| Karuthamuthu | |
|---|---|
| കറുത്തമുത്ത് | |
| Genre | |
| Written by | Pradeep Panicker |
| Directed by | Praveen Kadakkavoor |
| Country of origin | India |
| Original language | Malayalam |
| No. of seasons | 4 |
| No. of episodes | 1450 |
| Production | |
| Production location | Kerala |
| Cinematography | Hemachandran B.Kumar |
| Editor | Ajith Dev Pothencode |
| Camera setup | Multi-camera |
| Running time | 22 minutes |
| Original release | |
| Network | Asianet |
| Release | 20 October 2014 – 9 August 2019 |
| Related | |
| Karthika Deepam Muddulakshmi Bharathi Kannamma Rang Majha Vegla Kartik Purnima Anurager Chhowa | |
Karuthamuthu (transl. Black pearl) was a 2014 Indian television Malayalam language serial that launched on Asianet channel on October 20, 2014. It is the second longest running television soap opera on Malayalam television, having aired for five years and consisting of 1,450 episodes across four seasons.[1]
The show had the highest TRP rating in the beginning, but as the season went on, the rating dropped, leading the channel to discontinue the serial. It is the first Malayalam programme to be recreated in six Indian languages: Telugu, Kannada, Hindi, Bengali, Marathi, and Tamil. Since 15 June 2020, the show has been rebroadcast on Asianet Plus at 1.00 PM IST in the noon slot, although it was eventually terminated owing to low ratings.
Karthika, a dark-skinned girl, is treated badly by her fair-skinned sister. She marries Balachandran but has to fight societal and family pressures in order to lead a happy married life.
Nathan finds Karthu and her daughter, Balachandrika roaming around in streets of Tamil Nadu and takes them back but Karthu is physically ill and admits her in a hospital without letting others know about her. The series takes a twist with Bala's arrival to Kaipamangalam.[2] Everyone refuses her except Balan. Later, Balachandran and family learn that Balamol is his own daughter at the same time Karthu's presence on the other hand Mareena and Balan's marriage was fixed, cruel Mareena learns that Balan is making a fool of her and plans to kill him. Mareena and Shekharan get to know that Karthu and her daughter is alive. They plan to kill them without anyone knowing about it. After an accident, Karthu loses her memory and is taken care by Dr. Arun. In an attempt to kill Balan unfortunately Jayan is killed by Mareena and Kanya becomes mentally unstable and later she gives birth to a baby girl. Balan suffers from cancer and leaves to Germany. Finally after series of events Kanya kills Mareena and is imprisoned. Podimol cared for by Karthu who remembers her past and is back at Kaipamangalam. Balan, Karthu and Bala reunite. Kunjusekharan becomes worried about Podimol as a fake astrologer predicts that Bala and Podimol cannot survive together at a place. Upon Kanya's release, Shekharan misleads her and takes her and Podimol away to live with him and his mother.
Balachandrika becomes the sub collector of the city and story goes around her life. Now the story turn to show the relationship between Balamol and Podimol. Balamol being a collector catches Podimol's wrongdoings and forms an instant dislike towards her, despite Bala's soft heart. Bala and Abhiram are in love with each other from quite a long time, but Podimol is attracted towards Abhiram, too. Bala secretly marries Abhiram, without Podimol's knowledge. Later Bala's family reveals that Podimol is Bala's cousin and Bala regrets the marriage, and starts taking care of her, even though Podimol doesn't know that Bala is married to Abhiram. Aromal, Sadu's son tries to convey the message to Gayathri that Bala is already married to her love. Gayathri rejects this idea saying that her blood, her sister won't let her fail. On the other hand, Bala and Abhiram spend time secretly with each other in the fear of Gayathri learning about their marriage. Meanwhile, Bala conceives and Gayathri learns of it later. Suicidal, she's saved by Bala. After treatment under Dr. Arun, she starts afresh and gets married to Ganesh, a gentleman with a strict mother. The family gets to know of Balan's death in Germany and is heartbroken. Bala does all the rituals of her father who left for his heavenly abode. She faints and gets admitted in the hospital where she experiences severe pains. Her condition becomes critical when she is pushed from the stretcher by Stephen, a hitman hired by Shekharan. However, she survives the attack. Bala and Abhiram are blessed with a baby girl. The family rejoices. Meanwhile, Gayathri faces ill treatment from her mother-in-law who constantly berates her. However, her husband is supportive.
Bala gets into an accident caused by Stephen due to which she loses her kid. The kid however turns out to be alive and is taken in by a church and is named Muthu.
It portrayed the story of Muthu, the daughter of Abhiram and Bala.
| Language | Title | Original release | Network(s) | Last aired | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Malayalam | Karuthamuthu കറുത്തമുത്ത് |
20 October 2014 | Asianet | 9 August 2019 | Original |
| Telugu | Karthika Deepam కార్తీక దీపం |
16 October 2017 | Star Maa | 21 January 2023 | Remake |
| Kannada | Muddulakshmi ಮುದ್ದುಲಕ್ಷ್ಮಿ |
22 January 2018 | Star Suvarna | 26 August 2023 | |
| Tamil | Bharathi Kannamma பாரதி கண்ணம்மா |
25 February 2019 | Star Vijay | 6 August 2023 | |
| Marathi | Rang Maza Vegla रंग माझा वेगळा |
30 October 2019 | Star Pravah | 3 September 2023 | |
| Hindi | Kartik Purnima कार्तिक पूर्णिमा |
3 February 2020 | Star Bharat | 27 March 2020 | |
| Bengali | Anurager Chhowa অনুরাগের ছোঁয়া |
7 February 2022 | Star Jalsha | Ongoing | |
| Hindi | Yeh Jhuki Jhuki Si Nazar ये झुकी झुकी सी नज़र |
7 March 2022 | StarPlus | 25 June 2022 | |
| Vietnamese | Ngọc trai đen The Black Pearl |
22 October 2023 | SCTV6 | Ongoing | Original |