Aandavan Kattalai 2016

Gandhi Arumugan, Vijay Sethupathi, is an earnest accountant from a village near Madurai who travels to Chennai with his best friend Muthupandi “Pandi” Selvam, [Yogi Babu](/actor/yogi-babu, to secure the documents they need to go to London and earn money to pay off their debts. They turn to two middlemen to help them obtain a passport and a British tourist visa. The middlemen claim that the Deputy High Commission would prefer to grant tourist visas to people who are already married, so Gandhi agrees to add the name of a supposed wife to the passport — karmeghakuzhali, a choice sparked by their real estate broker Murugesan, Singampuli. The plan seems straightforward, but Gandhi’s visa is rejected, leaving him stranded in Chennai.

Back home with money to spare, Gandhi takes up steady work as an accountant for a traveling theatrical troupe, and his hard work soon earns him favor; he becomes the troupe’s trusted hands, and even gets to act in some plays himself. The company eventually earns an invitation to perform in London, placing Gandhi in a painful bind: to go, he must remove his “wife” from the passport. He discovers that the only way to do so is to divorce her, but that requires finding a real Karmeghakuzhali — a television journalist by the same name. He tracks down Karmeghakuzhali, Ritika Singh, and pleads with her to pretend to be his wife and then “divorce” him. Gandhi even feigns muteness to strengthen his ruse.

Karmeghakuzhali is initially reluctant, yet she eventually provides the necessary documents to facilitate a divorce — but both husband and wife must be physically present at the court hearing. To keep the plan afloat, Gandhi persuades Aarthi, an actress from the troupe, to impersonate Karmeghakuzhali at the court. On the day of the hearing, Aarthi disappears to the bathroom, forcing Karmeghakuzhali to step in and participate in the proceedings. The divorce hearing becomes an awkward, humiliating sequence that exposes Gandhi’s feigned muteness, leaving Karmeghakuzhali shaken and walking out with no divorce granted.

The plot takes another turn when Gandhi learns that Pandi has been deported on arrival in London for giving false information and address verification on his passport, and that both men face immigration trouble for the same reason. Pandi’s case is resolved when they present their original voter ID cards, and the middlemen are arrested. Pandi reveals a harsher truth: he was sent to Sri Lanka and tortured by prison officials after attempting to seek asylum as a Sri Lankan refugee, a humiliation that drives him back to his village.

Determined to set things right, Gandhi returns to the Regional Passport Office in Chennai to face the consequences. The officer imposes a fine of ₹1,300 to remove Karmeghakuzhali’s name from the passport, but Gandhi makes a pivotal, unexpected choice: he decides not to pay the fine. Instead, he proposes marriage to Karmeghakuzhali, who is initially surprised but ultimately agrees. With the wedding in sight, Gandhi secures a British visa and finally leaves for London with the theatrical troupe, hoping that a union rooted in truth and mutual respect might offer a path forward.