below
Opening theme	Sonthamulla Vaazhkai Sorgathukku Mela
Country of origin	India
Original language	Tamil
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	614+[1]
Production
Executive producers	John, Anthony
Production location	Tamil Nadu
Camera setup	Multi-Camera
Running time	approx. 22–24 minutes per episode
Production company	Global Villagers
Original release
Network	Star Vijay
Release	23 January 2023 (2023-01-23) – present

The series was launched along with Siragadikka Aasai.^[6][7]

Plot

Mahanadi tells the tale of four sisters who coexisted well with their parents. leaving them in distress over the loss of their father. This piece discusses how the mother and girls will manage without an actual figure of a father.

Cast

Main

• Lakshmi Priya as Kaveri: Vijay's wife, the second daughter of Mahanadhi family.
• Swaminathan Anantharaman as Vijay: Kaveri's husband, a young CEO, the second son-in law of Mahanadhi family
• Prathiba (2023) / Divya Ganesan (Nov.2023–Jul.2024) / Dharani Hephzibah (Aug.2024–present) as Ganga: Kumaran's wife, and the eldest daughter of Mahanadhi family
• K.Kamrudin as Kumaran: Ganga's husband , eldest son in law of mahanadhi family, Santhanam's nephew
• Rudran Praveen as Nivin: Kaveri's ex-boyfriend, Yamuna's husband and Pasupathy's nephew , Ragini's ex-fiancee, third son in law of Mahanadhi family
• Aadhirai Soundararajan (2023–Jun.2025) / Swetha Kumar (Jul.2025–present) as Yamuna: the third oldest sister of Mahanadhi family and she has a love-interest on Nivin one-sidedly and eventually becomes his wife
• Baby Kaavya as Narmadha: the youngest sister of Mahanadhi family

Recurring

• Sujatha Sivakumar as Saradha, Santhanam's wife, Mother of Mahanadhi Sisters.
• Pankajam as Annakkili Paatti - Santhanam and Shanthi's mother, Saradha's Mother-in-law, Grandmother of Mahanadi Sisters, Kumaran's Ammachi
• Ramesh as Pasupathy - Santhanama's close friend who betrayed Santhanam by stealing all the money which he has saved for ganga's marriage and so Santhanam dies off after knowing his betrayal. Father of Ragini.
• Shathiga as Ragini - Pasupathy's daughter, Kaveri's former friend turned rival, who hates her and competes with her for Nivin's love but latter married Ajay to exact revenge on her.
• Baskar Natarajan as Ajay, Anbarasu's & Radha son, Vijay's cousin brother, Kavya's brother, Ragini's Husband
• Manikandan Raj as Somasundaram "Somu" - Kalyani's husband, Radha's father, Vijay, Ajay and Kavya's grandfather.
• Kallu as Kalyani Somasundaram: Somasundaram's wife, Radha's mother, Vijay, Ajay and Kavya’s grandmother.
• Sanjay Mohan as Raghav, Raagini's brother, Pasupathy's son
• Vaishu Jayachandhiran as Kavya, Anbarasu & Radha’s daughter, Vijay's cousin sister, Ajay's sister.
• Bharathi Mohan as Anbarasu, Vijay's Uncle, Radha's husband. Ajay and Kavya’s father. Raagini’s father-in-law
• Padmini Chandrasekhar as Radha Anbarasu: Vijay's aunt. Ajay and Kavya’s mother. Raagini’s mother-in-law.
• Sumi Santhosh as Jaya, Nivin's mother
• Vishwa Mithran as Salim, Kumaran's friend.

Special Appearances

• Saravanan as Santhanam, Sarada's husband, Father of Mahanadi sisters (2023) (Dead)
• Kanmani Manoharan (2024) / Vaishali Thaniga (Nov.2024 – Aug.2025) as Vennila - Vijay's ex-lover who suffered from memory loss (Extended appearance)
• Milla as Fashion Show Judge (2024)
• Shruti Shanmuga Priya as Vijay's mother (2025) (Dead)

Production

Development

The shooting of the serial commenced in December 2022. The first promo was released on 7 January 2023.^[8] The series was also promoted in the Bigg Boss 6 house on 16 January.^[9]

Casting

Film actress Lakshmi Priya cast as the main female lead as Kaveri. This marks her second TV-series. Prathiba and Aadhirai were cast as a parallel leads as Ganga and Yamuna. On 23 November 2023, Prathiba opted out from the show ^[10] and was replaced by Divya Ganesan,^[11] However she left the series in August 2024 to gets hospitalized due to Dengue.^[12] So she was replaced by newcomer actress Dharani Hephzibah.^[13] In late June 2025, Aadhirai left the series due to personal reasons ,^[14] so she was replaced by newcomer actress Swetha Kumar.^[15] Kamuruddin and newcomer Rudran Praveen portrayed parallel male leads as Kumaran and Nivin respectively, whilst Saravanan and Sujatha Sivakumar were also selected for supporting roles.^[16][17]

On 27 September 2023, Swaminathan Anantharaman was introduced as the male lead, Vijay, for a new storyline with Kaveri.^[18] In mid 2024, actress Kanmani Manoharan was cast as the pivotal role as Vennila (Vijay's ex-lover).^[19] But later in November 2024, she was to quit the series because of her pregnancy so actress Vaishali Thaniga was then replaced her as Vennila. But in July 2025, she too leaving the series due to her pregnancy so her character Vennila was ended with a positive note.^[20]

In early 2025 Kavitha Solairaja was cast to play an extended special appearance.^[21]

Crossovers

Following a promo released on 2 February, it was teased that there would be a crossover between Mahanadhi and Aaha Kalyanam.^[22] This was then confirmed with a promo released by Star Vijay, with both families staying at the same resort to compete for 5 lakhs.^[23]