Athipookal Explained

Genre:	Soap opera Family
Screenplay:	Indra Soundar Rajan
Creative Director:	K. Shanmugam
Director:	K. Shanmugam (1-750) R. P. Marudhu (751-980) K. Shiva (981-1272)
Starring:	Devadarshini Chetan Sandhya Jagarlamudi Rani
Country:	India
Language:	Tamil
Num Seasons:	4
Num Episodes:	1,272
Producer:	B. R. Vijayalakshmi
Company:	Saregama
Theme Music Composer:	X Paulraj
Opentheme:	"Aariraro Uravugalae" Saindhavi (Vocals) Dr.Krithaya (Lyrics)
Cinematography:	K. S. Udhayashankar
Editor:	M. Velumurugan Palanisamy Muralikrishnan
Camera:	Multi-camera
Runtime:	approx. 20-22 minutes
Channel:	Sun TV

Athipookal (transl. Fig flowers) was an Indian Tamil-language soap opera that aired during weekdays on Sun TV from 3 December 2007 to 14 December 2012 for 1272 episodes. The show starred Devadarshini, Chetan, Sandhya Jagarlamudi, Venkat, Raani, Vietnam Veedu Sundaram, Thilakshi, T. S. Raghavendar, Premi and V.R. Thilakam. It was produced by Saregama and directed by K. Shanmugam, R.P Marudhu and K.Shiva. It is one of the most well known serials that aired on Sun TV in the afternoon slot. It received high praise and was a hit for the channel.^[1] The show was retelecasted at the same channel from March 1, 2021 to March 25, 2022 at 10:30 am.^[2]

Synopsis

The show story revolves around Padma (Devadarshini) Manokar (Chetan/Sathish) and Karpagam (Sandhya Jagarlamudi). Manohar and Padma are a happy couple, but even after many years of marriage, they are unable to have a child. Padma's sister in law Anjali (Rani) is jealous of Padma's wealth and covertly slips in medicines in Padma's food to make her infertile. Karpagam bears Manokar's child as a surrogate mother. The baby boy is born and named Shiva. Padma does not know Karpagam is the surrogate mother however Anjali finds out. Things turn bitter when Manokar and Karpagam are falsely accused of having an illegal relationship, and Padma wholeheartedly believes her sister in law and gets angry at Manohar. The subsequent evil schemes Anjali comes up with to separate Padma and Manohar form the crux of the show.

Cast

Main cast

• Devadarshini as Padma
• Chetan / Satheesh Kumar as Mano alias Manokar
• Sandhya Jagarlamudi as Karpagam
• Rani as Anjali, Padma's sister-in-law,

Recurring cast

• Initha as Maha (Anjali's assistant)
• Sukiran as Dhakshinamoorthy (Karpagam's brother)
• Oorvambu Lakshmi as Mangaa (Karpagam's sister-in-law)
• Usha as Mangaa's mother
• Super Good Kannan as Shekhar, Padma's elder brother, Anjali's husband and Vijay's father
• Vietnam Veedu Sundaram as Krishnaswamy (Mano's uncle)
• Venkat as Senthil Kumaran, Karpagam's interest
• Sumangali
• K. S. Jayalakshmi
• V.R. Thilakam as Padma and Sekar's mother
• Sangeetha Balan as Saroja
• J. Lalitha as Renuka's mother
• Deepa Narendraan / Neelima Rani as Renukha
• T. S. Raghavendar
• Premi
• Kannan as Dilakam
• Dubbing Janaki - Karpagam, Eshwari and Dakshinamoorthy's mother
• Pooja Lokesh as Eshwari, Karpagam's sister
• Dr. Sharmila as Dr. Jhansi
• Sivakavitha as Senthil's sister
• Ceylon Manohar
• Jashak
• Jangiri Madhumitha as Bhanu
• Devipriya as Regina Victor
• Abijeeth as Vijay

Original Soundtrack

The title song was composed by X.Paulraj and was sung by famous singer Saindhavi with lyrics written by Dr.Kiruthiya.

Remake

• The series has been remade in the Kannada Language as Jo Jo Laali and was broadcast on Udaya TV from 10 April 2017 to 14 June 2019.^[3]

Notes and References

1. News: Dutt . Shine Jacob & Ishita Ayan . 2012-08-17 . Saregama to exit film production, aggressively enter TV serials . Business Standard India . 2023-01-08.
2. Web site: Saregama's 'Chandralekha' Completes 1000 Episodes, It's Their Third Show to Reach This Milestone. India West. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20180206082509/http://www.indiawest.com:80/entertainment/south_indian/saregama-s-chandralekha-completes-episodes-it-s-their-third-show/article_b1eec682-09e1-11e8-a2e1-b3a1029caa4b.html . 6 February 2018 .
3. Web site: Jo Jo Laali serial on Udaya TV. vijaykarnataka.indiatimes.com.