# Chembarathi (TV series)

Chembarathi is a Malayalam language serial broadcasting on Zee Keralam. The show stars Thara Kalyan, Amala Girish, and Stebin. It ran from November 26, 2018 until March 25, 2022, making it the longest-running daily soap in Malayalam. Chembarathi is an official remake of Zee Telugu television series Muddha Mandaram.
The story is about a rich, strong-willed and stubborn woman, Akhilandeshwari (Akhila), and her elder son Anand. Akhila struggles with a complicated relationship with her sister, Vilasini. Anand has an intense love story with Kalyani, a servant working as a cook. Various problems disrupt their relationship.

## Plot

Akhila arranges Anand's marriage with Priyanka Varma, who is later revealed to be from Thrichambalam's rival family, Nagamadam. Akhila kicks Priyanka out of the marriage hall, which causes her to vow revenge. On the same day, Aravind (Anand's brother) is also arranged to marry Nandana. Akhila cancels the marriage, despite Anand's insistence otherwise.
Anand's friend, Sabari, proclaims that Anand loves Kalyani. Anand denies this, even though it is true. Das (Kalyani's father), who knows that she loves Anand, makes her promise that she will marry Chandran (Vilasini's nephew from Mumbai, who is selected as the bride-groom for Kalyani). Meanwhile, Anand proposes to her. Kalyani, who respects Akhila, decides to perform Satyapramana Vratham, a three-day Hindu penance without food or drink. According to the rules of Vratham, doing this grants the penitent whatever they ask for, but the head of the victim's family (the Thrichambalams) must give a glass of milk to the penitent to finish the vratham. Kalyani requests that her marriage with Chandran continue, which devastates Anand. Vilasini poisons Kalyani's milk, causing her to collapse as Anand confronts her about their break-up.
Seeing Chandran and Kalyani's marriage, Priyanka plots to kill Kalyani. Priyanka's goon kidnaps Kalyani, leaving her to die in the water tank of Trichambalam. In the morning, Vilasini asks Sujata to turn on the water pump, which causes Kalyani to nearly drown. Fortunately, she is saved by Anand. Soon, Chandran is revealed to be an imposter who has destroyed several women's lives by marrying them and taking them to Mumbai to sell them to sex traffickers. On the marriage day, a woman named Sophia appears before Chandran and confronts him, to which Chandran responds by knocking her unconscious. Later, at the moment of tying the mangal sutra, Sophia appears and reveals everything, causing the marriage to end.
Kalyani and Anand start to grow closer, and Anand reveals his affection for Kalyani to Akhila. This is when Ganga, Priyanka's younger sister, enters Trichambalam. She has stolen Kalyani's horoscope, which is perfectly matched with Anand, to gain Akhila's approval. Akhila selects Ganga as the bride for Anand. Yet Anand declares in a press conference that the person who wins the "Best Brand Ambassador" title will be his wife. Anand secretly makes Kalyani live in his room to practice for the final item: a dance competition. Meanwhile, Ganga tries to kill Anand's father but is saved by Kalyani, who catches her. Kalyani wins the Brand Ambassador Title but Ganga threatens to commit suicide unless she is arranged with Anand, forcing Akhila's hand. In turn, Kalyani's marriage is fixed with Neeraj. Anand, with the help of a Mumbai-based detective Gireesh Menon, learns the truth about Ganga. When Gireesh attempts to hand over Ganga's details to Anand, the file is taken by Priyanka's goon.
During the night before the wedding, Vilasini kidnaps Kalyani's younger brother, Aniyankuttan, and makes Kalyani write a letter stating that she is leaving. Vilasini tells Kalyani to go to a broken house behind the Vilipuram Devi Temple. Vilasini disrobes Kalyani so she can't run away, but Anand rescues her. Anand marries Kalyani, and his marriage to Ganga is cancelled due to a smoke explosion created by his friends Aravind and Subaru. Meanwhile, Neeraj, who is Anand's friend, cancels his wedding with Kalyani. Vilasini then attempts to incite doubts in Akhila's mind regarding Kalyani and Anand's relationship. Akhila consults an astrologer, who predicts that Anand had married Kalyani.
Priyanka tries to run over Akhila with a car but accidentally hits Kalyani, injuring her leg. The doctors say that Kalyani needs an operation to walk properly. Priyanka's ally, Sreenivas, bribes the anesthesiologist, who gives Kalyani an overdose of anaesthesia. Vilasini makes Akhila once more doubt Kalyani and Anand's relation, though this time Akhila concludes that they both love each other. Anand decides to reveal the truth about Ganga to Akhila. She comes up with a plan, and continues to prepare Anand and Ganga's marriage. She also fixes Kalyani's marriage with Rishikesh, who was Priyanka's ally. On the day of marriage, Anand decides not to go to the auditorium and also tells Kalyani to do so. Das forcefully takes a reluctant Kalyani to the wedding hall. Akhila threatens to kill herself if there is any disruption during the marriage, which creates a quandary for Kalyani. Anand's friend SI Shivadas collects all information regarding Ganga, by trapping her as a criminal in a fake car accident, and submits all the evidence to prove Ganga's relation with Priyanka. Priyanka and her allies are arrested and the marriages are cancelled. Anand arrives, along with his father, and rushes to Akhila to disclose his marriage with Kalyani. Akhila is upset upon hearing the news, and her worries intensify on seeing Kalyani's mangala sutra. Akhila attempts suicide but is saved by Anand. Kalyani, blaming herself for all this, unties her mangala sutra and poisons herself. Through many prayers, she survives.
Kalyani enters the Trichambalam family despite Akhila's disapproval. Eventually, Anand could not take the constant shaming from his mother about his wife, so he resigns from his job as CEO and moves out with Kalyani. The show continues with Akhila trying to win her son back, even setting him up to marry another woman (Vydehi), but Anand continues to stand with Kalyani.

## Cast
### Main

* Amala Gireesan as Kalyani Anand Krishnan: Anand's wife. A young and beautiful village girl, who is employed by Akhila as her home cook. Daughter of Das. She is the eldest daughter-in-law of Akhilandeshwari and Krishnan.
* Aishwariyaa Bhaskaran (2018–2020) / Thara Kalyan(2020–2022) as Thrichambalath Akhilandeshwari (Akhila)/ Rajaeshwari (dual role): she is the mother of Anand and Aravind, and Mother-in-law of Kalyani and Nandana, and wife of Krishnan. She is the de facto head of the house.
* Stebin Jacob as Anand Krishnan: the elder son of Akhilandeshwari and Krishnan. Caring and Lovable Husband of Kalyani.

### Recurring

* Prabhin as Aravind Krishnan: the younger son of Akhilandeshwari and Krishnan, and husband of Nandana.
* Yavanika Gopalakrishnan as Das: Kannan and Kalyani's father.
* Sajana Chandran as Krishnan: Akhila's husband.
* Blessy Kurien as Nandana Aravind Krishnan: Aravind's wife, and youngest daughter-in-law of Akilandeshwari and Krishnan.
* Sree Padma as Vilasini: Akhila's sister.
* Neethu Thomas (2018–2020) / Caroline (2020) / Neethu Thomas (2021–present) as Priyanka Varma: Anand's ex-fiancé.
* Haritha Nair as Ganga Varma ("Silky Ganga"): Anand's ex-fiancée, and sister of Priyanka.
* Keerthi Gopinath as Subaru: Anand's best friend.
* Sumi Rashik as Jayanthi Rajeev: Vilasini's niece, and wife of Rajeev.
* Vineeth as Sabari: Anand's friend.
* Arun Mohan as Rajeevan: Jayanthi's husband.
* Regina Sunil as Sujatha: Maid of Thrichambarath house.
* Akshay as Aniyankuttan: Kalyani's younger brother.
* Archana Menon as Maheshwari: Nandana's mother.
* Sini Prasad as Ganga's fake mother
* Amboori Jayan as Giriraja Varma: Priyanka's uncle.
* Leela Panicker as Appachiyamma
* Souparnika Subhash as Vyjayanthi
* Nandhansenanipuram as Anandh: Krishnan's friend

### Guest appearance

* Shiju as Ravichandra Varman (Party episode/episode 926-927/episode 950)
* Sushmitha Prabhakaran as Sreelakshmi (Party episode/episode 1000)
* Arun G Raghavan as Abhimanyu (Party episode)
* Srinish Aravind as Sudhi (Party episode)

## Adaptations

| Language | Title | Original release | Network(s) | Last aired | Notes |
| Telugu | Muddha Mandaram ముద్ద మందిరం | 17 November 2014 | Zee Telugu | 27 December 2019 | Original |
| Tamil | Sembaruthi செம்பருத்தி | 16 October 2017 | Zee Tamil | 31 July 2022 | Remake |
| Malayalam | Chembarathi ചെമ്പരത്തി | 26 November 2018 | Zee Keralam | 25 March 2022 | Remake |
| Kannada | Paaru ಪಾರು | 3 December 2018 | Zee Kannada | 16 March 2024 | Remake |
| Marathi | Paaru पारू | 12 February 2024 | Zee Marathi | Ongoing | Remake |
| Hindi | Vasudha वसुधा | 16 September 2024 | Zee TV | Ongoing | Remake |

## Awards

| Awards | Year | Category | Recipient(s) | Result |
| AIMA Television Awards | 2021 | Best New face Actor | Prabhin | Won |

## COVID-19 outbreak in India

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Chembaruthi and all other Zee Keralam series stopped from 28 March 2020. Months later, filming was permitted again in India. From June 2020, all Zee Keralam programs resumed with fresh episodes. Lead actress Aishwarya Bhaskar was replaced by Thara Kalyan.