Adhyarathri 2019

Manoharan is the focal point of Mullakkara, a lakeside village in Kuttanadu where the waters shape the rhythm of life. For years he has lived as the village’s dedicated wedding broker, a role born from a painful past: the humiliation of losing his sister, Anitha, at a wedding and the heavy heartache that followed their father’s heart attack. This tragedy hardened him into a relentless broker, and since then, no couple has ever escaped Mullakkara’s wedding machinery under his watch, though the cost has been personal and constant.

When he is saddled with a delicate vow to arrange the marriage of his late girlfriend Shalini’s daughter, Aswathi, the weight of old wounds and new duties collides. Aswathi, the granddaughter of a teacher couple who raised her as if she were their own, is set to wed Kunjumon, a small local businessman. Yet the surface calm of the arrangement soon strains under the pull of true love. Aswathi has fallen for a young man from Bangalore named Sathya, a fact that rocks the broker’s world and drags him into a moral maze he would rather avoid.

In a pivotal moment, Manoharan travels to Bangalore to meet Anitha, who delivers a blunt, hard-won truth about weddings: > the word of the bride is the last and final word for a marriage. This revelation unsettles him and reframes Aswathi’s agency in the arrangement. Back in Mullakkara, he decides to support Aswathi’s wish to marry Sathya and helps her return home, asking her to keep her love private for the moment. The plan to push forward with the original marriage to Kunjumon is put on hold, and Aswathi’s future seems to hinge on the delicate balance of family expectations and personal choice.

Aswathi’s return stirs tension. She confronts the complex web of loyalties as Kunjumon — who has cherished her since childhood — grows jealous of the attention she gives to Sathya. The situation is further tangled when Aswathi’s closest friend, who has long harbored her own secret affection for Kunjumon, becomes a flashpoint in the escalating drama. The wedding day arrives with a pall of uncertainty because Kunjumon vanishes, prompting Manoharan to suggest an alternative: a marriage between Aswathi and Sathya, with the elders giving their cautious consent.

Before the ceremony can unfold, a call from Tresiamma reveals a sharp, practical motive behind Sathya’s initial selection: he was chosen to secure a handsome commission. The revelation unsettles the room but also clarifies Aswathi’s heart. She finally speaks plainly about her love for Sathya, and the wedding shifts toward their union. In the culmination, the wedding is completed under the new arrangement, while Kunjumon is found married to Aswathi’s best friend, closing the chapter on a tangled triangle and affirming the central theme: love, choice, and the social forces that steer them.

• Aswathi plays a pivotal role in the emotional core of the story, navigating love, duty, and autonomy within a tight-knit community.

• Kunjumon is the childhood sweetheart whose jealousy and expectations create a volatile undercurrent throughout the plot.

• Tresiamma enters as a robust force of influence, highlighting the practical pressures surrounding marriage arrangements.

• The familial and civic backdrop is brought to life by the ensemble, including the figures around Manoharan, his late sister Anitha, and the villagers who witness the twists of love and obligation unfold.