Neerparavai 2012

Mary [Saranya Ponvannan] lives alone in a coastal village. When her son and daughter-in-law move in, they press her to sell the house so they can build a home in the city with help from her son’s father-in-law, but Mary stoutly refuses. The couple notices that she often slips out at night to walk to the beach and tends a prayer spot in the garden, and she explains that she is waiting for her husband to come back. The son grows angry, reminding her that she has waited for 25 years and that he is not coming. While Mary repeats her night-time ritual, the couple digs into the garden prayer spot and unearth a skeleton, a discovery they rush to report to the police. Inspector Agnes takes charge of the case and begins questioning Mary, who then unfolds the thread of her past.

In that past, Arulappasamy [Vishnu Vishal] is introduced as a young man whose life has been shaped by alcohol and missteps, a constant embarrassment to his hardworking adoptive parents. Esther [Nandita Das] is an orphan taken in by a nun named Sister Benita [Anupama Kumar], living in the church community. As the story of Mary’s past slowly comes into view, Arulappasamy’s heart begins to turn toward Esther, and his feelings spark a transformation. He stops drinking and resolves to work hard so that he can marry Esther, even as the local fishermen push back against letting him go out to sea. Undeterred, his determination leads him to buy a boat, marry Esther, and welcome a son into their life. The early years look bright, but fate has a way of intervening.

One day, Arulappasamy goes to fish and does not return for days. Esther is consumed by worry, and when his body is eventually found aboard a boat, they bring him home. Esther tells herself it is not just his death, but her own action in sending him to work that may have contributed to it. The investigation continues, and the police release Mary but press her with a pointed question: why would a woman keep waiting for a husband who is dead? Mary’s reply is steadfast and haunting: only his body returned to shore, but his soul remains in the sea.