Uppum Mulakum

Uppum Mulakum (transl. Salt and Pepper) is an Indian Malayalam-language sitcom television serial broadcast on the Flowers TV channel. [1]The show was premiered on 14 December 2015 and is one among the few Malayalam serials to be accepted by audiences from all the age groups.[2] It is the first Malayalam sitcom to reach 1,000 episodes and 7th Malayalam serial in overall to do so[3].The sitcom depicts daily life of its characters Balachandran Thampi, his wife Neeluma, and their five children. The main cast includes Biju Sopanam, Nisha Sarang, Rishi S. Kumar, Al Sabith, Shivani Menon, Baby Ameya and Juhi Rustagi.[4]The Character of Juhi, lechu left the show in December 2019 when it reached 1,013 episodes[5]. Baby Ameya became the part of the show from episode 604 while she was only a few months old.[6]

Uppum Mulakum
GenreSitcom
Created byR. Unnikrishnan
Written bySreerag R. Nambiar
Suresh Babu
Afsal Karunagappally
Directed byPradeep Madhav
StarringBiju Sopanam
Nisha Sarang
Rishi S. Kumar
Al Sabith
Shivani Menon
Baby Ameya
Country of originIndia
Original language(s)Malayalam
No. of episodes1086
Production
Producer(s)Flowers TV Production
CinematographyAnoop Kattakada
Editor(s)Satheesh Kumar B.
Harikrishnan P.
Shijin Kuttan
Praveen Prakashan
Camera setupMulti-camera
Running time15 – 25 minutes
Release
Original networkFlowers
Picture format576i
HDTV 1080i
Original release14 December 2015 (2015-12-14) –
present
External links
Website

Plot summary

The sitcom revolves around the family of Balachandran Thampi (Balu); a self-employed electronics technician, his wife Neeluma (Neelu); who works as an accountant in a private firm, and their five children: Vishnu (Mudiyan), Lakshmi (Lechu), Keshav (Keshu), Shivani (Shiva) and Parvathy (Parukutty).

They are occasionally visited by Balu's brother Surendran Thampi, his parents Madhavan Thampi and Sharada, his cousin sister Rema, Rema's husband Jayanthan, her father Shankaran, Neelima's father Kuttan Pillai. Their neighbors Bhasi, Nawas, Shukoor, newspaper boy Kannan, auto rickshaw driver Chandran along with his wife Kanakam, who is a daughter of Balu's distant friend also makes appearances in different episodes of the show.Neelima's brother Sreekkuttan and her mother Bhavani amma were also a part of the show during the early episodes. Vishnu's friends Jerry, Meenakshi and Jennah alongwith Lechu's friend Gayathri also makes certain appearances.

Vishnu is a new-generation, lively dancer who is often teased by his siblings for failing in his B.Sc examinations. He is Neelu's eldest and favourite son. He has a dance group. His hairstyle makes him a popular character. He even takes care of his baby sister when no one is at home. In episode 803 he passed his BSc, which makes the family happy, and thanks to Meenu, now Vishnu works at an advertisement company with an income. He lost the job later and now works for the Flowers TV channel.

Lakshmi is the lazy, beauty-conscious eldest daughter of the family. She often teases her younger siblings. She loves poems and singing. She is always seen chatting with her friends. Later she joined for BCom. But now she is married to a naval officer and has not appeared since then. (This is due to the fact that the actress Juhi Rustagi left the show due to personal issues.)

Keshu and Shiva are the school-going kids of the house. Keshu is a foodie while Shiva doesn't enjoy eating. Both are naughty but they share an unbreakable bond with each other. They make naughty plans together and Lachu always gets threatened by them. All of them love each other even though they keep fighting all day. They are now studying in a government school.

They are eventually joined by Parvathy Balachandran Thambi, aka Parukutty, the baby of the family. She is an adorable baby who has won the hearts of her family members, although she was a late baby and was told by Balu and Neelu's parents to abort her.

Cast

Main
  • Biju Sopanam as Kulathara Shoolamkudi Veettil Balachandran "Balu" Thampi
  • Nisha Sarang as Padavalam Neelima "Neelu" Balachandran Thampi
  • Rishi S Kumar as Vishnu "Mudiyan" Balachandran Thampi
  • Juhi Rustagi as Lakshmi "Lechu" Balachandran Thampi/Lakshmi Siddharth (left due to personal issues)
  • Al Sabith as Keshav "Keshu" Balachandran Thampi
  • Shivani Menon as Shivani "Shiva" Balachandran Thampi
  • Baby Ameya as Parvathy "Parukutty" Balachandran Thampi
  • Rajendran N. as Padavalam Veetil Kuttan Pillai, Neelu's father
  • Murali Manishada as Shankaran Thampi aka Shankarannan
  • Ramesh Kottayam as Kulathara Shoolamkudi Veettil Madhavan Thampi, Balu's father
  • Manohari Joy as Sharada, Balu's mother
  • Binoj Kulathoor as Surendran Thampi, Balu's younger brother

Recurring
  • Anil Perumpalam as Jayanthan, Rema's husband
  • Jiji Kalamandir as Chandran, aka Auto Chandran, Balu's close friend
  • S. P. Sreekumar as Sreekuttan aka Kuttu Maman, Neelu's younger brother
  • Suresh Babu as Bhasi, Balu's close friend and neighbour
  • Rohini Rahul as Kanakam
  • Varsha Abhay as Rema, Balu's cousin sister
  • Gowrilaxmi Biju as Kanmani Surendran Thampi, Surendran's daughter
  • Dain Davis as Siddharth, Lechu's Husband
  • KPAC Santha as padavalam veettil Bhavani Amma, Neelus' mother
  • Kannan as newspaper boy
  • Surya Noufal as Shukoor
  • Jerry Francis as Jerry
  • Nawas as Nawas
  • Gayathri S as Gayathri, Lechu's friend.
  • Shobhi Thilakan as Rajendran Thambi, Balu's elder brother
  • Lenin Johny as Vishnu,Cable TV operator

Guest

Reception

The show has one of the biggest fan base for a Malayalam TV shows.[7]From the usual sibling's fight to the financial crisis at home, the storyline is much relatable to the audience. Uppum Mulakum depicts the day-to-day chores of Balachandran Thampi, Neelima and their 5 children.When the malayalam television is majority of high-voltage family drama, Uppum Mulakum stands out with its realistic touch.The natural acting of the star cast has helped the show to strike a chord with the audience.The show maintains the right balance between humour and emotion throughout.The show not only entertain the audience but also try to portray socially relevant content in a subtle way. The episode in which the whole family was seen collecting goods for the flood-affected was even lauded by the Chief Minister of the state.[8] The way the show portrays family is one of the most attractive factors of the show. Balu and Neelu are one of the most adorable couples on Malayalam TV. The storyline also flawlessly portrays the unconditional love among the 5 kids.The off-screen bond of the actors is one of the most interesting factors of the show. The entire cast has become more than a family in real life.[9]The show has most no of viewers on youtube compared to any other malayalam serials.The 314th episode of the show still has the highest no of view of 10 million on youtube.

Awards
Flowers Comedy Awards 2016
  1. Most popular serial
  2. Best onscreen pair[10]
Flowers TV Awards 2017
  1. Most popular serial
  2. Best actor – Biju Sopanam[11]
Mangalam TV Awards 2017
  1. Best comedian – Biju Sopanam
  2. Best comedian female - Nisha Sarangh[12]
  3. Best child actor - Shivani, Al Sabith
Kerala State Television Awards 2017
  1. Best comedy series
  2. Best comedian – Biju Sopanam
  3. Best comedian (Special jury) - Nisha Sarangh
Adoor Bhasi Memorial Awards 2017
  1. Most popular actress - Nisha Sarangh
North American Film Awards
  1. Best actress (Television) - Nisha Sarangh
Janmabhoomi Awards 2019
  1. Best child artist - Al Sabith

Adaptations

Flowers TV subsequently started a behind-the-scenes programme of Uppum Mulakum named Uppile Mulaku.[13] It is dubbed into Tamil as Uppum Karavum on Flowers Tamil YouTube channel.

References
  1. Uppum Mulakum (TV Series 2015– ) - IMDb, retrieved 18 June 2020
  2. "New serial on Flowers TV". timesofindia.com. 12 December 2015. Retrieved 31 July 2018.
  3. "Uppum Mulakum to cross 1000 episodes soon - Times of India". The Times of India. Retrieved 18 June 2020.
  4. "Uppum Mulakum Malayalam Serial On Flowers TV Cast And Crew". Malayalam Typing. 22 September 2016. Retrieved 18 June 2020.
  5. "Juhi Rustagi quits from the role of Lechu, here's why". OnManorama. Retrieved 18 June 2020.
  6. "'Uppum Mulakum' baby Paru is the youngest TV star". OnManorama. Retrieved 18 June 2020.
  7. "Uppum Mulakum crosses 1000; 7 reasons why the show is popular among Malayalam TV audience". The Times of India. 9 December 2019. Retrieved 18 June 2020.
  8. "നാടിന്റെ ദുരിതാശ്വാസത്തിനായി ഒരു എപ്പിസോഡ്: 'ഉപ്പും മുളകിനും' മുഖ്യമന്ത്രിയുടെ അഭിനന്ദനം". Indian Express Malayalam (in Malayalam). 19 August 2019. Retrieved 18 June 2020.
  9. "During Lechu's wedding sequence, my emotions as a father came out for real: Uppum Mulakum's Biju Sopanam - Times of India". The Times of India. Retrieved 18 June 2020.
  10. M, Athira (8 March 2018). "The family hero". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 25 June 2020.
  11. "Malayalam Tv Actor Biju Sopanam Biography, News, Photos, Videos". nettv4u. Retrieved 25 June 2020.
  12. "Nisha Sarang Awards & Nominations List". FilmiBeat. Retrieved 25 June 2020.
  13. "Little Salt, Little Spice". newindianexpress.com. 1 February 2016. Retrieved 31 July 2018.
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