Aranmanai 2 2016

In a quiet village, an ancient Amman statue, once a sentinel against evil, is hidden away in an underground chamber during a temple renovation. A group of tantric practitioners, hoping to weaponize the dormant power for dark magic, awaken something far more dangerous than they bargain for. The unleashed evil billows out of the graveyard like a dark cloud, slipping into the village and seeding fear wherever it goes. A mute holy man senses the threat and pursues the malevolent force, but can’t keep it from slipping into the palace that rises above the hill. The palace’s owner is unable to heed his pleas, and the spirit takes hold, leaving him gravely wounded and slipping into a coma.

The family gathered at the palace is large and tense. The elder son, Ramesh, arrives with his wife, Sandhya, and their young son, Suresh. Together with them are his younger brother Murali, [Siddharth], and his fiancée Anitha, [Trisha Krishnan]. Also present is Devadas, who appears in disguise as his father, Sandhu Bondhu Naadimuthu, a physician with a questionable past, a man who has had contact with the landowners. The atmosphere thickens as the supernatural disturbances begin to ripple through the home, turning calm nights into rooms of whispered fear and sudden, unexplained moves.

One night, a mysterious entity kills the family driver, a brutal reminder that the danger is real and immediate. In the days that follow, Suresh begins to act erratically, carrying out bizarre acts under the voice of a spirit that only he can hear. Murali, too, witnesses a supernatural figure lifting his own father from the bed, an apparition so vivid it freezes him with fear. Anitha, who sees the oddities alongside them, reaches out to her brother Ravi, [Sundar C], hoping for help and clarity. Ravi responds with caution but resolve, and he soon decides to install cameras around the palatial home to track the haunting and uncover what’s behind it.

The elder brother vanishes one night, and Ravi is the first to notice the disappearance. With the help of the cameras, Ravi identifies the spirit haunting the family, realizing that the specter is Maya, Murali’s younger sister—someone the family once loved deeply. Maya’s story is darker than anyone could imagine: she owned Maya Granites, and prior to a planned marriage she ran away with a worker’s son, causing a ripple of shame within the family. Three years later, a pregnancy alters the course of her life, and Maya’s father insists she return home. When she finally does, a brutal sequence of coercion and tragedy unfolds—her lover is killed, and Maya, compelled by her father, drinks poison. In a cruel moment, her elder brother orders the death of her husband in front of her, and Maya vows to end the male line of her family, a vow born of humiliation and anger that will echo through the present night.

In the present, Ravi, with the help of a nurse named Manju, [Poonam Bajwa], seeks out a Kerala-border priest to break Maya’s hold. The priest, [V. I. S. Jayapalan] as Namboothiri, hesitates but ultimately agrees, sensing the gravity of the curse. The priest performs a ritual and reveals that Maya has possessed someone within the palace. To test the magic, he offers a lime, which promptly turns bad and confirms that Anitha is the vessel of Maya’s spirit. With this revelation, Ravi resolves to uncover Maya’s mortal remains, while Murali, Suresh, and Manju distract Anitha by leading the family to a restaurant, buying time and gathering a plan.

As the night deepens, they manage to secure Maya’s blood and apply holy ink to Anitha’s hair, hoping to weaken the possession. Yet the danger intensifies: Anitha returns to the home, intent on killing Murali and Suresh. The priest intervenes and frees Maya from Anitha’s body, restoring a fragile calm to the palace. Still, the banded approach to banishing the demon requires a more direct confrontation. Ravi, guided by the priest, decides to face the spirit head-on, willing to be possessed himself in order to end the haunting by stabbing the demon’s own corpse.

The plan culminates at the village temple during a Mariamman Pooja, where the goddess’s presence becomes a beacon of hope. Ravi, now possessed in a bid to seal Maya’s spirit, and his companions race to the temple with Murali and Suresh. As the possessed Ravi edges toward a final act, the Mariamman deity channels a protective force that halts Maya’s attempt to strike down Murali and Suresh. A moment of silent grief follows as Murali sheds tears for his sister, recognizing the tragedy that forged Maya’s wrath. Maya’s spirit, sensing the goddess’s power, smiles at the colossal idol before fading away.

In the aftermath, the family reconciles to a fragile peace: Murali, Suresh, and Anitha are physically safe, and Ravi reunites with Manju, leaving the Aranmanai in the care of its faithful attendants. Yet the cinema’s final image hints at something unfinished: Maya’s spirit re-enters a doll, resting within the palace walls, waiting for the right moment to return. The closing shot leaves a whisper of a future chapter, a clear nod to a possible sequel that could pull this chilling, multi-generational tale back into the light—or darkness—that first awakened it.