Saravanan Meenatchi Explained

Genre:Family drama
Romantic comedy
Director:Azhagar (season 1)
Praveen Bennett (season 2–3)
Editor:PM Achuthan
Starring:Senthil Kumar
Sreeja Chandran
Rachitha Mahalakshmi
Mohammad Irfan
Kavin
Rio Raj
Theme Music Composer:Ilayavan
Opentheme:Yelelo - Saravanan Meenatchi
Country:India
Language:Tamil
Producer:Syed Anwar Ahmed
Cinematography:R Saravanan
Runtime:20–22 minutes
42 minutes
Company:Evergreen Productions
Screenplay:Priya Thampi
Network:Vijay TV
Num Seasons:3
Num Episodes:1901

Saravanan Meenatchi is a 2011 Indian Tamil-language television series broadcast on STAR Vijay. The first season was broadcast from 7 March 2011 to 18 October 2013.[1] The second season of the show, which started as a sequel and next generation story of the first season, was broadcast from 21 October 2013 to 15 July 2016. The third season featured a different story and cast was broadcast from 18 July 2016 to 17 August 2018.[2] [3]

Casting

Season 1The name of the serial is derived from the names of the characters of the serial 'Madurai' starring the same lead pair.[4]

Series

Overview

SeasonEpisodesOriginally airedTime
First airedLast aired
1616Monday – Friday
8:30PM (IST)
2710Monday – Saturday
8:30PM (IST)
357517 August 2018Monday – Friday
8:30PM (IST)

Synopsis

Season 1

The story revolves around Saravanan (Senthil Kumar) and Meenatchi (Sreeja Chandran) who are poles apart in terms of personality, background, attitudes towards life, etc. Saravanan is a Chennai-based radio jockey from an affluent family.[5] Meenatchi is a small-town girl from Thirunelveli, working as a teacher in a small school. The story begins as the two families meet for a marriage proposal between the two, but things go wrong and the wedding does not happen. However, Saravanan and Meenatchi find themselves falling in love with each other. The energetic spirit with which the couple handle love, marriage and life in general leads the rest of the story.

20 years later

See main article: Saravanan Meenatchi (season 2). Season 2 begins with Shakthi Saravanan (Mohammad Irfan), son of Saravanan and Meenatchi, coming to India from Canada to find a bride like his mom. He comes to his mom's village Kallidaikurichi in Tirunelveli where his maternal uncle, Tamizh (Meenatchi's elder brother), and family live. Shakthi Saravanan disguises himself and lives in Tamizh's house where he meets Tamizh's daughter, Thanga Meenatchi (Rachitha Mahalakshmi) a.k.a. "Meenatchi", and falls for her. After all oppositions from Tamizh, ultimately she too falls for Shakthi Saravanan. Tamizh is strongly against Thanga Meenatchi and Sakthi Saravanan's love due to tensions between the families in the previous generation. Because of this, Tamizh decides to marry his daughter Thanga Meenatchi to his other sister Sudha's son Saravana Perumal (Kavin) a.k.a. Vettaiyan (Shakthi Saravanan's cousin brother).

Shakthi Saravanan promises to save Thanga Meenatchi from the wedding and Vettaiyan promises not to marry her if Saravanan comes. Unfortunately, Saravanan never shows up (he gets deported back to Canada because of his visa expiration) and Vettiyan and Meenatchi get married. Meenatchi develops a strong hatred towards Vettiyan because of this sudden marriage. Meenatchi meets a guy at her college named Inba who promises to take her to Canada to meet Saravanan. His real intention is to kidnap her and rape her. Vettaiyan saves Meenatchi from Inba and his gang, and Vettaiyan himself promises Meenatchi that he will take her to Canada and unite her with Saravanan. They get really close and Meenatchi starts developing feelings for Vettaiyan without even realizing it. Although Meenatchi develops feelings for Vettaiyan, she tries to decline it.

She decides to break ties with Vettaiyan if she wants to live with Saravanan. When Thanga Meenatchi is on the way to the temple to break all ties with Vettaiyan, she meets with an accident and loses her memory.

Thanga Meenatchi meets Vettaiyan again and starts to develop feelings for him not remembering their marriage or her previous love with Shakthi Saravanan. Vettaiyan and Meenatchi start dating, and Vettaiyan hides the truth about Saravanan from Meenatchi. Soon Meenatchi gets to know that Vettaiyan is her husband and goes home to happily live with him.

Then she learns about her past with Shakthi Saravanan and is angry with Vettaiyan. After learning more about the sacrifices and hardships Vettaiyan faced for and because of her, she heartily accepts him and they start to live together. After a few months, they bump into a lady who shares Meenatchi's name and appearance, beginning season 3.

Season 3

See main article: Saravanan Meenatchi (season 3). Love blossoms between a simple middle-class boy Saravanan (Rio Raj) and a rich girl Meenatchi (Rachitha Mahalakshmi), an MBA graduate from London. Despite the differences in their background, Saravanan and Meenakshi get married and lead a happy life together.

Cast

Season 1

Season 2

See main article: Saravanan Meenatchi (season 2).

Season 3

See main article: Saravanan Meenatchi (season 3).

Reception

Saravanan Meenatchi season 1 attracted high viewership ratings during its broadcast in 2011–2013. The series was a major hit sin India and Sri Lanka and received immense popularity by Tamilians across the world. Season 1 of the series was the no 1 serial in TN for several weeks and also it was the first non- Sun TV serial to the top charts maintaining its no 1 position in top 3 till end. The cast members quickly became household names, several of them the faces of various endorsements and advertisements. The wedding of Saravanan Meenatchi was even conducted in real time and at a real place with much fanfare. The marriage was held in Karaikudi. In fact, invitations and sweet packets were distributed among the people of Karaikudi. The marriage episode was telecast for two-and-half-hours in Chennai, and the TRP ratings shot up to 10 in Chennai, and 6.4 all over Tamil Nadu.[10]

After the series ended, Mirchi Senthil and Sreeja Chandran got married on 2 July 2014 in Tirupati. It was a family affair and no celebs were present.[11]

Sequels

Season 2

See main article: Saravanan Meenatchi (season 2).

Season 2 begins with Shakthi Saravanan who returns to India as Saravanan and Meenakshi's son, 20 years after his parents went overseas. He wants to search for a bride who is like his mother.

Main cast

Season 3

See main article: Saravanan Meenatchi (season 3).

Love blossoms between a simple middle-class boy Saravanan and a rich girl Meenatchi, an MBA graduate from London. Despite the differences in their background, Saravanan and Meenakshi get married and lead a happy life together.

Main cast

Awards and nominations

All of Saravanan Meenatchi season 1 awards are listed here.The serial was awarded 'Best Serial', 'Best Male Actor', 'Best Female Actor', 'Best Director' and 'Best Character Actor' at the 43rd annual awards function organized by Mylapore Academy.[13]

YearAwardCategoryRecipientRoleResult
2012Mylapore Academy AwardsBest SerialSaravanan Meenatchi
Best ActorMirchi SenthilSaravanan
Best ActressSreeja ChandranMeenatchi
Best DirectorAzhagar
Best Character Actor
2014Vijay Television Awards[14] Favourite Actor MaleMirchi SenthilSaravanan
Favourite Actor FemaleSreeja ChandranMeenatchi
Favourite Screen PairMirchi Senthil & Sreeja ChandranSaravanan & Meenatchi
Favourite Fiction SeriesSaravanan Meenatchi
Favourite Supporting Actor MaleRajasekarRajasekar
Favourite Supporting Actor MaleRajasekarRajasekar
Favourite Supporting Actor FemaleKuyiliSharadha
Special Jury AwardRajasekarRajasekar
Special Jury AwardKuyiliSharadha

Adaptations

LanguageTitleOriginal releaseNetwork(s)Last airedNotes
TamilSaravanan Meenatchi7 March 2011Star Vijay17 August 2018Original
TeluguRaja Rani6 June 2016Star Maa3 September 2016Remake
KannadaJust Maath Maathalli15 August 2016Star Suvarna21 January 2017
BengaliPremer Kahini20 March 2017Star Jalsha3 December 2017

Notes and References

  1. News: Celebrating a reel wedding.... 10 November 2012. The Hindu. 15 June 2012.
  2. News: After 7 years Saravanan Meenatchi coming to an end – Times of India. The Times of India. 10 August 2018.
  3. News: Saravanan Meenatchi coming to an end after 7 years, Rachita Mahalakshmi breaks down into tears. Pinkvilla. 10 August 2018. en-US.
  4. News: A gifted multi-tasker!. https://web.archive.org/web/20140303160402/http://www.newindianexpress.com/entertainment/tamil/article362320.ece?service=print. dead. 3 March 2014. 10 November 2012. The New Indian Express. 14 September 2011.
  5. News: In Maapilai, story revolves around the son-in-law - Times of India. The Times of India. 15 November 2016 .
  6. News: சரவணன் மீனாட்சி சீரியல் எப்போ முடியும்? - உண்மை சொல்கிறார் 'வேட்டையன்'. www.vikatan.com.
  7. News: நிறைய பேர் எனக்கு ஸ்கெட்ச் போட்ருக்காங்க! - சரவணன் 'மீனாட்சி' ரட்ஷிதா. www.vikatan.com.
  8. News: ரசிகர்களைச் சிரிக்க வைப்பதில் இருக்கிறது திருப்தி : நந்தினி. www.dinamani.com.
  9. Web site: சரவணன் மீனாட்சி- 3: சரவணனாக நடிக்கும் சன் மியூசிக் ரியோ. tamil.filmibeat.com. 15 July 2016.
  10. News: Will they unite?. www.thehindu.com. 19 September 2013.
  11. News: Saravanan Meenatchi: Reel turns real . www.thehindu.com. 8 July 2014.
  12. Web site: சரவணன் மீனாட்சி- 3: சரவணனாக நடிக்கும் சன் மியூசிக் ரியோ. tamil.filmibeat.com. 15 July 2016.
  13. News: Mylapore academy honours veterans. https://web.archive.org/web/20131105065627/http://newindianexpress.com/cities/chennai/article596859.ece. dead. 5 November 2013. 10 November 2012. The New Indian Express. 28 August 2012.
  14. News: Vijay Television Awards launched. timesofindia.indiatimes.com.