Update ; Star Vijay Bhaarathi Kannamma overtakes Roja -Bhagyalakshmi at 3rd place

 

42nd week show an upswing for Star Vijay as Bharathi Kannamma overtook Sun's Roja serial to be No 1. The third spot held by Vijay's Pandiyan Stores has gone to same channel's Bhagyalakshmi which was at 5th place last week. Pandiyan Stores moved to 5th is Kaalyana Veedu along with Poove Unnakakhe in 5th place.

The dramatic upswing of Bhagyalakshmi is said to be the change in timing to 8.30 PM which offers no competition from Sun. However, Sun still retains its TRP rating in rural areas and combined together can claim that Roja is still the top. The special episode of Bigg Boss 4 on Puja day might have dampened the launch of a new serial on the same day by Sun. On Sunday ( Nov 1) Vijay has from 3 -8 PM the finale to singing reality show Champion of Champions with A R Rahman as an invitee . Apart from the musical delight there is going to be a stunning dance performance by Pandian Stores fame Kathir and his wife Suhasini on the grand finale.On the same night also comes Kamal Haasan on Bigg Boss show for the eviction round.

The 41th  week TRP showed drastic changes. Star Vijay's Bhagyalakshmi  climbed to the 5th place .  Bigg Boss 4  weekly episode maintained a steady 9.5 TRP Star Vijay's Bharathi Kannamma held  2nd and Pandian Stores in 3rd with Roja= Poove Unkahe Mahasangamam  of Sun TV at first place.   Adi Parasakthi too is coming to an end and is in the 8th place. Chembaruthi which shares 4th place with Kalyana Veedu is likely to wind up and replaced by new serial.

Star Vijay  brought  in  part two of Raja Rani in the evening slot of 6.30 pm. It has Praveena along with Alya Manasa and Sidhu Sid . It has yet to pick steam. Kalyana Veedu remains steady at 4th . Even some expected serials like Nayagi of Sun TV slipped to low spots and is at 9th place . Chitthi 2 shows a revival with gaining the 8th spot.

Sun TV had brought back the successful serial  Nayagi back after it was discontinued post lockdown. It is now in the 9th place .The new avatar has TV host Nakshathra Nagesh who made her TV debut in Lakshmi Stores produced by Kushboo for Sun and a cameo in Minnale playing the lead with Krishnan ( Deivamaghal). Produced by Vikatan Televistas, the lead actress put out a video of her at the sets. She also acted in films including Vaya Moodi Pesuvom opposite Dulquar Salman.

Latest update is that in Pandian Stores serial , Satya Sai Krishna will play the role of Meena ( actress Hema in real life was pregnant and delivered a baby). Satya has acted in Zee Tamil's  Azhagiya Tamil Maghal and Roja Maghal. Real life couple Yogeswaran and Myna Nandini will also be added to the cast. Star Vijay serial Bharathi Kannamma and Pandian Stores has got into first and second place as per ranking. The expectation was that Pandian Stores had the chance to push out Sun TV's Roja from first place but Bharathi Kannamma has upset this calculation. The Bharathi Kannamma  team cut a cake and celebrated the occasion, Directed by Praveen Benett, the  series premiered 25 February 2019 on Vijay TV. The show is the Tamil-language remake of Malayalam television series, Karuthamuthu, Roopa Sri along with Tanusree and Manimekalai are the heroines. The serial is aired everyday from After the lockdown period, the serial came back with on July 27th with a 8.30 Pm -9.30 PM slot.

 First time Star Vijay Tamil serials become leader in their slots. Pandian Stores and Bharathi Kannamma had become No 1 in their time slot. Till now the reality show Bigg Boss from this channel, a seasonal show at weekends was the only one that could withstand the Sun TV onslaught. A new trend shows that if serial get premiered a day before telecast affects the TRP ratings. Zee5 is a spoiler for Zee Tamizh ratings. Web series Queen about Jayalalithaa is at the lowest 25th spot.

Pandian Stores  tells a story of a joint family in a rural household. The integration of the lockdown situation which results in the family, forced to be quarantined at home added to the plot and attracted the viewers. The actress who plays one of the daughter – in- law in the soap was in real life pregnant and her departure after the rituals to her mother’s house and delivery of a baby was fit into the story and the true life happenings combined created additional buzz. The lockdown was also used by the script writers in the serial Eeramana Rojavey to add spice to the love drama.

Bharathi Kannamma is another slot leader for Star Vijay. It is about the entry of a colleague Venbha into the life of Bharathi, when his wife Kanamma is pregnant. Vijay TV ‘s Mouna Ragam is ending but the serial Ayutha Ezhuthu had an abrupt end. Actress Sharanya who played a pivotal role posted that she had no idea why the sap was pulled out. Sometime back, it had pulled out Sivamanaskulla Sakthi abruptly.

On the other hand, Radhikaa’s Raadan’s sequel to all time hit serial Chitthi in Sun TV ran into trouble post lockdown. Actors Ponvannan, Nikhila and Shilpa from the show have been replaced by Nizhalgal Ravi, Gayathri and Jayalakshmi. Ponvannan had lung infection, Nikila is in Bangalore and 7 months pregnant while Shilpa had a leg injury. Producer had to replace older actors with new ones. The gap of four months has unsettled Sun. It had to put back the old hit  Metti Oii on the air and is 15th while Thirumagal premiered is at 14th.

One hour episodes are now brought in to see that viewers don’t switch channels. Apart from this the IPL season that starts on September 19^th in UAE and has night timing telecast, a Tamil Bigg Boss 4 getting ready to come by October end on Star Vijay are on the new worries. If State Government grants permission to screen IPL in theaters scheduled for an October reopening, the worry would only compound.

The fact that Zee Tamizh and Star Vijay serials are inching closer and figuring in top 10 top slots and pushing down Sun TV shows that a drastic overhaul is needed to fight back.