Natpukkaga 1998

In a village in the Coimbatore district, Chinnayya works for an aging landlord named Karunakaran, known to locals as Ayya. Karunakaran is incredibly wealthy, and his family is held in high regard throughout the village and its surroundings. Yet he harbors a deep grudge against his eldest daughter Gowri and her husband Perusu, for reasons rooted in a past that quietly reshaped the fortunes of the family. Fifteen years earlier, he ostracized them and allotted Gowri a large share of his wealth, severing the ties that once bound them.

Karunakaran’s younger daughter Prabhavathy returns after completing her studies in the United States and soon becomes entangled in a romance with Chinnayya. At first, he hesitates to reciprocate, fearing that such a union might betray the trust Ayya has placed in him. Yet as events unfold, Chinnayya comes to understand Prabhavathy’s feelings and gradually returns them, even as the shadow of the old family feud lingers over every choice they make.

A crisis erupts when Prabhavathy accuses Chinnayya of attempting to force himself on her. Enraged, Karunakaran slaps him and drives him out of the house. Around this moment, Chinnayya’s father Muthaiya is released from jail after fourteen years and returns to Karunakaran’s home. Muthaiya had once been a trusted aide, but Prabhavathy harbors anger toward him because he had been jailed for the murder of Lakshmi, Karunakaran’s wife. Prabhavathy also reveals that she staged the confrontation to push Chinnayya away. Karunakaran is stunned by the truth and feels deep remorse for having believed his daughter’s deception over the loyalty of a trusted servant.

The story then unfolds against a backdrop of long-simmering loyalties and social tensions. Muthaiya’s backstory highlights a life defined by loyalty across caste lines, as he remains devoted to Karunakaran despite society’s constraints. Perusu, Lakshmi’s younger brother, was a simple farmer, and he has a younger brother named Chinnaraasu. To protect Gowri from a sense of abandonment, Karunakaran arranges Gowri’s marriage to Perusu, with Perusu living in Gowri’s home. On the wedding day, Lakshmi discovers Perusu’s affair with another woman and Perusu injures Lakshmi, racing toward the wedding platform. Muthaiya uncovers the truth and, though Lakshmi dies from her injuries, the marriage goes ahead; Muthaiya admits that he murdered Lakshmi for money and is arrested. Gowri and Prabhavathy come to hate him and his family, while Karunakaran struggles to believe the murder claim.

Karunakaran eventually visits Muthaiya in jail to hear the full truth, promising not to reveal it to anyone else so Gowri will not be left alone. He agrees, but the pain of their shared past persists. Karunakaran also sends Perusu away and brings the then twelve-year-old Chinnayya into his home to care for him, a move that unsettles the household and fuels further suspicion. Perusu uses the rumor of an illegitimate child to drive a wedge between Karunakaran and Gowri, and the family fractures as Gowri leaves, unsure of her father’s affection.

Returning to the present, the wedding of Prabhavathy’s and Perusu’s brother, Chinnarasu, is planned. On the wedding day, Perusu’s mistress returns with her brother, who wishes to marry Perusu’s daughter, intensifying the maneuvering over Karunakaran’s wealth. It is at this moment that the long-buried truth about Lakshmi’s death resurfaces, witnessed by Gowri. Perusu attempts to kill Gowri to seize the family’s fortune, but Muthaiya arrives to protect her, taking a fatal knife wound in the process. Chinnaraasu, filled with remorse upon learning the truth about Lakshmi, kills Perusu with a sword. After this revelation, Prabhavathy apologizes to Muthaiya, who hands her over to Karunakaran before succumbing to his injuries. In his final moments, Muthaiya asks Chinnayya to look after Karunakaran. Grief-stricken, Karunakaran mourns at Muthaiya’s side and dies as well. The saga closes on a note of reconciliation and renewal, with the marriage of Chinnayya and Prabhavathy marking the hopeful end of a century-spanning family drama.