Kandha Kadamba Kathir Vela 2000

Parvathi is a wealthy and arrogant matriarch who runs a restaurant in Chennai, living with her three sons — Kandha, Kadamba, and Kathirvela — and a daughter, Mallika, who is married to Vadivelan, a barber. Parvathi disowns Mallika.

Her son-in-law’s act of defiance sparks a plan. [Vadivelan] decides to teach Parvathi a lesson and discovers that Parvathi’s three sons are in love with girls from economically backward communities. He decides to help them marry these women against his mother-in-law’s wishes, hoping to reveal her true nature and the consequences of her controlling ways.

To fuel the plan, Kandha is married to Rupini, Kadamba to Rohini, and Kathirvela to Ragini. Parvathi had originally planned to secure lavish dowry by marrying her sons to a rich London family, and she despises her daughters-in-law for being poor. This fuels her motivation to drive a wedge between the couples. She stages a careful, staged display of affection toward the daughters-in-law to lure them into staying away from their husbands and even brings in a new maid to sow fear about imagined affairs, suggesting that the husbands might be cheating.

Parvathi’s scheme appears to work at first, and the daughters-in-law leave the family home after misunderstandings with their husbands. She presses forward, pushing her sons toward divorce and re-marriage to match her own desires. But the maid—hired by Parvathi—turns the tables, threatening to reveal the truth and demanding Rs. 5 crores to stay silent. Parvathi is kidnapped by the maid and her men, leaving the family in turmoil.

The rescue arrives when her sons, along with their wives, come to Parvathi’s aid. The dramatic intervention forces Parvathi to confront the reality of her daughters-in-law and the strength of their bonds. With a new understanding, she begins to see beyond money and status, recognizing the value of the women in her life. In a final reversal of her earlier stance, Parvathi accepts her daughters-in-law and also reconciles with her daughter Mallika and with Vadivelan, choosing family over pride.