Amrutham (Telugu serial)

Characters

Icchapurapu Amrutha Rao (a.k.a. Amrutham, played by Sivaji Raja, Naresh and Harsha Vardhan in different episodes) is the main character of the serial. He is a naive, gullible middle-aged man. He owns a restaurant called Amrutha Vilas (renamed to New Amrutha Vilas, New Amrutha Terrace Vilas, Pizza Dhaba and New Amrutha New Vilas at later points in the serial) in Hyderabad. He dreams of making it big with his restaurant business but each "innovative" step he takes towards that only ends up in losses or at best, breaking even.

Aamudaala Anjaneyulu (a.k.a. Anji, played by Gundu Hanumantha Rao) is Amrutham's partner & chef in their hotel. He is a sharp yet gullible middle-aged man. He stays next to Amrutham's residence and is a family friend. He gives a lot of out-of-the-box ideas to improve the business. Often, they end up in a disaster.

Sanjeevini (a.k.a. Sanju, played by Jhansi, Uma Mahanti, Supraja, Anita Chowdary in different episodes) is Amrutham's wife. She is a house-wife and occasionally helps Amrutham run the business. She is ambitious and smart. She mostly stays in the village to take care of their son.

Aamudaala Santha (a.k.a. Santha, played by Ragini) is Anji's wife. Their son, Maruthi, studies in another town. She is an employee in the AG office and occasionally helps Anji & Amrutham to run the business. She is ambitious and smart.

Gongali Appaji (a.k.a. Appaji, played by Sivannarayana) is the owner of all the houses that Amrutham runs the restaurant in. He is an annoying miser who imposes unreasonable and unlawful penalties on his tenants. He does not let anyone cook at his home and takes parcels from Amrutha Vilas for free by virtue of being the owner of the house. He wears colorful clothes and a gold coated wide belt. The belt is unique and passed on as an heirloom in his family. It is often a point of fun in the serial. In the 282nd episode titled "Belt Bhagavatam", it is revealed that anyone who touches the belt becomes cruel, selfish and sadistic.

Sarveswaran (a.k.a. Sarvam, played by Vasu Inturi) is an all-rounder at the restaurant. He cooks, serves, cleans and occasionally handles the cash register. He comes from Tamil Nadu and has a distinct Tamil accent of Telugu. He is a huge fan of Rajinikanth and is very loyal to Amrutham. He is very innocent and gullible too. He falls in love with Appaji's daughter, Umadevi.

Parandhamayya (played by Devadas Kanakala) is Amrutham's father-in-law. He is a noted political figure in his town and an agriculturist. He dislikes his son-in-law for his inability to properly perform any task assigned to him. He keeps his daughter and grandson with him to protect them from the problems that Amrutham invites.

Padmini (a.k.a. Paddu, played by Swati), is the younger daughter of Parandhamayya. She is very smart and unmarried. For a while, she stays with her sister and brother-in-law while studying in a university.

Sundaram is a server who joins Amrutha Vilas when Sarvam dreams of going to Canada. Although Sarvam does not go to Canada, Sundaram continues to stay there until the last episode. Sundaram is from Srikakulam and has a strong Srikakulam accent. He is gullible like Sarvam and is devoted to Sarvam.

Ambhujanabham (played by S. S. Kanchi) is Amrutham's boss from his old company, he is rude, and very fond of food. He stays in Amrutha Vilas for some episodes because he loses his job because of Amrutham and Anji.

Umadevi (played by Bhargavi) is the only daughter of Appaji and lover of Sarvam. Appaji, who doesn't approve of her love for Sarvam, always tries to separate Sarvam and Umadevi.

Rubber Balaji is a cousin of Amrutha Rao and a TV serial director. Direction is his passion and his "Veyipudakalu" serial was a big hit.

Creation

Gangaraju Gunnam is the creator, writer and producer of the serial. His writing revolves around the Telugu language, peppered with puns and social and political issues. It is clean and devoid of any references to child-unsafe topics. Therefore, Amrutham has audience ranging from kids to senior citizens and has always been No.1 when it was telecast.

Direction

As many as 11 directors debuted with this serial. Chandra Sekhar Yeleti, who debuted with this serial, became a noted director with critically acclaimed movies like Aithe, Sahasam, Anukokunda Oka Roju and Manamantha. Vasu Inturi, who acted as Sarvam in the serial, directed many of the episodes in the serial.

Telecast

The serial was popular since it first aired in 2001. It was telecast on Gemini TV on Sundays at 8:30pm IST. After the series ended in 2007 with its 313th episode "Tata Bye Bye Veedukolu", it's re-runs were aired on Zee Telugu at 9:00pm and on Maa TV at 7:00pm on weekdays. It was re-telecast on Gemini TV on weekdays at 10:30pm. This serial is being re-telecast on Maa TV's associate Channel, Maa Gold, at 10:00pm from Monday to Friday. The shows reruns continue to garner high TRPs. The Serial is currently aired on ETV Plus channel on Monday through Friday at 09:30pm IST