Ante… Sundaraniki! 2022

Sundar comes from an orthodox Brahmin family, and a childhood setback leaves a lasting impression: a fraudster once promised him a role in a Chiranjeevi film to be shot in the US, and that scare fuels the family’s skepticism toward overseas ventures. Sundar grows up to work at an ad agency, where he tries to convince his colleague Soumya Anupama Parameswaran to give up a US opportunity so he can take her place and chase his dream. Yet, at Soumya’s insistence, he reveals the real reason behind his request. Sundar harbors love for his childhood sweetheart, Leela [Nazriya Nazim Fahadh], a Malayali Christian photographer who draws close to him after her ex-boyfriend Vamsi [Sai Ronak] cheating on her becomes a catalyst for change. The pair decide to marry, but their differing religions force them to devise a plan to persuade their families. To that end, they lie about leaving for the US, a deception that Soumya reluctantly accepts as she is drawn into Sundar’s scheme.

A month after their arrival in the US, Sundar fabricates a medical crisis, telling his parents that he has azoospermia. Leela doubles down on the lie, telling her own parents that she is pregnant with Sundar’s child. They return to India at their families’ insistence, only to find their bags have been swapped. Sundar’s father gathers relatives to discuss Sundar’s supposed impotence, and the gathering is unexpectedly complicated when Leela’s bag appears, arousing suspicion. Leela’s parents notice a Hanuman sticker on Sundar’s bag, hinting at a Hindu link and intensifying the mistrust. They press Leela for a pregnancy test, which she tricks into appearing positive using a bottle of Mountain Dew.

The medical chorus of emotions continues as Sundar and Leela seek help from Dr. Guru [Rahul Ramakrishna], Sundar’s childhood friend, who offers a cautious, misleading prognosis that treatment may take ten to fifteen years. Meanwhile, Leela’s parents arrange her marriage to Joseph [Venkatesh Maha], a family friend who accepts Leela’s pregnancy—though Sundar pleads with him to reconsider. Under Joseph’s pressure, Leela is forced to tell the truth, but her father stops the wedding to avoid outsider scandal. With no option left, both families reluctantly approve the marriage while remaining unaware of the other side’s deception. In a tense moment during a family meeting, the parents almost uncover the tangled stories, but Sundar’s mother Rohini and Sundar’s grandmother Aruna Bhikshu intervene by tending to Leela’s sister Pushpa’s cramps, easing the tension and nudging the families toward a union.

Later, Joseph reveals to Leela’s mother that Sundar admitted the lie about Leela’s pregnancy. Leela is taken to the hospital for a check, and the result surprises them: she tests positive again, though the couple has not consummated their relationship. A second opinion assigns the cause to dysgerminoma, a form of ovarian cancer that can produce false positives in pregnancy tests. The tumor must be surgically removed, a procedure that could affect Leela’s ability to bear children. Sundar confesses to Leela’s father that the pregnancy was a fabrication, and the families confront the deeper truth behind their actions.

Now facing potential collapse, Sundar’s father and grandmother consider canceling the marriage, but Sundar’s mother steps forward to defend his happiness over tradition or expectations of offspring. The grandmother’s moment of solace comes as she resumes playing the Veena—an emblem from Sundar’s childhood—signaling a shift toward acceptance. With Leela’s surgery completed and her health in view, Sundar rushes to her side, and the couple chooses to proceed with their wedding.

The pair finally arrive at Amelia Island to fulfill Leela’s wish for a wedding on that shoreside setting. In a quietly dramatic exchange, Sundar admits to Leela that he sent the anonymous postcard she cherished during childhood, while Leela reveals she knew it came from him all along and that her Amelia Island dream was, in part, a product of imagination. The moment marks a turning point as both realize that their shared happiness matters more than the weight of tradition.

Throughout, the film threads together the perspectives of the two families—their beliefs, their fears, and their evolving sense of what truly sustains love. The cast—through its intertwined lives—helps illuminate how a single lie can ripple across generations, only to be tempered by compassion, forgiveness, and the stubborn, hopeful resolve to choose each other in the end.