Idhaya Kovil 1985

On a college campus, Suriya dreams of bringing in a popular singer to headline her annual college festival. The celebrated Shankar is a recluse, rarely stepping into the bustling world of concerts. Her initial attempts to meet him fail, prompting a bold move: she breaks into his home to plead her case. There, she discovers him in an inebriated state, a sight that shakes her resolve yet also sparks her determination. She helps him sober up, and his performance at the festival goes off without a hitch, winning over the crowd and turning a fragile acquaintance into a budding friendship.

As their bond grows, Shankar gradually stops drinking, and Suriya begins to fall for him. Yet Shankar guards a dark past that threatens their happiness. Long before fame, he grew up in a village where he sang at local festivals and cherished a woman named Gauri. With her encouragement, he leaves for Madras to pursue stardom. A breakthrough opportunity to sing for a radio program arrives, but on the same day, Gauri reaches Madras. Unable to meet her at the bus stop, he misses her arrival; she becomes lost in the city, evades danger at the hands of thugs, and seeks refuge in a temple, where she ultimately takes her own life. Shankar, meanwhile, is performing, and when he later discovers her body in the temple, the shock drives him toward the bottle and into a deeper withdrawal.

Back in the present, Suriya’s parents arrange a marriage to a family friend. Although Suriya longs to marry Shankar, he reveals that his one true love was Gauri, even as he cares about her. On the wedding day, Suriya collapses and dies after having ingested poison in secret. The film closes with Shankar standing at the graves of both Gauri and Suriya, a somber testament to love, loss, and the heavy toll of a haunted past.