Roja  () is an Indian Tamil soap opera starring  Priyanka Nalkari and Sibbu Suryan. It premiered on 9 April 2018 and ended on 3 December 2022 and was produced by Saregama.

Plot
It follows an optimistic girl who was raised in an orphanage. She meets her biological father Tiger Manickam, but they are unaware of each other's identities. Roja is grown in the orphanage of Shanthamoorthy and has a sweet, kind disposition. Arjun, humble despite his wealth, is a leading criminal lawyer. Roja is looking for a lawyer to argue in a case related to Shanthamoorthy, who was falsely accused and arrested for Bhaiya Ganesh's murder which was done by Sakshi with Priya by her side.

Arjun's family had planned his engagement with Priya (masquerading as "Fake Anu"). But Arjun loathed love and marriage because of his traumatic past, including Sakshi's betrayal of Arjun's friend Venu's death. In particular, he had no desire to marry Priya. So, Arjun agrees to take up Roja's case on the condition that she would agree to one-year contract marriage with him. After she agrees, the two go to the temple on Arjun's engagement day. The wedding takes place with the help of Roja's friend Swetha and Arjun's assistant, Naveen. After registering the marriage, Arjun and Roja reach the engagement venue, and Arjun announces his marriage to Roja to his family, thereby stopping the engagement. Roja goes to Arjun's house, and they pretend to be husband and wife in front of the family. However, with time, Arjun discovers Roja's good qualities and falls in love with her. Subsequently, after a few struggles, Roja also falls in love with Arjun, and the contract is terminated. The couple start their life as real husband and wife and become supportive.

Priya, who calls herself Anu, claims to be the daughter of Arjun's uncle Tiger Manickam and his wife Shenbagam, who is missing and presumed dead but is alive, suffering memory loss. Working for a criminal mastermind Sakshi, Priya's goal is to marry Arjun's brother Ashwin; after failing to marry Arjun and enjoy the family wealth. She is cunning, but her charm takes in Arjun's grandmothers Annapoorni Manickam, Yasodha, and Balu and always supports her, although she often humiliates Roja. While Arjun's parents Prathap and Kalpana, and Arjun's brother Ashwin support Roja, other family members dislike her. Due to unforeseen circumstances, Ashwin and Pooja marry without their families' knowledge, except for Arjun, Roja, and Kalpana.

Priya and Sakshi intend to discredit Roja, who is the honest Anu, daughter of Manickam and Shenbagam, and go to great lengths to remove her from the house and kill her despite multiple unsuccessful attempts. Soon, Arjun proves Shanthamoorthy's innocence in court and gets Priya and Sakshi arrested.

To release Priya from jail, Annapoorani and Manickam both fake acts brainwashed and make Roja believe her and release Priya. Annapoorani arranges a reception and first night for Arjun and Roja. Priya and her team plant fire in the room. Somehow Arjun and Roja escape from it. But Priya falls from the top floor and goes to Coma. Only Roja was near her, so she is framed for this. Roja goes to jail, and there Sakshi, along with the help of Tiger Manickam, often attacks Roja, but Arjun and Chandrakantha save her. For Roja's safety, Arjun kidnaps Priya. After a long battle in the court between Arjun and Tiger Manickam, Arjun makes Annapoorani, and Balu confesses the truth by playing a drama that he killed Priya. But his junior Naveen brings Priya. Annapoorani is punished with 24 hours of jail for trying to kill Roja and Arjun. Priya is given bail on medical terms, and Roja is finally released.

With the help of Sakshi and Divya, Priya brings the Saraswati nurse home to act as Shenbagam. On the other hand, Roja fights and performs pooja to get her mother back. While performing the final ritual, Shenbagam enters and saves Roja. Eventually, Shenbagam gains her old memories back, and all accept Roja as Arjun's wife. The first night is arranged, and Priya is furious and tries to spoil it, but the plan is failed. Then a function for Shenbagam, they see the true face of Priya when she plants a bomb in Shenbagam's Locket. They immediately decide to take a DNA test. Priya starts the problem of Ashwin and Pooja's marriage to stop it. But to her shock, Annapoorani accepts their marriage, and their first night is arranged.

To stop the DNA test, Priya decides to kill Roja. While Shenbagam and Roja are going in the car, she stops and shoots Roja. But unknown to her, Arjun has changed the bullet. Chandrakantha arrests Priya. After she is arrested, Roja wakes up, and Arjun makes arrangements with Ashwin, Pooja, and Naveen and makes everyone believe Roja is dead. But he informs all his family members except Yashoda and Balu.

Further, Arjun makes Roja act as a devil to extract the truth from Priya. After scaring for two days, Priya confesses the truth to Chandrakantha, and Arjun also promises to tell the truth in court. Meanwhile, Neelambari, an old rival of Priya and Roja, has entered the show, digging up the past. She wants to seek revenge on Priya and Roja. With the help of her brother and Sakshi is frantically searching for grown-up Priya and Roja and attacks Shanthamurthy. At last, after a lot of twists, she is arrested.

After the problems are solved, Roja tells Arjun that she is pregnant. JS, the enemy of Arjun, as he lost against him. Priya joins as Js's junior. Now, both plan to kill Roja, but their plans fail. Their goal is executed, and Roja is pushed into the river, causing her to lose her memory, and she forgets Arjun and her family. There Chandrakantha introduces Jessi, a look-alike of Roja. After many mishaps, Roja regains her memory. Then, Roja does a pooja for the well-being of her unborn child. This pooja is often disturbed by Yashoda and Balu, who support Priya. However, with the help of Arjun and her family, Roja completes the Pooja. This irritates Priya, Yashoda, and Balu. Meanwhile, Priya learns of her real parents, Jayaseelan and Kamala, but Js doesn't believe Priya, sp they go to Roja to confirm about Priya. Seeing Priya, Roja's family yells at her, but Roja states that Priya is their daughter. So the family becomes happy and cares for Roja as she is the first heir of the family, leading Pooja to feel abandoned and jealous. Then Pooja joins Arjun's enemy Js and Roja's enemies Priya, Yasodha and Balu, and Annapoorani's enemy Purusotaman starts troubling Roja.

Cast

Main
 Priyanka Nalkari as 
 Anu aka Roja: Shenbagam and Tiger Manickam's elder daughter; Moorthy's adopted daughter; Jessica's twin-sister; Arjun, Ashwin, Deepa, Koushik, and Malar's cousin; Arjun's wife; Velan's mother; Priya, Sakshi and Yasodha's enemy (2018-2022)
 SI. Jessica: Tiger Manickam and Shenbagam's younger daughter; Victor and Rosy's adopted daughter; Roja's twin-sister; Arjun, Ashwin, Deepa, Koushik, and Malar's cousin; Arjun's henchman (2022)
 Sibbu Suryan as Advocate Arjun: A criminal lawyer; Prathap and Kalpana's elder son; Ashwin and Deepa's brother; Roja, Jessica, Koushik, and Malar's cousin; Roja's husband; Velan's father; Sakshi, Priya, JS, Shyam and Yasodha's enemy (2018-2022)

Recurring
 Shamili Sukumar / VJ Akshaya as Priya: Fake Anu; JS and Kamala's daughter; Roja and Arjun's enemy; Sakshi and Yasodha's best friend (2018-2021) / (2021-2022)
 Gayatri Shastry as Kalpana: Prathap's wife; Arjun, Ashwin, and Deepa's mother; Velan's grandmother (2018-2022)
 Venkat Renganathan / Shankaresh Kumar as Ashwin: Prathap and Kalpana's younger son; Arjun and Deepa's brother; Pooja's husband; Roja's henchmen (2018-2021) / (2021-2022)
 Smriti Kashyap as Pooja: Purushotaman and Prema's daughter; Ashwin's wife; Arjun's junior lawyer (2018-2022)
 Vadivukkarasi as Annapoorani: Vijayakumar's wife; Shenbagam, Prathap and Yashodha's mother; Arjun, Roja, Jessica, Ashwin, Deepa, Koushik and Malar's grandmother; Velan's great-grandmother; Purusotaman's enemy (2018-2022)
 Dev Anand Sharma as Balachandran aka Balu: Yashodha's husband; Roja and Arjun's enemy (2018-2022)
 Ramya Ramakrishna / Kavyavarshini Arun as Yashodha aka Yaso: Annapoorani and Vijayakumar's younger daughter; Shenbagam and Prathap's sister; Balu's wife; Koushik and Malar's mother; Priya's best friend and henchmen (2019-2021) / (2021-2022)
 Dr. Sharmila as Shenbagam: Annapoorani and Vijayakumar's elder daughter; Prathap and Yashodha's sister; Manickam's wife; Roja and Jessica's mother; Velan's grandmother (2018-2022) 
 Rajesh as Advocate. Tiger Manickam: A criminal lawyer; Shenbagam's husband; Roja and Jessica's father; Velan's grandfather (2018-2022)
 Sowmya Rao Nadig / Sunitha as Sakshi: A money-minded criminal corrupted girl; Arjun and Roja's enemy; Priya's best friend (2018-2019) / (2019-2022)
 Shiva Subramanian as Prathap: Annapoorani and Vijayakumar's son; Shenbagam and Yashodha's brother; Arjun, Ashwin and Deepa's father; Velan's grandfather (2018-2022)
 Rani as AC. Chandrakantha: Arjun's best friend and henchmen
 Hussain A. K. as Navaneetha Krishnan: Arjun's henchmen
 Latha as Canada Kamakshi: Annaporani's elder sister
 Sumathi Sri as Sumathi: Annapoorani's housemaid 
 Kavithalaya Krishnan as Purushotthaman: Prema's husband; Pooja's father; Annapoorani's enemy
 Shanthi Anandraj as Prema: Purushotthaman's wife; Pooja's mother 
 Vasu Vikram as Advocate. Jayaseelan aka JS: Kamala's husband; Priya's father; Arjun's enemy
 Padmini Chandrasekaran as Kamala: JS's wife; Priya's mother
 K. Natraj as Shanthamurthy aka Moorthy: Orphanage caretaker; Roja's adoptive father
 Akhila Ramanamoorthy as Deepa: Prathap and Kalpana's daughter; Arjun and Ashwin's sister; Roja, Jessica, Koushik and Malar's cousin
 Paari as Malar: Yasodha and Balu's daughter; Koushik's sister; Arjun, Roja, Jessica, Ashwin and Deepa's cousin
 Sri Varshan Chinraj as Koushik: Yasodha and Balu's son; Malar's brother; Arjun, Roja, Jessica, Ashwin and Deepa's cousin
 P. R. Varalakshmi as Arulvakhu Amuthanayaki
 Lakesh as Shyam: JS's henchman and Arjun's arch-rival
 Srilekha Rajendran as Devaki
 Gajesh as Jagan : Arjun's rival 
 Kiruba as Rosy: Victor's wife; Jessica's adoptive mother
 Raj Kapoor as Victor: Rosy's husband; Jessica's adoptive father
 Sona Heiden as Neelambari : Roja and Arjun's enemy 
 Vijjith as Sasitharan "Sasi": Neelambari's brother, Roja and Arjun's enemy
 Dubbing Janaki as Baalu mother
 SVS Kumar as Baalu father
 Sasindhar Pushpalingam as Bhaya Ganesh: Priya's ex-husband and lover(died in serial) 
 Neeshant as Santhosh
 Shwetha as Shwetha
 Geetha Narayanan as Judge
 Karthika Bose as Keerthi
 Swetha as Lakshmi 
 Vanitha Hariharan as Ponni
 Girish as Sethu 
 S.D. Ganesh as Ranjith 
 Rekha Suresh as Deivanai
 Manohar Krishna as Marudhanayagam 
 Keerthana as Arulvakhu Vedhavalli 
 Rohan as Ragu aka Sandy  
 Gowthami Vembunathan as Valli
 Vivethan Ravi as Buji: Pooja's brother

Special appearances

Production

Filming
Due to the COVID-19 outbreak in India, Roja and all other Indian television series and film production were suspended from 19 March 2020. Three months later, shooting was permitted and the team commenced filming in July. The show commenced telecasting new episodes on 27 July 2020. With the increase in COVID-19 cases in Tamil Nadu, the production was once again suspended in mid-May 2021 for a few weeks.

Crossovers and special episodes

Crossover episodes 

 Crossover with Lakshmi Stores (13-18 May 2019) (Episodes 325–331)
 Crossover with Poove Unakkaga (12-18 October 2020) (Episodes 655–660)
 Cameo crossover with Kannana Kanne and Anbe Vaa crossover

Special episodes 

 Thaaye Unakkaga 1 hour special episode on September 12, 2021, 2pm to 3pm
 Savaale Samaali 1 hour special episode on October 24, 2021, 2pm to 3pm
 Pirandhanal Vizha 1 hour special episode on January 30, 2022, 2pm to 3pm
 Thuppariya Porom 1 hour special episode on April 24, 2022, 2pm to 3pm
 Athey Kangal 1 hour special episode on July 17, 2022, 2 pm to 3pm

Adaptations

Reception

Ratings
Initially aired at afternoon 3:00 PM IST, good response for it made the channel change it to prime time of 9:00 PM IST in early 2019 but was soon shifted within three months to 7:00 PM IST. However it was again shifted to 9:00 PM IST in week 21 of 2021.

Awards and honours

References

Notes

External links 
 Official Website 
 

Sun TV original programming
Tamil-language television soap operas
Tamil-language melodrama television series
2018 Tamil-language television series debuts
Tamil-language television shows
Television shows set in Tamil Nadu
2022 Tamil-language television series endings