Friends 2002

Aravindan, Chandru, and Krishnamoorthy have been inseparable since childhood, a trio bound by loyalty and a shared belief that friendship is the highest vow. Chandru, an orphan who lives with Aravindan’s family, guards that bond even as he resists Amutha’s affectionate gestures to keep the trio intact.

In Chennai, the men work as painters under a contractor named Nesamani, chasing the steady rhythm of daily labor. Aravindan finds himself drawn to Padmini, who initially treats him as just a friend, keeping her own heart guarded. Yet the image of love becomes tangled when Padmini’s cousin Abhirami, consumed by jealousy and a fixation on Aravindan, hatches a cruel scheme—she pens fake love letters in Padmini’s name to test and tempt him. When Padmini’s engagement to another man is arranged, Chandru steps forward to defend Aravindan in a public display, and the upheaval shatters the engagement, leaving everyone unsettled.

Out of spite, Padmini marries Aravindan, intending to sever the old friendship by driving a wedge between him and Chandru. But the truth has a way of surfacing, and during the wedding, Abhirami’s deceit is exposed, bringing a fragile peace back within reach.

Meanwhile, Aravindan’s cousin Gautham, who covets Amutha, hatches a darker plan to drive the friends apart. He engineers a string of accidents designed to cast suspicion on Padmini, culminating in a tense, sabotaged bullock cart race. When Aravindan takes Chandru’s place in the race and narrowly survives, the mood thickens with suspicion and fear. Padmini, angered and hurt, demands that Aravindan end his friendship with Chandru, a demand that forces a painful confession from him: as a child he had accidentally killed Chandru’s mute younger brother. Gautham uses this confession to sever the trust between the friends, revealing it to Chandru and igniting a bitter rift.

Crises continue to mount as Gautham’s manipulations come to light. Aravindan, desperate to heal the breach, reaches out in a bid to reconcile, but tragedy strikes when he slips from a cliff and is assumed dead. Five years pass. Chandru, now an army major, uncovers the astonishing truth that Aravindan is alive, though in a vegetative state. Returning home, he discovers that Aravindan’s son bears his own name, a small bridge between a lost past and a fragile present.

When Gautham returns to threaten the family again, Chandru’s heartfelt cries trigger a miraculous revival: Aravindan stirs, summons the courage that once defined him, and defeats Gautham once more. In the end, the friends and their families come together again, choosing to nurture the bonds that endured every trial, misunderstanding, and tragedy, and to celebrate the resilience that keeps them united.