Nandini is an Indian Tamil-Kannada bilingual supernatural fantasy thriller drama series that aired on Sun TV and Udaya TV. This series is considered the most expensive TV serial of all time in South India due to its grand cinematic scale, elaborate visual effects, high production values and its simultaneous launch in multiple South Indian languages.
The first season of Nandini started in the Tamil and Kannada languages. It aired from 23 January 2017 to 22 December 2018 on Sun TV and from 23 January 2017 to 22 February 2019 on Udaya TV, both for 589 episodes. It was produced by Sundar C under Avni Telemedia. The season starred Nithya Ram in a dual role as Ganga and the titular character Nandini, along with an ensemble supporting cast which includes Khushbu, Rahul Ravi, Malavika Wales, Gayatri Jayaraman, Adhitri Guruvayurappan, Vijayakumar, Riyaz Khan, Rekha Krishnappa and others.
The second season of Nandini started only in the Kannada language on Udaya TV from 25 February 2019 to 31 July 2020 for 381 episodes. It was produced by Ramesh Aravind Productions and served as a sequel to its previous phase. This season starred Nithya Ram, Chaya Singh, Vinay Gowda, Kavya Shastry, Rashmi, Bharath, Jayashree, Rekha Krishnappa and others.
A spin-off of Nandini titled as Jothi aired from 29 May to 1 August 2021 in Tamil language on Sun TV for 13 episodes. It starred Meghashree, Chandana Shetty and Vishnu Unnikrishnan.
In the early 90s, a wealthy man named Rathnavel Boopathy falls in love with an enigmatic shape-shifting serpent named Parvathy, and the two get married. They move to a distant village to escape from Parvathy's evil clan, who are against her marriage. Parvathy gives birth to twin daughtersâÂÂNandini and Ganga. Ganga acquires human qualities, whereas Nandini inherits snake traits.
To protect Rathnavel from her clanâÂÂs murderous intentions, Parvathy transforms him into a transgender person and lets him escape with one of the daughters, Ganga. She escapes with the other daughter, Nandini. Subsequently, Rathnavel loses all memory and hands Ganga over to a royal housemaid named Manickam. Manickam, who is childless, raises Ganga as his own daughter in the palace where he works. Rathnavel takes on a female name "Seiyanayagi", and continues his devotion to the deity Karuppar.
Parvathy seeks shelter in an abandoned temple of Kaatu Amman in the forest, where she regains her powers as "Shiva Naagam" through the influence of the three Kala ChakrasâÂÂa set of sacred spiritual objects present in the temple. From then on, Parvathy takes up the responsibility of protecting the Kala Chakras. Meanwhile, Nandini is destined to remain in serpent form until she turns 26, at which point she will attain a human form and the status of "Shakthi Naagam."
Parvathy and Nandini live peacefully as devotees of Kaatu Amman, along with the temple priest Muniappa and his family. A rich businessman named Rajashekar and his five friends(a magician named Namboothiri, three business partners- Kumar, Vichu, Rajesh, and NamboothiriâÂÂs sister Madhavi) arrive to steal the three Kala Chakras protected by ParvathyâÂÂfor personal gain.
One day, Rajashekar and his friends deceive Parvathy and MuniappaâÂÂs family, murder Parvathy and steal the three Kala Chakras. Nandhini comes to rescue Gayathri (Muniyappa's daughter) from one of the murderers Rajesh, and kills him. Gayathri asks Nandhini to go to the temple. Gayathri was then taken by the village people. When Nandini reaches the temple, she witnesses a dying Parvathy who asks Nandini to avenge her by killing every murderer along with their families and reclaiming the stolen Kala Chakras and then she dies. Nandhini goes fiercely to avenge all the 5 but with the 3 kaal chakras power, she faints down and gets captured by the murderers.
The Kala Chakras only have power as long as Nandini is alive. So, they decide to trap Nandini at RajashekarâÂÂs palace, where her twin sister Ganga lives. Namboothiri traps Nandini in a snake pit with magical protection, rendering her immobile. She is sealed in the snake pit with a magical law stating that "Nandini can never break free until the blood of her true devotee falls on her skin".
Soon after, Arun moves to Malaysia, leaving his pregnant wife Janaki behind at the palace. During this time, Janaki bonds well with the grown-up Ganga, who works as a maid in the palace. Months later, she gives birth to a child, but the baby is secretly swapped with a dead child, making everyone believe that Janaki's child died. DharmarajâÂÂArun's uncleâÂÂkills Janaki with the help of his son Moorthy and their friend Balaji, hoping his own daughter Maya can marry Arun. Arun is devastated after Janaki's death and goes into depression. Janaki returns as a spirit to bring back her child and protect her family.
Arun agrees to remarry for the sake of his daughter Devasena. Meanwhile, RajashekarâÂÂs wicked sisters Devi and Manju, along with JanakiâÂÂs murderer Dharmaraj, compete to get their daughters married to Arun. However, JanakiâÂÂs spirit thwarts all their plans and kills Balaji, one of her murderers. Eventually, Ganga agrees to marry Arun at RajashekarâÂÂs request and promises to raise Devasena with love. Meanwhile, Janaki continues protecting Arun from BhairaviâÂÂs attacks. The night before her wedding, GangaâÂÂs blood accidentally spills into the snake pit during pooja, breaking the 20-year magical protection around Nandini. Nandini enters GangaâÂÂs body to avenge her motherâÂÂs death. After Ganga marries Arun, she begins her quest for revenge. Nandini plans to kill Arun and Devasena to make Rajashekar suffer but is stopped by JanakiâÂÂs spirit. Nandini successfully kills Kumar, one of the murderers of Parvathy, but fails to attain the Kala Chakras. The battle between JanakiâÂÂs spirit and Nandini escalatesâÂÂone fighting to protect the family, the other seeking its destruction. Nandini leaves GangaâÂÂs body to avoid detection. Ganga, taking responsibility for KumarâÂÂs death, surrenders and is imprisoned to prevent NandiniâÂÂs return. Namboothiri, however, sees through this and ensures Ganga is released. Ganga starts despising Nandini without knowing the true story behind Nandini's revenge. Meanwhile, Bhairavi seeks the Kala Chakras after knowing about its true powers. An evil witch named Saamundi, also seeks the Kala Chakras for gaining power. Multiple battles occur amongst various people for getting the ownership of the Kala Chakras. Janaki's lookalike named Seetha arrives into Ganga's life, unknowingly creating conflicts between her and Arun. Ganga leaves the house due to misunderstandings and ends up learning about NandiniâÂÂs true story. Ganga confronts Rajashekar and begs for the Kala Chakras. But he tricks her and tries to kill her, but Seiyanayagi rescues her and treats her in secret.
On the night of a full moon, on her 26th birthday, Nandini attains a female form identical to Ganga. But no one knows the true form of Nandini's appearance. Meanwhile, Rajashekar is scared that his son will discover Ganga's murder and commands Bhairavi to disguise herself as Ganga and return to the palace to obtain the Kala Chakras. Nandini makes use of this chance and captures Bhairavi, kills Namboothiri and enters the palace posing as Ganga to search for the Kala Chakras. Madhavi, the final murderer of Parvathy, emerges from her long penance to try and kill Nandini. Rajashekar, sensing danger, pleads for forgiveness when Ganga returns. It soon becomes clear that Nandini and Ganga look identical.
A few days later, Nandini kills two other murderers- Vichu and Rajashekar, which causes Ganga to misunderstand her. Bhairavi, now reformed, forgives Arun and assists Nandini in her quest for the Kala Chakras. Meanwhile, Janaki kills Dharmaraj and Saamundi to protect her family. Madhavi seeks the assist of Janaki's spirit to help her kill Nandini. Janaki agrees to protect her family from Nandini. Ganga initially tries to kill Nandini but eventually learns from Seiyanayagi that they are sisters. The two join forces, but fate separates them once again when Madhavi gains possession of all three Kala Chakras and resurrects Namboothiri.
The entire family now realize the evil intentions of Madhavi and Namboothiri. Together, Madhavi and Namboothiri trap Nandini in the Kaatu Amman temple. Their plan is thwarted when Ganga gives Nandini the three Kala Chakras. With JanakiâÂÂs spirit helping her, Nandini kills both Namboothiri and Madhavi. Contrary to ParvathyâÂÂs dying wish that the entire Rajashekar family be destroyed, Nandini chooses to spare the remaining members and turns herself into a stone serpent as penance. Ganga is heartbroken by their separation, but Nandini promises to visit her once every year. Ganga later becomes pregnant, and the family begins a new, peaceful life. Though separated, the bond between Nandini and Ganga remains unbreakable. The final episode focuses on their enduring sisterhood.
After all the problems are over, Arun and his family live in peace, but after sending Ganga to the temple for some puja purposes, the palace collapses and Arun dies. He is the son of Namboothiri and the reason is that he has come to ask for revenge for killing his father. His name is Akshtavakra. Ganga also dies during childbirth. Then the priest raises her child. After the child grows up, Devasena, who lives in Bangalore, finds her and brings her back. But Sharbha and Ashtavakra, who came to get the Kalachakra, try to harm Janani. So Janani realizes that she is an Arthasivanagam. At the same time, Janani also falls in love with a young man named Virat. Janani, realizing that her goal is something else, leaves him. Ram and Shabad, who came to get the Kalachakra, kill Janani. So Janani turns into a stone and goes to Nandini. But it shows that Janani's life is not complete. Later, Devasena realizes that Arun had not only one daughter but two children. Janani and Nandini are sisters. Nandini returns. Janani's soul enters Nandini's body and takes revenge. Trishala is the daughter born to Ganga when she lived as a snake in her previous life in the Naga world. She also comes to help Janani, but Madhavi returns in the form of a serpent to fight them. After Janani destroys everyone, Nandini leaves her body and goes outside. Everyone dedicates the Kalachakra to the goddess, Trishalaya becomes the queen of Nagalok, and Nandini decides to live her family life with Virat and enjoy the rest of her life.
This season was simultaneously launched in four languages- Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada. In week 42 of 2017 and the following week, the show was at first position. In week 52 of 2018, it was at first position with 18.47 million impressions. In a press meet, actor Vijayakumar claimed that over 100 Million people watch Nandini everyday in the entire South India. This serial is also the most watched Tamil Serial of all time in Youtube, with its climax episode garnering over 22 Million views.
Season 2 was only launched in Kannada language. Even though the season had good TRP in its initial days, it began to drop after COVID-19 break and the show went off-air on 31 July 2020.