Metti Oli

Metti Oli 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
The story is about Chidambaram, and his 5 daughters.

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 had 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 start coming in for Dhanam and Saro. Prospective groom Manickam comes to meet Dhanam. Manickam has a younger brother Selvam and a younger sister Nirmala. 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. Rajam's true nature starts to be revealed, and soon she starts to torture 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 Rajam visits regularly. Leela and Selvam fall in love.

Viji is the arrogant spoilt brat among the girls. She works as a nurse in a local clinic and gets 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 gets 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 Manicakam 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 doesn't like her. Realizing it's the wrong girl, Gopi creates much confusion, angering Rajam. But finally, his marriage is fixed with Viji.

Dhanam delivers a daughter, Saro, a son, Leela, twin daughters, and Viji, a boy. Bhavani moves to Singapore for her higher studies. After five years the families become well settled. Manickam has moved to a new house; Ravi gets cured, and Bose and Gopi become business entrepreneurs. Finally, Chidambaram dies in a car accident, and Rajam becomes a good person. She attends Bhavani and Murali's marriage. The film ends with a group photo.

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 Gnanaraj aka 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
 * 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

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

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-telecasted on Sun TV. In 2018, it was re-telecasted 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" in a review asking for more CID and crime drama instead to be broadcast.