Movies across languages have given us some iconic onscreen couples, letting the viewer follow their journey from adorable meet-cutes to climatic breakups to tearful reunions. And when the couple (unsurprisingly) gets back together in the end, the credits roll and we’re left with the assumption that their blissful union lives on.
But what if it doesn’t?
We, at TNM, love romantic movies but we’re also left wondering whether all those happily-ever-afters really made it. Here are a few couples from south Indian films whose relationships may not have stood the test of time.
Spoiler warning!
A well-meaning meet-cute kickstarts the romantic journey between Arjun, or Aju, (played by Dulquer Salmaan) and RJ Sarah (Parvathy) in the 2014 hit Bangalore Days. Their whirlwind romance hits several roadblocks, mostly thanks to Aju’s fear of commitment and Sarah’s impending move to Australia for her education. But in the end, after a victorious bike race, an adrenaline-filled Aju comes to realise that Sarah is the one. He rushes to her, and asks her to stay. She acquiesces, and the trio of cousins adds another to their group.
But to quote Keanu Reeves in Speed, “I’ve heard relationships based on intense experiences never work.” So what happens when Aju’s adrenaline wears off and his fears of settling down come surging back? Or when Sarah realises she gave up a scholarship for a wayward man-child? Sorry, we give Aju and Sarah four months before things fall apart (but hopefully Sarah can salvage her scholarship and make it back for spring semester!)
At the end of 2019’s Mundina Nildana, Zoya (Disksha Sharma), who has been listening patiently as Partha (Praveen Tej) recounts the two greatest loves — and losses — of his life, she coyly asks if she can tag along on his journey to the ‘next destination.’ No doubt, Partha has redeeming qualities — he’s a big-shot photographer, he can cook, has A+ brooding skills and he drives a car like he’s in a magazine photoshoot. He’s also deeply averse to marriage as a long term commitment, prone to outbursts of anger and sorrow, and can’t seem to make up his mind between Ahana (Ananya Kashyap) and Meera (Radhika Chetan), two women he still (understandably) seems to be in love with. And Zoya still wants to embark on a new relationship with Partha? Six weeks, max.
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We know this one hurts, but it must be said. Aditya (Dulquer) and Taara (Nithya Menen) dive head-on into a live-in relationship, each with the knowledge that marriage is off the table. So far? Smart, practical, on the same page. Both are career-driven and have goals that will soon take them abroad — Taara to Paris and Adhi to the United States. They decide to make the most of their time together because trying to balance work and a long-distance relationship is a pretty big challenge. Again, a reasonable decision. Then, things get a little topsy.
The two eventually get married and immediately move to their respective new countries to continue their long-distance marriage. So then what happens? Adhi probably gets an opportunity to stay back in the US, even though he promises Taara that he would fly to Paris after his initial stint. But Silicon Valley holds more promise for video game design than France, and Taara, finding no artistic inspiration among Bay Area techies, longs for Paris. Though the film shows them having kids in the end credits, that seems like a lot of wishful thinking. We give it a year before things go south.
Madhumati (Meena) married Udhayan (Mohanlal) at the peak of her acting career when Udhayan was an assistant director, struggling to put his own movie together. Their separation was a result of a fight solely prompted by Udhayan, whose ego did not allow him to live through his wife’s earnings. Though things pan out in their favour towards the end, we do not see this couple lasting long. It’s only a matter of time before Madhumati realises she has a promising acting career ahead of her, and she can be a star if she chooses. This, however, would likely prompt Udhayan to rake up a fight again, which would lead to a permanent separation in about a year-and-a-half (since Madhumati has as much patience as Udhayan has ego).
The relationship between Geetha (Rashmika Mandanna) and Govind (Vijaya Deverakonda) starts off with stalking and ‘accidental’ sexual harassment. Govind tries and fails to convince her that he is a ‘nice guy’. But then Govind’s young student sends him nudes, he does some convoluted moral policing with her, and Geetha is impressed. Govind’s climb to the moral high ground is a bit dodgy and it wouldn’t take much for him to fall.
Geetha simply had a crush which she wasn’t really acting on. It was extremely likely to have fizzled out if she overheard Govind and his male friend gang having one of their creepy conversations. They only end up getting married because of Geetha's grandfather’s poor health and a marriage ultimatum from her grandmother.
Besides, who can and wants to meet Govind's ridiculous standards? He gets his dating advice from sermons on Hindu devotional channels and wants his wife to remind him of his mother. He refuses to shake hands with a woman he was hitting on, when he gets to know that she is married. We doubt Geetha is up for playing into his absurd wife fantasies.
Veera Raghava Reddy (Jr NTR) is a Rayalaseema Reddy, and has inherited a violent family feud in accordance with the Tollywood rulebook. Spending a few years in London has only mildly killed his appetite for bloody swords and exploding Tata Sumos. Following his father’s death, he goes on a killing rampage but then goes into hiding to avoid more violence.
Aravinda (Pooja Hegde), a student of anthropology, is interested in researching factional politics and violence. She occasionally makes wise statements in unrelated contexts, and unintentionally helps Veera Raghava Reddy figure out his own perspective on his feudal violence issues.
Aravinda even travels with Veera Raghava Reddy to his village, to film a documentary on factional violence. The feud is resolved in the end, so we are not sure he really needs her sage advice anymore. If he does continue to have any philosophical questions on the human condition and conflict, he can probably get his answers sitting in London and scrolling through Aravinda’s Instagram captions.
And since the feud is over, once Aravinda finishes her thesis and documentary film on Veera Raghava Reddy’s village, she might simply move on to a different research question.
Inputs from Megha Kaveri, Jahnavi Reddy and Nikhita Venugopal.
All images from YouTube official channels.