Pandya Store

Pandya Store is an Indian Hindi-language television family drama series that premiered from 25 January 2021 to 26 May 2024 on Star Plus. It streams digitally on Disney+ Hotstar. Produced by Sunjoy Waddhwa and Commal Waddhwa under their banner Sphere Origins, the series is an official adaptation of Star Vijay's Tamil series Pandian Stores. One of the longest running Indian television soap operas, the series starred Kinshuk Mahajan, Shiny Doshi, Akshay Kharodia, Kanwar Dhillon, Mohit Parmar, Alice Kaushik, Simran Budharup, Kruttika Desai, Priyanshi Yadav and Rohit Chandel.

Premise
Gautam and Dhara Pandya, a middle-class married couple, manage the Pandya Store. Apart from their business, Dhara also looks after Gautam's three younger siblings, Dev, Shiva and Krish. While Shiva is married to Raavi, Dev is married to Rishita. It follows Dhara's struggles to bind the family together despite all the problems.

Main

 * Kinshuk Mahajan as Gautam "Gombi" Pandya – Suman and Darshan's eldest son; Dev, Shiva and Krish's brother; Dhara's husband; Anita's former fiancé; Yashodhan's adoptive father (2021–2023)
 * Shiny Doshi as Dhara Patel Pandya – Malti's elder daughter; Hardik's sister; Arushi's half-sister; Gautam's wife; Yashodhan's adoptive mother (2021–2023)
 * Kanwar Dhillon as Shiva Pandya – Suman and Darshan's third son; Gautam, Dev and Krish's brother; Raavi's husband; Arushi's former fiancé; Rishank's father (2021–2023)
 * Harminder Singh as Child Shiva Pandya (2021)
 * Alice Kaushik as Raavi Shah Pandya – Urmila and Mansukh's daughter; Prafulla and Jagat's adoptive daughter; Anita and Shivank's cousin; Shiva's wife; Dev's ex-fiancée; Rishank's mother (2021–2023)
 * Jini Khan as Child Raavi Shah (2021)
 * Akshay Kharodia as Dev Pandya – Suman and Darshan's second son; Gautam, Shiva and Krish's brother; Rishita's husband; Raavi's ex-fiancé; Sanchi and Shesh's father; Naveli's grandfather (2021–2023)
 * Jovian Fernandes as Child Dev Pandya (2021)
 * Simran Budharup as Rishita Dwivedi Pandya – Kalyani and Janardhan's elder daughter; Kirti's sister; Dev's wife; Sanchi and Shesh's mother; Naveli's grandmother (2021–2023)
 * Mohit Parmar as Krish Pandya – Suman and Darshan's youngest son; Gautam, Dev and Shiva's brother; Kirti's former love interest; Shweta's former husband; Prerna's second husband (2021–2023)
 * Swarnim Neema as Child Krish Pandya (2021)
 * Kruttika Desai as Suman Narayan Pandya – Jagat's sister; Darshan's widow; Gautam, Dev, Shiva and Krish's mother; Sanchi, Shesh and Rishank's grandmother; Yashodhan's adoptive grandmother; Naveli's great-grandmother (2021–2024)
 * Priyanshi Yadav as Sanchi "Chutki" / Natasha Pandya Makwana – Rishita and Dev's daughter; Shesh's sister; Rishank's cousin; Yashodhan's adoptive cousin; Dhawal's wife; Shantanu's love interest; Naveli's mother (2023–2024)
 * Kiara Sadh as Child Sanchi "Chutki" / Natasha Pandya (2023)
 * Rohit Chandel as Dhawal Makwana – Amba and Arvind's youngest son; Amrish, Bhaven, Chirag and Esha's brother; Natasha's husband; Suhani's former fiancé; Naveli's father (2023–2024)

Recurring

 * Pallavi Rao as Prafulla Narang Narayan – Jignesh and Urmila's sister; Jagat's wife; Shivank's mother; Raavi's aunt and adoptive mother (2021–2022)
 * Shrasti Maheshwari as Anita Narang - Jignesh's daughter; Prafulla's niece; Raavi and Shivank's cousin; Gautam's former fiancée (2021–2022)
 * Ankita Bahuguna as Shweta Patel - Harikishan and Jhankana's daughter; Krish's former wife; Deven's former love interest; Yashodhan's mother (2022–2023)
 * Maira Dharti Mehta as Prerna Pandya – Mahesh and Ruchi's daughter; Shivank's former wife; Krish's second wife (2023)
 * Sahil Uppal as Yashodhan "Chiku" Pandya – Shweta and Deven's son; Dhara and Gautam's adoptive son; Sanchi, Shesh and Rishank's adoptive cousin; Esha's husband (2023–2024)
 * Vidhaan Sharma as Child Yashodhan "Chiku" Pandya (2023)
 * Azan as Baby Yashodhan "Chiku" Pandya (2022–2023)
 * Surabhi Das as Esha Makwana Pandya – Amba and Arvind's daughter; Amrish, Bhaven, Chirag and Dhawal's sister; Yashodhan's wife (2023–2024)
 * Roshan Kapoor as Rishank "Mithu" Pandya – Raavi and Shiva's son; Sanchi and Shesh's cousin; Yashodhan's adoptive cousin (2023-2024)
 * Ronav Vaswani as Child Rishank "Mithu" Pandya (2023)
 * Harsh Mehta as Shesh Pandya – Rishita and Dev's son; Sanchi's brother; Rishank's cousin; Yashodhan's adoptive cousin (2023–2024)
 * Raanav Sharma as Child Shesh Pandya (2023)
 * Harithi Joshi as Naveli Makwana – Natasha and Dhawal's daughter; Pranali and Bhaven's adoptive daughter; Govind, Ruhi and Ronit's cousin (2024)
 * Ankur Nayyar as Amrish Makwana – Amba and Arvind's eldest son; Bhaven, Chirag, Dhawal and Esha's brother; Hetal's husband; Shalini's ex-fiancé; Govind's father (2023–2024)
 * Piyali Munsi / Falaq Naaz as Hetal Makwana – Amrish's widow; Govind's mother (2023–2024) / (2024)
 * Shabaaz Abdullah Badi as Bhaven Makwana – Amba and Arvind's second son; Amrish, Chirag, Dhawal and Esha's brother; Pranali's husband; Ronit's father; Naveli's adoptive father (2023–2024)
 * Deepika Upadhyay as Dr. Pranali Makwana – Paresh's elder daughter; Namita's sister; Bhaven's wife; Ronit's mother; Naveli's adoptive mother (2023–2024)
 * Abhishek Sharma as Chirag Makwana – Amba and Arvind's third son; Amrish, Bhaven, Dhawal and Esha's brother; Dolly's husband; Ruhi's father (2023–2024)
 * Sayli Chaudhari as Dolly Makwana – Chirag's wife; Ruhi's mother (2023–2024)
 * Ananya Khare as Amba Makwana – Arvind's widow; Amrish, Bhaven, Chirag, Dhawal and Esha's mother; Govind, Ruhi, Naveli and Ronit's grandmother (2023–2024)
 * Vansh Sayani as Govind "Golu" Makwana – Hetal and Amrish's son; Ruhi, Naveli and Ronit's cousin (2024)
 * Hishaan Rogha as Child Govind "Golu" Makwana (2023–2024)
 * Aaradhya Patel as Ruhi Makwana – Dolly and Chirag's daughter; Golu, Naveli and Ronit's cousin (2024–2024)
 * Viraj Singh as Ronit "Bunty" Makwana – Pranali and Bhaven's son; Govind, Ruhi, Naveli's cousin (2024)
 * Devishi Madan as Kirti Dwivedi – Kalyani and Janardhan's younger daughter; Rishita's sister; Krish's former love interest (2021–2022)
 * Vijay Badlani as Janardhan Dwivedi – Kamini's brother; Kalyani's husband; Rishita and Kirti's father; Sanchi and Shesh's grandfather; Naveli's great-grandfather (2021–2022)
 * Geetika Shyam as Kalyani Dwivedi – Janardhan's wife; Rishita and Kirti's mother; Sanchi and Shesh's grandmother; Naveli's great-grandmother (2021–2022)
 * Vandana Vithlani as Kamini Dwivedi Thakkar – Janardhan's sister; Somendra's wife; Rishita and Kirti's aunt (2021–2022)
 * Shyaam Makhecha as Hardik Patel – Malti's son; Dhara's brother; Arushi's half-brother; Kajal's husband (2021–2023)
 * Krunal Pandit as Jagat Narayan – Suman's brother; Prafulla's husband; Shivank's father; Raavi's uncle and adoptive father (2021–2022)
 * Heena Parmar as Arushi – Malti's younger daughter; Hardik and Dhara's half-sister; Shiva's former fiancée (2023)
 * Arjun Singh Shekhawat as Shivank Narayan – Prafulla and Jagat's son; Gautam, Dev, Shiva, Krish, Raavi and Anita's cousin; Prerna's former husband (2023)
 * Sagar Parekh as Shantanu "Shanu" Pandit – Tanu's brother; Natasha's lover (2024)
 * Farukh Saeed as Darshan Pandya – Suman's late husband; Gautam, Dev, Shiva and Krish's father; Natasha, Shesh and Rishank's grandfather; Naveli's great-grandfather (2021)
 * Renu Pandey as Kanta Patel – Suman's best friend (2021–2024)
 * Mohit Sharma as Jignesh Narang – Prafulla and Urmila's brother; Anita's father; Raavi and Shivank's uncle (2021)
 * Ankita Sood as Disha – Shiva's former prospective bride (2021)
 * Jinal Jain as Sneha Mittal – Raavi's friend (2021)
 * Harttaj Gill as Arnav - Raavi's friend and former boss (2022)
 * Rajani Gupta as Jhankana Patel - Harikishan's wife; Shweta's mother; Yashodhan's grandmother (2022)
 * Sanjeev Sharma / Amitesh Prasad as Harikishan "Hari" Patel - Jhankana's husband; Shweta's father; Yashodhan's grandfather (2022) / (2023)
 * Gayatri Soham as Malti Devi – Hardik, Dhara and Aarushi's mother; Yashodhan's adoptive grandmother (2023)
 * Rekha Desai as Ruchi - Mahesh's wife; Prerna's mother (2023)
 * Vinod Motwani as Mahesh - Ruchi's husband; Prerna's father (2023)
 * Nitin Sharma as Deven - Shweta's former love interest; Yashodhan's father (2022)
 * Riddhi Singh as Forum - Shweta's friend (2022)
 * Suraj Kakkar as Shashank – Dhawal and Yashodhan's friend (2024)
 * Megha Sharma as Chhabili – Makwana's house help and Amba's confidant (2023–2024)
 * Vikas Grover as Sandip – Natasha's obsessive lover (2023–2024)
 * Rashmi Gupta as Suhani – Dhawal's former fiancée (2023–2024)
 * Sudipti Parmar Shukla as Shalini Dave – Amrish's former fiancée (2024)
 * Rajesh Ganesh Sharma as Paresh – Pranali and Namita's father; Amrish's clerk; Ronit's grandfather (2023)
 * Surbhi Mittal as Namita – Paresh's younger daughter; Pranali's sister (2023)
 * Tripti Sharma as Juhi – Dhawal's boss (2024)
 * Anshul Bammi as Fake Yashodhan "Chiku" Pandya (2023)

Special appearances

 * Hina Khan as Akshara Singhania from Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai to promote the ten-year leap (2021)
 * Ragini Khanna as Suhana Kashyap from Sasural Genda Phool to promote the ten-year leap (2021)
 * Neelu Vaghela as Santosh Rathi from Diya Aur Baati Hum to promote the ten-year leap (2021)
 * Ulka Gupta as Banni Chow to promote Banni Chow Home Delivery (2022)
 * Celesti Bairagey as Rajjo Dhaki to promote Rajjo (2022)
 * Falguni Pathak as herself during Krish and Prerna's wedding (2023)
 * Sayli Salunkhe as Vandana "Vandu" Karmarkar to promote Baatein Kuch Ankahee Si (2023)
 * Bhoomi Trivedi as herself during Dhawal and Natasha's wedding (2023)
 * Hiba Nawab as Jhanak Raina to promote Jhanak (2023)
 * Aditya Narayan as himself during Dhawal and Natasha's party (2024)

Development
In January 2020, Star Plus planned an official Hindi remake of Star Vijay's Tamil series Pandian Stores to be produced by Mahesh Pandey Productions under the title Khandaan. With a change in title to Hum– Ek Makaan Ek Dukaan, filming began in February 2020 with portions shot in Varanasi, but shooting was halted in March 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic.

After the lockdown, the series was shifted to Star Bharat. The channel changed its programming genre to comedy from drama due to which it was scrapped and the plot was changed completely to suit it. Later, filming began in July 2020 post-COVID break and the show was aired with the title Gupta Brothers - Chaar Kunware From Ganga Kinaare from 5 October 2020, as a dramedy series to suit Star Bharat's comedy genre.

In December 2020, Star Plus announced another Hindi television remake of Pandian Stores titled Pandya Store produced by Sphere Origins which premiered on 25 January 2021. With the launch of the second official Hindi television remake of Pandian Stores; the first official Hindi television remake Gupta Brothers was announced to go off-air on 5 February. But, later, Gupta Brothers went off-air abruptly on 26 January, earlier than the announced date.

Deven Bhojani was hired as the creative consultant for Pandya Store in January 2021. On his part, Bhojani said, "I feel privileged to be working with this wonderful team as a Creative Consultant. Brainstorming sessions with the team and the channel about various aspects with regard to the show have been quite fun. Workshops with the actors have also been pretty rigorous and rewarding. They certainly are one hardworking bunch and as a team, we are delighted to bring forth 'Pandya Store' to the audience."

In March 2021, the show took a generation leap of ten years and the characters of Dev, Shiva, Krish and Raavi were grown up. The first post-leap episode was telecast on 5 March 2021.

In mid-2022, there were various reports of the show going off-air or going through a leap. However, soon the ratings rose and all the reports were denied by the cast.

During Shiva's death sequence, Kanwar Dhillon, who portrays Shiva, disguised himself as six characters, including a transgender. Alice Kaushik, who portrays Raavi, was dressed as a ghost resembling Vidya Balan's Manjulika from Bhool Bhulaiyaa during the same track.

In January 2023, the show took a leap of seven years. After the leap, new generation of Pandya children were introduced to bring a "fresh look" to the show. In July 2023, the show took a generation leap. The original main cast of the show, except Kruttika Desai left the show. The lead cast shot their last scene on 18 July 2023.

In May 2024, the show took another leap of seven years, with the introduction of the new generation of Makwana children.

Casting
Kinshuk Mahajan was cast to portray Gautam Pandya opposite Doshi. On preparing for which Mahajan said, "To fit into the skin of my character I had to lose about 5kgs and had a grueling diet. Also since this show is based in Somnath, Gujarat, I had to work on my dialect, luckily Shiny, my co-actor was my guide. Above all, shooting in Somnath and Bikaner was a blessing." Shiny Doshi was cast to portray Dhara Patel, opposite Mahajan. Doshi said, "I play a strong and positive character. I somehow relate to my character, Dhara. I am a gujarati, even then it was necessary to work towards certain nuances to meet the requirements of my character. We also attended workshops before we began shooting for the show."

Kanwar Dhillon was cast as the elder version of Shiva Pandya, which was previously portrayed by Harminder Singh. He was cast opposite Kaushik. Dhillon said, "Shiva is a very much regular guy who is fun-loving and emotional. He has a different layering with each character in the show and can't be the same with everyone. I have done a few workshops and hopefully, people will like my character." Alice Kaushik was cast as the elder version of Raavi Shah, opposite Dhillon. The role was previously portrayed by Jini Khan. Kaushik said, "I relate to this quality of Raavi a lot. She is almost always high on energy, she loves to keep her close ones happy. She is a ball of happiness, she is a magic wanting to explode. It's interesting that the whole of Raavi is a part of me."

Akshay Kharodia was cast as the elder versions of Dev Pandya, previously played by Jovian Fernandes, opposite Budharup. It marks his TV debut. Kharodia said, "I relate to Dev because I also come from a joint family and like Dev, I too keep family values as my priority." Simran Budharup was cast to portray Rishita Dwivedi opposite Kharodia. Budharup said, "I like the way Rishita is, she's blunt, outspoken and practical. I agree she's sometimes very rude, but that's fine." Mohit Parmar was cast as the elder versions of Krish Pandya, previously played by Swarnim Neema. It marks his acting debut, Parmar said, "Krish has taught me a lot as an actor, the experience is overwhelming and I have learned a lot." Kruttika Desai and Farukh Saeed were cast to portray Pandya parents, Suman and Darshan Pandya.

Pallavi Rao and Shrasti Maheshwari were cast as Pandya's and Raavi's relatives Prafulla Narayan and Anita Narang. Shyaam Makhecha was cast as Dhara's brother, Hardik Patel. Krunal Pandit and Mohit Sharma were cast as Pandya's relatives Jagat Narayan and Jignesh Narang. Vandana Vithlani, Vijay Badlani and Geetika Shyam were cast to play Rishita's family members, Kamini Thakkar, Janardhan and Kalyani Dwivedi. Devishi Madan was cast as Rishita's sister, Kirti Dwivedi opposite Parmar. Renu Pandey was cast as Suman's friend, Kanta Joshi. Ankita Sood played the role of Disha, opposite Dhillon and Jinal Jain played Raavi's friend Sneha Mittal.

In July 2022, Ankita Bahuguna was cast as Shweta Patel, opposite Parmar. Rajani Gupta and Sanjeev Sharma joined the show as Shweta's parents. In September 2022, Harttaj Gill was cast as Raavi's friend, Arnav, Riddhi Singh as Shweta's friend Forum and Nitin Sharma was cast as Deven, opposite Bahuguna. In November 2022, Amitesh Prasad replaced Sanjeev Sharma as Shweta's father.

In February 2022, Akshay Kharodia who portrays Dev, quit the show as he wanted to focus on his family. He later changed his decision and resumed shooting in May 2022. Akshay said, "'I had planned to quit the show, but now I have changed my decision. I will be taking a short break and will resume shooting for the show in May. My wife will deliver in April, so I will get a good amount of time to be with her and the baby.'"

Simran Budhraup received death and rape threats after her character, Rishita, turned negative in 2022. The actress revealed that she filed an FIR against the harassers. Budhraup said, "A group of young boys and girls would abuse and give rape threats. I initially ignored the threats as the character was bound to get disliked. But it went haywire when people started abusing, that's when I took a step and I went to the police station and lodged a complaint."

In September 2022, Pallavi Rao, who portrayed Prafulla, quit the show, due to her dates not being used and her diminished screen time. She said, "'My role as Prafulla mami was superb. I was very happy shooting for the show but then the track changed and the story moved on to the family members. My dates were not being used. After July, when my track with Shiva ended, I realised that it will be long before Prafulla is brought back, so I thought it was best to quit Pandya Store.'"

In January 2023, Vidhan Sharma, Raanav Sharma, Ronav Vaswani and Kiara Sadh were cast as Yashodhan, Shesh, Mithu and Sanchi respectively. The same month Maira Dharti Mehra was cast as Prerna opposite Parmar. In March 2023, Arjun Singh Shekhawat was cast as Pandyas and Raavi's cousin Shivank. Reekha Desai and Vinod Motwani joined the show as Prerna's parents. In May 2023, Heena Parmar was cast as Arushi, opposite Dhillon and Gayatri Soham was cast as Dhara's mother, Malti.

Priyanshi Yadav was cast as the elder version of Sanchi / Natasha, post the leap. Roshan Kapoor was cast as the elder version of Mithu and Harsh Mehta was cast as the elder version of Shesh. Rohit Chandel was cast as Dhawal Makwana opposite Yadav. Ankur Nayyar, Shabaaz Abdullah Badi and Abhishek Sharma were cast as Dhawal's brothers Amrish, Bhaven and Chirag respectively. Ananya Khare was cast as Amba, Makwana brother's mother. In the same month, Piyali Munshi, Deepika Upadhyay and Sayli Chaudhari were cast as Hetal, Pranali and Dolly opposite Nayyar, Badi and Sharma respectively.

In September 2023, Sahil Uppal was cast as the elder version of Yashodhan. In October 2023, Surabhi Das was cast as Makwana's sister Esha, opposite Uppal. In April 2024, Sahil Uppal, who portrayed Yashodhan and Surabhi Das, who portrayed Esha, quit the show. Both the actors stated "less screen space" as the reason.

In May 2024, Falaq Naaz replaced Piyali Munshi as Hetal. Hariti Joshi was cast as Natasha and Dhawal's daughter Naveli, while Vansh Sayani was cast as Golu, Hetal and Amrish's son. Sagar Parekh was cast as Shantanu, opposite Yadav.

Filming


The series is set in Somnath, Gujarat. It is mainly shot at the Film City, Mumbai. Some initial sequences were shot in Somnath and at the Somnath Temple, Veraval. The team also shot some sequences in Bikaner including scenes at Junagarh Fort.

On 20 February 2021, a fire broke out on the set of the show. Some costumes and shoot material were burnt, but there were no fatalities.

On 13 April 2021, Uddhav Thackeray, Chief Minister of Maharashtra announced a sudden curfew due to increased Covid cases, while production halted in Mumbai from 14 April 2021.

The production location was soon shifted temporarily to Bikaner. The team shot at the Gajner Palace, during the lockdown and shoot halt in Mumbai. After two months of shooting in Bikaner, the team returned to Film City, Mumbai in June 2021.

In January 2022, Alice Kaushik, Akshay Kharodia, Simran Budharup and Mohit Parmar tested positive for COVID-19. Shooting of the show was stalled for sanitization. The storyline was revised accordingly, a pre-leap track was introduced with Harminder Singh, Jini Khan, Jovian Fernandes and Swarnim Neema rejoining the cast.

Release
The first promo of the show featured Kinshuk Mahajan and Shiny Doshi with the children. It was released by Star Plus and Disney+Hotstar on 8 January 2021.

In March 2021, a generation-leap promo was released, featuring Hina Khan, Ragini Khanna and Neelu Vaghela. They reprised their characters from Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai, Sasural Genda Phool and Diya Aur Baati Hum, respectively.

Broadcast
Pandya Store premiered on 25 January 2021 on Star Plus, replacing Lockdown Ki Love Story. It has aired in the United Kingdom on Utsav Plus with English subtitles since its premiere. From 21 April 2021, it replaced Shaadi Mubarak, which went off air abruptly due to COVID-19. Since 2 October 2022, Pandya Store was broadcast daily along with other Star Plus shows.

From 29 January to 2 February, Pandya Store broadcast special episodes, wherein two episodes were released each day.

Cancellation
Pandya Store went off air on 26 May 2024. Its timeslot was filled by Maati Se Bandhi Dor.

Pyar Ka Pehla Nasha (2021)
A special segment named Pyar Ka Pehla Nasha was aired on Star Plus on 19 December 2021. The segment was hosted by Raavi and Shiva. It featured the top ten romantic moments of the year 2021, starring couples of Star Plus's shows.

Ravivaar With Star Parivaar (2022)
The cast of Pandya Store participated as a team in the musical game show Ravivaar With Star Parivaar. The team competed with the teams of other Star Plus's shows. Pandya Store emerged as the third runner-up of the show.

Critical reception
Pandya Store generally received positive reviews from the critics. Despite being a remake, the series has managed to bring freshness with its relatable story and performances. It is among the most watched Hindi GEC show.

Adaptations
Pandya Store is an official adaptation of the Tamil series Pandian Stores. The show has previously been remade in Hindi as Gupta Brothers, that premiered on Star Bharat from 5 October 2020. The series went off-air the day after Pandya Store premiered on 25 January 2021.

Soundtrack
Pandya Store's soundtrack is composed by Nakash Aziz and Sargam Jassu. The first song "Yaadon Ki Baarat", is an original track but its name is inspired from the 1973 film Yaadon Ki Baaraat's title song. It is the theme song of the show and is sung by Mukund Suryawanshi. The female version of the song is sung by Pamela Jain.

The second song "Ishq Ye Haaye Re" is an original track. It is the theme song of Gautam and Dhara. It is sung by Nakash Aziz. The third song "Rait Zara Si" from Atrangi Re, not an original track, is the theme song of Shiva and Raavi. It is sung by Arijit Singh and Shashaa Tirupati.