Neeya 2 2019

Ichathari are beings who are human by day and snakes by night, living in the woods under a divine curse and dreaming of reclaiming a fully human life.

Sarva Jai Sampath is at the center of the tale, a man whose horoscope foreshadows danger around any marriage he chooses. The woman who pursues him is Divya [Catherine Tresa]—a persistent presence in his life for three years—yet he keeps rejecting her. When Sarva finally opens up and reveals his Naga dhosham, Divya discloses that she has a Naga dhosham as well, and the two unexpectedly decide to marry. This union sets off a chain of memories and revelations that bind two timelines together.

Malar [Raai Laxmi] enters the story as a grieving woman who holds a pencil-book of sketches that eerily resemble Sarva. Flashes from her past suggest that she was once married to someone who looks like him and loved him deeply. Her search for Sarva leads her through a string of encounters with men who pretend to know him, men who threaten her, and moments that hint at a deeper, darker truth. It emerges that Malar is a shapeshifting snake, doomed to be a woman by day and a serpent by night. A rishi’s powers reveal Sarva and Divya’s marriage, but he offers no warning about Malar.

An ominous incident in the apartment where Malar is staying drives her to flee toward Sarva’s home, not realizing how close she is to her former life. The snake’s presence unsettles Sarva, and Divya confesses that her earlier claims of Naga dhosham were a lie as they seek guidance from an astrologist. The astrologist advises them to journey to a Naga temple and to abstain from physical intimacy for a time, a warning that echoes through their decisions. They eventually reach the place where Malar is staying, while the rishi’s haunting power delivers a caution to ends of fate: Sarva is now married to Divya, and Malar’s destiny remains entangled with them.

In a pivotal moment, the rishi reveals what must be faced: Malar’s past, Sarva’s memory, and the danger of desire. Malar tries to navigate between love and memory, even shaping herself into Divya to lure Sarva. Her plan is thwarted, however, by the reality that the couple is not on a honeymoon but rather navigating danger and deception. The tension peaks as Malar stalks the couple, and in the woods she attempts to strike again, using Divya’s scarf as a weapon. The locals eventually seize Malar in her serpentine form and trap her in a barrel, only for her to escape once more.

The backstory deepens in flashbacks to 1993, when Malar is a college student traveling by bus. There, she meets Vikram [Jai Sampath], who defends another girl from local goons. Their romance blossoms, but caste divisions threaten the relationship as her parents oppose Vikram, forcing them into peril. Another layer is added by Devi [Varalaxmi Sarathkumar] and Manas, two shapeshifting snakes who crave humanity. Their quest depends on obtaining a thali from the Naga statue, a prize guarded by countless failed souls. They succeed in acquiring it, but a struggle ensues, and Vikram and Malar flee, with Vikram tying a thali to Malar. In a dramatic turn, Devi interferes and a confrontation follows—Devi poisons Vikram, curses Malar with the same fate she suffered, and dies.

Back in the present, Malar has become Nagarani, fated to roam the night as a snake for eternity. She tries to pull Sarva back into a past life, hoping to rekindle what they once shared. Sarva’s memories surface only gradually, and when he finally attempts to resurrect that long-vanished bond, Malar falls from a waterfall into a lake, her memory’s echo hanging in the air. Divya, meanwhile, searches frantically for her husband and discovers the hard truth: Malar is a snake. A different rishi advises Divya to take poison and try to bite Malar, yet there is no antidote, and the warning is blunt: if Malar and Sarva unite, Sarva will become a snake as well.

As Malar closes in on the pair, Divya’s health deteriorates from poison. Sarva must choose between his wife and his past love. He ultimately chooses Divya, and Malar dies after biting Divya’s leg, choosing peace over possession. In a final, bittersweet revelation, Malar tells Sarva that she had already died the moment he chose Divya over her, and that she died for him in the last era. She accepts her fate with a quiet, sorrowful contentment, knowing she must wait for him in the next life, a wait that has spanned nearly twenty-five years for Vikram Adithya’s memory to resurface and find its final closure.