Saba Nayagan 2023

In 2016, in the bustling city of Chennai, we find Ashok Selvan portraying S.B. Aravind (Saba), a young man whose life takes an unexpected turn after a night of drunkenness leads him to be arrested for public nuisance. As he pleads with the police to release him, an unusual situation arises where the sub-inspector chooses to release another individual after hearing his love-failure story, while Saba remains behind. Determined to escape, Saba begins narrating his complex and heartfelt love story, which unfolds in various stages of his life.

The story starts in 2008, in Erode, where a teenage Saba is an eleventh-grader harboring a deep crush on Eesha. Despite his efforts to confess his feelings, his attempts are continually thwarted, leading to disappointment when he believes she is in love with a senior student named Ashwin. However, it turns out that her interactions with Ashwin are innocent and casual, meant to help her cousin’s sister. The narrative then jumps to 2009, during the school farewell day, where Saba hopes to confess his love to Eesha but holds back due to a friend, SS Karthik, and a heartbreak involving Gayathri, who rejects Karthik’s proposal, leaving Saba heartbroken as well.

After completing school, Saba joins an engineering college in Coimbatore, where he meets Riya and falls genuinely in love with her. In a bid to communicate more easily, he introduces her to his friend Gokul, thinking he can pass messages through him. Sadly, Gokul and Riya fall for each other, leaving Saba single once again. His life takes a new turn when he moves to Chennai after graduation, where he encounters Eesha again by chance at his cousin Divya’s boutique. Their rekindled connection sparks curiosity, leading to conversations about their pasts and mutual acquaintances, including Gayathri and SS Karthik, both of whom have their own troubled histories.

As Saba helps Eesha’s sister Preethi win a dress competition, he begins to build a closer bond with her family. Eesha introduces Saba to her parents, and they become increasingly close. However, complications arise when Gayathri discovers that SS Karthik is not the doctor he claimed to be, revealing complex interactions involving jealousy, deception, and misunderstandings among friends. During this period, Saba records a video as a symbolic farewell to Eesha, signaling the end of their relationship, but his feelings are still tender, especially when he sees her dressed in a saree and feels mesmerized by her presence.

The narrative reveals that Saba’s love story continues beyond school days, leading him to meet Megha in college, where he experiences happiness and growth, culminating in a relationship that truly feels right. The police story reaches its climax as Saba recounts how he rescued the sub-inspector from a group of goons, not just as a heroic act but as a gesture of understanding love and friendship. The sub-inspector, Vishnu Balaji, played by Michael Thangadurai, reflects on his own relationships, sharing that he has five friends in college. Two are committed, and he plans to break up with Deepthi (who is revealed to be Eesha in disguise), recognizing that their relationships were more about pleasing others rather than genuine love.

In a surprising twist, Saba confesses that he deliberately got arrested to help Vishnu realize what true love is, and to highlight that many relationships are often based on societal pressures rather than genuine affection. The story culminates in a heartfelt reunion of classmates at SVB School, where secrets are unveiled, and Saba admits he told everyone he had fallen in love with Megha to give them hope. The narrative closes with Saba and Deepthi, Karthika Muraleedharan, sharing a quiet moment after the event, as he turns back, gazing at her, hinting at a future of possibilities.

Throughout his tale, themes of young love, heartbreak, friendship, and self-discovery intertwine, painting a vivid picture of how life’s unpredictability often leads us to unexpected yet meaningful destinations. The film serves as a reminder that love is complex, sometimes mistaken or delayed, but ultimately worth fighting for.