# Siragadikka Aasai (TV series)

Siragadikka Aasai (transl. The Desire to Fly) is a 2023 Indian Tamil-language television drama that airs on Star Vijay starring debutant Vetri Vasanth with Gomathi Priya. The series is directed by S. Kumaran and produced by Radhika Srinivasan and B. Srinivasan for Vikatan Televistas. It is also available on the digital platform Disney+ Hotstar. The series was launched along with Mahanadhi.
The show centres on the unexpected marriage of Meena, the eldest daughter of a lower-class family, and Muthu, an eccentric taxi driver struggling with alcoholism. They slowly understand each other. Their journey to self-improvement and togetherness, despite external pressures, is a testament to the enduring power of love.

## Plot

The show introduces Muthukumar, a delinquent who despises the concept of love, as well as Meena, a family-oriented woman who works at her parents' flower-stall near their local temple.
Circumstances force Meena to marry Muthukumar. He is an alcoholic who regularly comes home drunk, whilst also engaging in fights as well - even arguing with his mother Vijaya, who resents him for his bad past as well as his bad habits. The only three people in Muthukumar's family that have some sort of love and affection for him are his father Annamalai, a retired locomotive pilot, his younger brother Ravikumar, who works as a chef, and his grandmother Nachiyar, who raised him. Muthu's elder brother, Manojkumar, is an affluent corporate employee and Vijaya's favourite son. He is selfish, money-minded, status-minded and dislikes both Annamalai and Muthukumar.
Meena faces problems with Sudhakar (a loan shark), who lusts for Meena, as well as a poor financial status. Muthu and Meena often fight, with Meena not knowing that Muthu is Annamalai’s second son, when Muthu comes across Meena and her family. This ends up with the two of them disliking each other due to their constant conflicts.
After Sathya (Meena's brother) is negatively influenced by Chiti, a local don, he ends up stealing Muthu's bike out of envy of not getting one from his parents. He ends up going to jail but is released after Muthu withdraws the case after Meena asks him to. Sathya then speaks harshly to his father after he scolds him and kicks him out, which makes him depressed and he kills himself by being hit by a train, which Annamalai was driving on his final day on the job. Feeling guilty, Annamalai pays them a visit and decides to make Meena his daughter-in-law instead of giving them money, as he sees that there’s more than what meets the eye in their situation. Amidst this all, Manoj is in love with Jeeva, who has hidden intentions as she wants Annamalai's settlement money and wants to emigrate to Canada.
On the day of the wedding, it's revealed that Manoj has eloped with Jeeva and has left a letter for his family - however, Jeeva and her friend have drained the 27 lakh from their joint account and Manoj goes into hiding out of embarrassment that he has no money and no girlfriend - leaving everyone at the wedding hall in shock. An argument ensues between Chandra and Annamalai about the wedding, Sudhakar intervenes with his own intentions of marrying Meena and proceeds to beat Annamalai and Ravi up for intervening in his plan. At that moment, Muthu sees this and beats up Sudhakar in retaliation and it's revealed to the gathering that he is Annamalai's second son. A flashback is shown to a previous episode, where Sudhakar kidnaps Meena and Muthu (in a helmet) saves her - Meena realises that Muthu was the person that saved her from Sudhakar. Chandra pacifies Meena and makes her accept the marriage with Muthu to avoid shame; whilst Annamalai has Muthu agree to marry Meena after nearly falling at Muthu's feet. They marry, against each others wishes.
After their marriage, Muthu and Meena begin building their life together. Meanwhile, Vijaya finds Manoj at a homeless center and later sees him escaping from Jeeva, leaving her shocked as she starts to question Jeeva's true intentions. Meena is also surprised by the situation and brings Annamalai to confront Muthu. Muthu angrily rebukes Manoj for being manipulated by Jeeva's blackmail.
At the same time, Shruti, a dubbing artist working in a studio for movies and serials, is introduced. She falls in love with Ravi. Manoj, meanwhile, meets Rohini, falls for her, and shares his feelings about love. However, no one knows Rohini's secret—she has a son named Krish and was previously married. She plans to marry Manoj purely for financial gain. Rohini lies about her father being alive in Malaysia. Despite challenges, Rohini manages to marry Manoj. Over time, Vijaya starts criticizing Meena for being poor and compares her unfavorably to Rohini.
Ravi and Shruti secretly marry, shocking everyone, especially Meena, who is blamed for supporting them. Amid all this, Annamalai collapses from a heart attack due to the mounting pressure.
Ravi and Shruti secretly get married, leaving everyone shocked, especially Meena, who is accused of supporting them. Amid the chaos, Annamalai suffers a heart attack due to the overwhelming stress. Following this, Meena is welcomed back into the house as Annamalai realizes she was never at fault. Meanwhile, Sudha passionately argues that both Shruti and Ravi should be accepted, leading to their eventual acceptance. Meanwhile, Manoj is exposed for idly sitting in the park instead of making an effort to find a job.
Rohini runs away in dismay, seeking a new path, but eventually returns with a changed perspective. Meanwhile, everyone prepares for the upcoming Pongal celebrations and gathers at Nachiyar’s house for the festivities. Meena and Shruti’s family arrive, bringing gifts. To cover for her father’s absence, Rohini hires a butcher named Mani, introducing him as her uncle from Malaysia. In the midst of it all, Nachiyar assigns everyone kitchen and household duties. Meanwhile, Sathya unknowingly falls into a trap set by Chitti, unaware of the truth.

## Cast
### Main

* Vetri Vasanth as Muthukumar (Muthu)
** Meena's husband; Annamalai and Vijaya's second son; Manoj and Ravi's brother.
** A taxi driver with anger issues due to past incidents. He is disliked by Vijaya due to his lack of education. He supports his wife Meena a lot. (2023–present).
* Gomathi Priya as Meena Muthukumar
** Muthu's wife; Jayaraj and Chandra's eldest daughter; Sathya and Seetha's sister; Annamalai and Vijaya's daughter-in-law; Rohini and Shruthi's co-sister
** A florist who is kind and respectful. (2023–present).

### Supporting

* R. Sundarrajan as Annamalai: Manoj, Muthu, and Ravi's father; Vijaya's husband; Nachiyar's son; Rohini, Meena and Shruti's father-in-law and a retired Locomotive pilot.
** The only one in Muthu's family that cares for him, as well as acting as a father figure towards Meena due to her father's death.
* Anila Sreekumar as Vijaya Annamalai: Manoj, Muthu and Ravi's mother; Annamalai's wife; Nachiyar's daughter-in-law. Rohini, Meena and Shruti's mother-in-law
** She dislikes Muthu due to some past mishaps and hates Meena for her low economic status.
** Favours her eldest son Manoj due him being the most educated person in their family. She also blindly believes Rohini without knowing the truth about her previous marriage.
* Bhagyalakshmi as Parvathi: Vijaya's best friend
* Tamil Selvi as Chandra: Late Jayaraj's wife; Meena, Sathya and Seetha's mother and Muthu's mother-in-law
* Sri Deva as Manoj Kumar (Manoj) Annamalai: Annamalai and Vijaya's eldest son; Rohini's second husband and Jeeva's past love interest and Meena's ex-fiancee.
** He ran away from his wedding with Meena for his love towards Jeeva. He is shown to be very bad in businesses as he gets conned easily by customers.
* Salma Arun as Kalyani alias Rohini Manojkumar: Krish’s biological mother; Lakshmi's daughter; Manoj 's wife: Annamalai and Vijaya's daughter-in-law and Meena and Shruthi's co-sister
** She made her first husband to fake himself as he died after two years of marriage but she hides it from Manoj's family and acts as a rich girl from Malaysia.
* Yogesh Kumar (2023) / Pranav Mohan (June 2023 - present) as Ravikumar (Ravi) Annamalai: Annamalai and Vijaya's youngest son; Shruti's husband and a Chef
* Preetha Reddy as Shruthi Ravikumar: Ravi's wife, Vasudevan and Sudha’s daughter; Annamalai and Vijaya's daughter-in-law and Rohini and Meena's co-sister
** She works as a dubbing artist and supports Muthu and Meena a lot.
* Revathy as Nachiyar: Annamalai's mother, Vijaya's mother-in-law and Manoj, Muthu and Ravi's grandmother.
** She raised Muthu when he was young after Vijaya left him in the village.
* Diwakar as Sathya: Jayaraj and Chandra's son; Meena and Seetha's brother.
** He works for Chitti and exacts vengeance on Muthu and his family after being assaulted by him.
* Sangeetha Leonis as Seetha,:Jayaraj and Chandra's daughter; Meena and Sathya's sister
* Harish Kumar as Arun;The traffic police constable.
* Shruthi Narayanan as Vidhya: Kalyani’s best friend since school days and crime partner
* Lollu Sabha Palaniappan as Selvam: Muthu's best friend and a Cab Driver
* Sudhakar as Sudhakar
** A loan person to whom Meena and her family owe money. He lusts for Meena and vows revenge on Muthu after previous altercations.
* Atchaya Bharathi as Jeeva, Manoj's former love interest.
** She cheats Manoj out of Annamalai's settlement money and escapes to Canada.
* Narasimha Raju as Jayaraj: Meena, Sathya and Seetha's father. (Deceased)
* Mahadevan as Vasudevan: Shruthi's father; Sudha's husband and Ravi's father-in-law
** The train manager of Annamalai's company, who hates Annamalai.
* Sheela as Sudha: Shruti's mother, Vasudevan's wife and Ravi's mother-in-law
** An overprotective mother of Shruthi
* Hasini as Neetu, Ravi's MD
* Saran Ram as Manoj's friend
* Telephone Mani as Parasu, Annamalai's ex-colleague cum friend
* Cibi Chakravarthy as Murugan, Muthu's one of the friend's brother; Vidhya's love interest
* Eesan Sujatha as Chintamani, Meena's business-rival
* Mani as Chiti, a local don
* Unknown as Jyoti, Muthu's ex-lover
* Pushpa as Lakshmi, Kalyani's mother
* Master Jagan as Krish, Kalyani's biological son and Lakshmi's grandson
* Ganesh Krait as Biju, Shruti’s ex-fiancée
* Jayamani as ‘Brown Mani', a butcher and an aspiring actor
** He was hired by Vidhya to act as Kalyani's uncle Vaseegaran.
* Unknown as Dinesh, former P.A to Rohini's client.
** He knows the real identity of Kalyani and extracts money from her to hide the truth.
* Suresh as Deepan, Vijaya's one of the student
* Sangeetha Pushparaj as Rathi, Vijaya's one of the student and Deepan's lover

### Special appearances

* Ponvannan as Subramani/Kasinathan "Kasi"
* Vanitha Krishnachandran as Subbalakshmi
* Aravind Seiju as Chozhan

## Production
### Casting

Gomathi Priya was cast in the female lead role as Meena after her role as Valli in Velaikkaran, whilst newcomer Vetri Vasanth was cast as the male lead role as Muthukumar, with his rise to fame coming through his numerous short films which gained popularity with younger viewers. R. Sundarrajan was cast as Annamalai, and makes his comeback to Tamil television after three years. Anila Sreekumar was cast as Vijaya, returning to Vijay TV after previously acting in Paavam Ganesan and Kaatrin Mozhi on the channel. Narasimha Raju, Yogesh and Tamilselvi were also selected for supporting roles. Pranav Mohan replaced Yogesh as Ravi, after Yogesh quit the show citing personal reasons.
In January 2024, actor Jayamani joins the cast as Rohini's fake father.

### Release

The first promo was unveiled on 28 December 2022, which gave a brief insight in both Muthu and Meena’s lives. The second promo was unveiled on 15 January 2023, revealing the upcoming release date. The third promo was unveiled on 19 January 2023, featuring Muthu’s family. The same day, a fourth promo was unveiled featuring Meena’s family. This series was launched along with Mahanadhi.

## special episodes

Due to Vijay TV choosing to release Chinna Marumagal and Thangamagal a week after Bigg Boss Season 7 had ended, 1 hour special episodes of Siragadikka Aasai were telecasted from 17 January 2024 to 19 January 2024. Again in 2025, 1 hour special episodes were telecasted from 20–24 January 2025 after the grand finale of Big Boss Season 8.

## Reception

On week 38 of 2023, the series entered the top 5 shows in TN with 8.17 TVR in U+R as well as became the slot leader. On the 16th week of 2024 it became the slot leader with 8.18 TVR in U+R also marking 3rd position in overall TN serials. On week 27, 2024 the series became the No 1 Serial Of Tamil Nadu for the first time with 8.38 TVR in UR market.
In July 2024, The series was the most watched Tamil-language television series with 9.84 TVR.

### Adaptations

| Language | Title | Original release | Network(s) | Last aired | Notes |
| Tamil | Siragadikka Aasai சிறகடிக்க ஆசை | 23 January 2023 | Star Vijay | Ongoing | Original |
| Telugu | Gundeninda Gudigantalu గుండెనిండా గుడిగంటలు | 2 October 2023 | Star Maa | Ongoing | Remake |
| Kannada | Aase ಆಸೆ | 11 December 2023 | Star Suvarna | Ongoing | Remake |
| Malayalam | Chempaneer Poovu ചെമ്പനീർ പൂവ് | 29 January 2024 | Asianet | Ongoing | Remake |
| Hindi | Udne Ki Aasha उडने की आशा | 12 March 2024 | StarPlus | Ongoing | Remake |
| Marathi | Sadhi Manasa साधी माणसं | 18 March 2024 | Star Pravah | Ongoing | Remake |
| Bengali | Uraan উড়ান | 27 May 2024 | Star Jalsha | Ongoing | Remake |

## Awards and honours

| Year | Award | Category | Recipient(s) | Result |
| 2023 | Ananda Vikatan Television Awards | Best Director | S. Kumaran | Won |
| 2023 | Ananda Vikatan Television Awards | Promising Talent of the year | Vetri Vasanth | Won |
| 2023 | Ananda Vikatan Television Awards | ⁠Best Voice Over Artist | Kalyani Anbazhagan | Won |
| 2023 | Ananda Vikatan Television Awards | Best Editor | B. Chandru | Won |
| 2023 | Ananda Vikatan Television Awards | ⁠Favourite Family | Siragadikka Aasai | Won |
| 2024 | 9th Annual Vijay Television Awards | Best Heroine | Gomathi Priya | Won |
| 2024 | 9th Annual Vijay Television Awards | Best Director | S. Kumaran | Won |
| 2024 | 9th Annual Vijay Television Awards | Best Hero | Vetri Vasanth | Won |
| 2024 | 9th Annual Vijay Television Awards | Best Mamanaar | R. Sundarrajan | Won |
| 2024 | 9th Annual Vijay Television Awards | Best Mamiyar | Anila Sreekumar | Won |
| 2024 | 9th Annual Vijay Television Awards | Best Paati | Revathy | Won |
| 2024 | 9th Annual Vijay Television Awards | Best Supporting Actor Female (Fiction) | Salma Arun | Won |