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Metti Oli
Genre	Soap opera
Written by	M. Thirumurugan C. U. Muthuselvan Baskar Sakthi
Directed by	Thirumurugan
Starring	Delhi Kumar Thirumurugan Chetan Kaveri Gayathri Shastry Bose Venkat Sanjeev Rindhya
Theme music composer	Dhina
Opening theme	"Ammi Ammi Ammi Mithithu"
Composer	Sanjeev Ratheen
Country of origin	India
Original language	Tamil
No. of episodes	811
Production
Producer	S.Siddiq
Cinematography	Sevilo Raja Sarath K. Chandran
Editor	M. Jaya Kumar
Camera setup	Multi-camera
Running time	34–37 minutes
Production company	Cine Times Entertainment
Original release
Network	Sun TV
Release	8 April 2002 (2002-04-08) – 18 June 2005 (2005-06-18)
Related
Mettela Savvadi Shubh Vivah Mangalya Minnukettu Akshintalu

Metti Oli (transl. Sound of the toe ring) was an Indian Tamil-language soap opera that aired on weekdays on Sun TV for 811 episodes. The show starred Delhi Kumar, Kaveri, Gayathri, Vanaja, Uma Maheshwari, Revathi Priya, Chetan, Bose Venkat, Neelima Rani, Thirumurugan and Shanti Williams. It was produced by Cine Times Entertainment S.Siddiq, and written and directed by Thirumurugan. The serial was followed by Muhurtham of Cine Times Entertainment. In 2019 this show was telecast by Moon TV and during Covid-19 by Sun TV

Plot

Chidambaram is a real estate broker from Azhagarkulam village. His five daughters are Dhanalakshmi (Dhanam), Saroja (Saro), Leelavathi (Leela), Vijayalakshmi (Viji), and Bhavani. The girls' mother has died, and their maternal uncle Bose stayed with them. Chidambaram is a respected man in the village, and his daughters love him. Saro and Bose have feelings for each other, unknown to others. Soon proposals arrive for Dhanam and Saro. Prospective groom Manickam comes to meet Dhanam. Manickam has a younger brother Selvam and a younger sister Nirmala. Manickam has an affair with a married woman, Sarala who husband is in the abroad, which is known to all his family members. All three were raised by their single mother, Rajam. Manickam is dearest to Rajam, and he would do anything for her. They shock the children by stating that the eldest child from two families should not marry and that they want Saro as their daughter-in-law. Chidambaram agrees to the Manickam–Saro wedding while Dhanam's wedding is fixed with Bose. The two couples marry. Dhanam stays in Azhagarkulam, while Saro moves to Chennai.

Manickam lives in a small rented house in the city. On his wedding night he leaves Saro alone just to be with Sarala where her husband returns. Manickam leaves the ring presented to him by Sivasamy, under whom he worked in the market since childhood, for his wedding. On the next day Sivasamy enquires Manickam about the ring. He somehow tries to escape from his questions. But on the same day Sivasamy is shocked to see the same ring in his friend Ramachandran's finger who's actually Sarala's husband. On knowing Manickam's relationship with Sarala Sivasamy abandons Manickam from his shop leaving Manickam unemployed at the very beginning of his married life the reason of which Rajam believes to be is Saro's fate. Rajam's true nature is revealed, and soon she harasses Saro. Manickam though loving her, doesn't speak against his mother nor let anyone else. Selvam is the only one there who cares for Saro's well-being. He sets up an astrologer who tricks Manickam and Rajam into thinking that if the mother-son duo stays together, Rajam's life will be at stake. Fearing this, Manickam moves to a compound house with Saro, while he visits Rajam regularly. Leela and Selvam fall in love. Manickam and Ramesh, Sivasamy's son pick quarrels often. To seek revenge Ramesh pretends to fall in love with Nirmala. When Rajam and Manickam, on learning this go to Sivasamy's house they get humiliated by everyine there leaving Nirmala betrayed. Soon both the family pick a lot of quarrels.

Viji is the arrogant spoilt brat among the girls. She works as a nurse in a local clinic and becomes acquainted with Elango. Elango is married but hides that fact from Viji to pursue his pleasures. Despite warnings from Leela, Viji spends time with Elango, and in a turn of events, marries him and loses her virginity. Very soon, she learns about his true colors. Saro, who is in Azhagarkulam at the time, fights with Elango's wife, and she breaks her relationship with him. Elango becomes angry at Viji. He tries to kill Viji, but Viji stabs him. Bose blames himself, but Elango's wife bails him out, saying that Elango is not good. Viji relocates to Chennai and stays with Saro. Selvam's love for Leela is revealed to Manickam and Saro, who are happy. But things don't turn out well as Rajam threatens to commit suicide if Leela and Selvam marry. Thus, Manickam forbids the union. Leela's marriage is arranged with another man, but Rajam spoils it by spreading fake news about her. Saro manages to fix Leela's wedding with businessman Ravi and both families agree. Leela tries to forget Selvam and starts to convince herself.

Gopikrishnan, alias Gopi, is a man who works in a garment factory. He swaps his bag with Saro's in a bank and goes to return it. He meets Viji and immediately falls in love with her without knowing her name. When Selvam calls for Nirmala, Viji comes out instead, and Gopi mistakes her for Nirmala. Fallen in love, he brings his family to see 'Nirmala', but his family does not like her. Realizing she is the wrong girl, Gopi creates much confusion, angering Rajam. But finally, his marriage is fixed with Viji. A regular door delivery man named Ravi befriends Saroja in the compound. Seeing his good nature, Saro and Manickam fix Leela's wedding with Ravi. After the marriage, Leela learns that Ravi is always suspecting and he has been married before, and his wife died because he suspected her with his friend, who was there to help his first wife. Ravi's psychotic attitude is revealed and Leela faces torture. Gopi and Viji get married and Gopi lives in a joint family with his elder sister, elder brother and their father. Gopi learns of Viji's past when Elango enters Viji's life again. When Elango dies in an accident made by the undercover police officers Gopi accepts her and asks her to forget the past. Viji gradually accepts Gopi. They both lead a happy life. Meanwhile, Nirmala marries a man called Santhosh who mocks her family but is a person who also objects the misdeeds of Rajam and Manickam. Selvam being devastated about Leela's marriage with Ravi leaves Chennai and works there under a man called Balu. There Balu develops a good impression on Selvam. Followed by his family's pestering and also knowing the troubles given by Ravi to Leela saying that Selvam is still unmarried only for Leela, Selvam marries Arundhathi, the only daughter of Balu, who is compelled by her father to marry Selvam instead of her love interest David who's poor and belongs to a different religion as well. When Arundhathi learns that she was not betrayed by David, but he was beaten up her father she breaks the marriage with Selvam and goes to live with David. When the family learns of this Leela regrets a lot since she was the one who forced Selvam to agree for the marriage. Now Santhosh who is in the USA returns to Manickam's home to learn that Nirmala and Rajam had spent the money he had given and lied that they have given the money to Manickam. Eventually they also learn that Santhosh has not come in his leave but has been sent out of his company which he did not tell the family members. After a heated argument Santhosh leaves their home. Somehow he returns after Selvam and Manickam request him. Then he leaves Chennai saying that he is going to start a business. When Nirmala delivers a child the family learn that Santhosh had flew with an other woman betraying Nirmala. The whole family is devastated as both Selvam and Nirmala's life has turned upside down. After a few days Sakthi, a girl from a humble family background joins the lorry office as an accountant who develops feelings for Selvam. Here Leela delivers two baby girls which infuriates Ravi as he always wanted a boy and hated girls. Viji delivers a boy. Here Bose and Gopi start a business together and due to some rifts they part ways and start businesses separately thus Chidambaram's family shifts to Chennai followed by Bhavani joining a college there where Ramesh falls for Bhavani. Here in Saro's family, Rajam and Nirmala leaves the house and live separately the reason of which Manickam believes to be Saro.

Unable to withstand Ravi's torture, Leela plans to go to a job arranged by Selvam. But to stop this Ravi puts his hand knowingly in a bucket with immersive rod and got an electric shock leaving him paralyzed on one side. But Leela continues going to her job in spite of continuous troubles given by Ravi. Ramesh not being able to bear the rejection of Bhavani becomes a drug addict and leaves his home.

The story takes a leap of 6 years:

Bose along with Chidambaram has moved to a bigger house. Manickam has moved to a new house and has become a drunkard. Selvam is still unmarried. Nirmala is in a respectable position in her workplace and now with a more matured mindset and a loving mindset. Ravi's family also moves to a new house where he still hates his daughters. Gopi's family is still dependent on Gopi and accuses his son for no reasons which Viji hates. Bhavani has now moved to Singapore and works there and sends money to her father. Sakthi is still in love with Selvam. Nirmala also moves to Singapore where she treats Ramesh to recover from his addiction.

Manickam arranges a house warming function for his new home where Rajam insults Bose and Dhanam and falsely accuses Saro causing Manickam to beat Saro badly which makes Chidambaram and others leave the house with a heavy heart. When he goes to Leela's house Ravi talks very badly about Chidambaram and Leela which adds to Chidambaram's sorrow. After Chidambaram left Ravi came to know the true good character of Leela and repents his mistake. He then speaks with Bhavani and goes to Viji's house. There in a heated argument between Viji and Gopi. Viji leaks the truth about her past which Chidambaram overhears. He runs away from the house in shame. When Gopi learns about this he runs behind Chidambaram but to see him dying in his hands in a lorry accident. When everyone learns about this, they come to see Chidambaram Saro shouts at Manickam and Rajam for the first time out of sorrow and anger. Finally everyone together arrange Bhavani's marriage with Murali and Selvam and Sakthi, and Nirmala and Ramesh reconcile on the same day with a happy ending.

Cast

Main

• Delhi Kumar as Chidambaram – A land-broker; Dhanam, Saro, Leela, Viji, and Bhavani's father
• Kaveri as Dhanalakshmi alias Dhanam – Chidambaram's eldest daughter; Saro, Leela, Viji and Bhavani's sister; Bose's niece and wife
• Gayathri Shastry as Saroja alias Saro – Chidambaram's second daughter; Dhanam, Leela, Viji and Bhavni's sister; Manikam's wife; Natarajan's mother
• Vanaja as Leelavathy alias Leela – Chidambaram's third daughter; Dhanam, Saro, Viji, and Bhavani's sister; Ravi's wife
• Uma Maheshwari as Vijayalakshmi alias Viji – A Nurse; Chidambaram's fourth daughter; Dhanam, Saro, Leela and Bhavani's sister; Ilango's ex-wife; Gopi's wife
• Revathi Priya as Bhavani – Chidambaram's youngest daughter; Dhanam, Saro, Leela, and Viji's sister; Murali's wife
• J. Venkatesan as Bose – Former owner of a soda factory; Chidambaram's brother-in-law; Dhanam, Saro, Leela, Viji, and Bhavani's uncle; dhanam's husband
• Chetan as Manikkam – A vegetable shop owner; rajam's elder son; Selvam and Nirmala's brother; Saro's husband
• Raj Kanth as Ravichandran alias Ravi – A TV shop owner; Jayemani and Meenatchi's son; Sumathi's ex-husband; Leela's husband
• Thirumurugan as Gopikrishnan alias Gopi – A sewing shop manager; Kathiresan's elder son; Kumar, Eshwari and Kavitha's brother; Viji's husband

Recurring

• Rajkumar as Mayilravanan aka Murali – Bhavani's husband
• Shanti Willams as Rajeshwari aka Rajam – Manikkam, Selvam and Nirmala's mother.
• Shanthi as Shanthi
• Vishwa as Selvam – rajam's second son; Manikam and Nirmala's brother; Arundhati's ex-husband
• Krithika as Arundhati – Balasubramaniam and Deivanai's daughter; Selvam's ex-wife, David's wife
• Rindhya/Aruna Devi as Nirmala – Rajam's daughter; Manikam and Selvam's sister; Santhosh's ex-wife
• V. Thiruselvam as Santosh – A bank officer; Nirmala's ex-husband
• Shanmugasundari as Kamatchi – House owner patti
• Sai Nathan as Sivasamy – Manikam's former boss; Ramesh's father
• Vinayak as Ramesh – Sivasamy's son
• Sanjeev as Ilango – Viji's ex-husband
• Neelima Rani as Sakthi
• Sindhu as Sarala, Manikkam's former mistress
• Ramachandran as Ramachandran, Sarala's husband
• Sampathkumaran Sridharan (Auditor Sridhar) as Sundaram, Saro's uncle
• V. C. Jeyamani as Jeyamani, Ravi's father
• Ushapriya (K. Priya) as Meenatchi, Ravi's mother
• Gayathri Priya as Sumathi, Ravi's first wife
• Vietnam Veedu Sundaram as Kathiresan, Gopi's father
• Y. V. Subramaniam as Sumathi's father
• Rangathurai (Rajaguru) as Lakshmanan, Gopi's maternal uncle/elder brother-in-law
• Vijaya Raj as Sivaraman, Gopi's younger brother-in-law
• Latha Rao as Kavitha, Gopi's younger sister
• Karnan as Kumar, Gopi's brother
• N. Bhuvaneshwari (Bhuvana) as Eeswari, Gopi's elder sister
• Hema as Raji , Kumar's wife
• Geetha Ravishankar as Lakshmi
• Soundhar as Ponraj
• Sai Madhavi as Narmadha, Saro and Manikkam's neighbour, Meena's sister. Her mother runs Mess
• Deepa Shankar as Meena, Saro, and Manikkam's neighbour, Narmadha's sister. Her mother runs Mess
• Varshini as Malliga, Narmadha, and Meena's younger sister
• Rani as Ramya, Saro, and Manickam's neighbour
• Mousmiya/Latha Shalini as Radha
• Ashok Samuel as Radha's husband
• Sai Deepika as Sivasamy's wife
• Sukumaran Sairam as Shiva
• Nellai Sarathy as house owner Thatha
• Subbulakshmi as house owner Patti
• Sujatha Logesh as Gopi's colleague/staff
• Aranthangi Shankar as a bank manager
• B. Muralikrishnan as Ramesh's friend
• G. Danush as Ramesh's friend
• Jayaprakasam as Amarnath
• Ramnaath as Kamatchi's son
• R. M. Palaniappan as Balasubramanian, Arundhathi's father
• Anjalidevi as Deivanai, Arundhathi's mother
• C. N. Ravishankar as Sundar, Vasu's friend
• S. Gokulthilak as Gokul, Ilango's friend
• Viji Kannan as Harsha's mother
• Azhagu as Sakthi's father
• Thozhar. La. Ve. Aadhavan as Sakthi's father's creditor
• Black Pandi as a boy working in the market/room boy
• G. V. Vijesh as Nirmala's neighbour
• Julie as Vinodhini
• Amitha as Elizabeth
• Veera Srinivasan (K. Veera) is a lorry company owner
• R. Selvakumar as Chidambaram's customer
• J. Lalitha as, Nirmala's neighbour
• Ramdoss as a garment worker
• T. Sivakumar (Soodhu Kavvum Sivakumar) as Leela's colleague
• Kadugu Ramamoorthy as a marriage broker
• Chelladurai as a garment owner
• Kovai Senthil as a remedist
• Udhay as a photographer
• Aparna as a TV host
• Nathan Shyam as David's friend
• Balasubramanian (Bala Subramani/K. Balu) as a driver
• Venkatakrishnan as a lodge owner
• Sregajesh as a lodge guest
• Giridhar Thirumalachary as Arundhathi and David's professor
• Raja Rani Pandian as a hardware store owner
• Vaazha Meen Muthuraj as a boy working in the rice warehouse
• Soundarya as Mala
• Mythili as Jaya and Meena's teacher
• E. R. Malliga as a flower vendor
• Usha Elizabeth Suraj as a textile shop customer
• Swaminathan as a Raji's uncle
• C. Rajaappasamy as Madhusudhanan
• Jayakanthan as a police inspector
• P. S. Vijaya Kumar as a worker in the market
• Vijay Ganesh as Aarumugam
• E. Vikkiramathithan as Pazhani
• Baskar Sakthi as Kasirajan's lodge manager
• Livingston in a special appearance as himself
• Rambha in a special appearance as herself
• Vijayalakshmi in a special appearance as herself
• Indhu in a special appearance as herself
• Lavanya in a special appearance as herself
• Arunasri in a special appearance as herself
• Poorvaja (Karishma/Archana) as in a special appearance as herself
• Ramesh Khanna as in a special appearance as himself
• Vaiyapuri in a special appearance as himself
• Suraj in a special appearance as himself

Production

Filming

The series was filmed in Chennai, Papanasam, Palani, Courtallam, Kavaraipettai, Kanchipuram, Kodaikanal, Oddanchatram, Nerkundram, Gerugambakkam, Kovur, Porur, Kolapakkam, Mudichur, Valasaravakkam, Ramapuram, Muttukadu, Parangimalai, Devipattinam, Puducherry and Mumbai in India with some shots in Singapore.

Soundtrack

Adaptations

Reception

Awards

The Metti Oli team won several awards, including the Kalaimamani from the Tamil Nadu State Government.

Ratings

Metti Oli was one of the highest-rated Indian and Tamil soap operas, garnering ratings ranging between 23 and 26 TVR. It hit a peak rating of 50.3 points overall in its runtime. The final episode garnered 45 TVR for Sun TV.

In 2008, the series was later re-telecast on Sun TV. In 2018, it was re-telecast on Moon. In 2020, it ran during COVID-19 pandemic, becoming one of the most-watched Tamil television program. It garnered 4.004 and 4.934 million impressions during week 12 and 13 of 2020.

Critics

Hindustan Times described Metti Oli as "highly melodramatic"

References

1. "Choosy housewives and their favourite soaps". The New Indian Express.
2. "என் வாழ்க்கையே கேள்விக்குறி தான்". Kalki (in Tamil). 26 June 2005. pp. 4–7. Retrieved 8 January 2023.
3. "Sun TV Metti Oli Gayathri". The Indian Express.
4. "From Chithi to Chinna Thambi: Hit fiction shows to keep the audience entertained during lockdown period". The Times of India.
5. "How Maran helped Sun beat rivals". Rediff.com. 4 May 2005. Archived from the original on 18 November 2020.
6. "Metti Oli team has a reunion after 12 years". The Times of India.
7. "UTV gets aggressive". The Indian Express.
8. "'Metti Oli' Broadcast Again: Sun TV Announcement". The Hindu.
9. "Return of Ramayan, Mahabharat boosts DD's viewership". Live Mint. 10 April 2020.
10. "Chaos less "Thangam"... quietly achieved "Metti Oli"... such a welcome to the old serials?". Asianet News.
11. "Why are soaps still pedalling backwards?". Hindustan Times. 28 April 2012.

External links

• Official Website (in English)
• Metti Oli at IMDb

• Sun TV original programming
• Tamil-language television shows
• 2002 Tamil-language television series debuts
• 2005 Tamil-language television series endings