The end of Nanpakal Nerathu Mayakkam explained

Nanpakal Nerathu Mayakkams The inspiration for a true story was an old commercial in which a little boy wakes up from a nap on a bus and starts speaking in a different language. Mammootty plays James, a man who awakens from a sleep into a trance-like state believing he is different.

James is a middle-aged man who is on a pilgrimage with his wife Sally (Ramya Suvi)his little son, his father-in-law (T. Suresh Babu) and her friends. Group of Malaysian tourists visited Velankanni in Tamil Nadu area from Kerala. James is introduced as the de facto leader of the group. He is portrayed as a bit of a spoilsport who doesn’t drink and enjoys bossing people around. Despite his weaknesses, he is also a kind husband and very generous to those around him, as it quickly becomes apparent that he is the one who paid for the entire pilgrimage.

When the bus returns to Kerala, the group tries to pass the time singing. Killjoy James is immediately annoyed and orders everyone to be quiet. Soon all the passengers fall asleep, including James. When James wakes up, he asks the bus driver (Rajesh Sharma) to stop; He gets out and makes his way to a nearby village. At first, the other passengers think James is just following the call of nature. Instead, he goes straight to one of the houses, feeds the cow, pets the dog, and wakes up the lady of the house, Poovally (Ramya Pandan), with an inappropriate intimacy that leaves the poor woman stunned.

Who was Sundaram?

Little by little, as the narrative unfolds, we find out that Poovally’s husband, Sundaram, disappeared less than two years ago, and somehow James pretends to be the returned man. He runs errands, drinks with his friends and speaks his Tamil language perfectly. Things James normally dislikes, like Tamil cuisine and the usual sugary tea, he now loves. Though no one recognizes him, James continues to move through the village as if he has lived there all his life.

James and Sundaram’s wives are heartbroken and confused. The other group members try to work things out with the village elders and Sundaram’s father. Only one person recognizes their son in James, Sundaram’s blind mother.

The end of Nanpakal Nerathu Mayakkam explained

On the second morning, in Sundaram’s role, James gets up early and heads off to run some errands. He tries to sell milk to other villagers, but none of his customers recognize him. When he tries to demand money from the club office, he is kicked out on suspicion of forging signatures. A temple looks almost complete when it only remembers the beginning of construction. His regular hairdresser passed away more than six months ago. And when he finally looks in a mirror, the man is horrified at not seeing his reflection.

Back in the village, James’ friends and the locals devise a plan to calm him down and force him back onto the bus. Poovally doesn’t feel comfortable with the idea of ​​sedating the man and acting like her husband, and neither does Sundaram’s daughter.

Upon his return, James Sundaram’s father joins him for the meal and insists his daughter sit down and eat with him as well. He seems upset and confused, especially after Sundaram’s hot-tempered brother walks in and calls him a “cheater”. Poor James doesn’t understand why nobody in the village recognizes him and why he can’t even see himself in the mirror. He knows something is wrong but can’t put it into words. Instead, he eats his meal and falls into a deep sleep.

Everyone in the village, along with James’ family and the rest of the travelers, also fall asleep together. During his nap, James sees flashing images of the real Sundaram before waking up and finally recognizing his real wife and son. He hugs his family before leading the whole group of confused passengers out of the village.

In the final scene, James is back on the bus and is the only one not sleeping. As the bus pulls away, we can see that it’s owned by a theater company, and Sundaram’s dog runs after it.

Did James dream of Tamil Nadu village?

Nanpakal Nerathu Mayakkams The ending is as ambiguous and open to interpretation as possible. This final scene, showing James as the only person awake on the bus, implies that the events in the Tamil Nadu village were only part of the protagonist’s dream, which would also be consistent with the film’s translated title. Like an afternoon dream.

However, if it were a dream, we would only see the film play out from James’ perspective. Instead, we have several scenes that focus on James’ family and friends interacting with Sundaram’s family, which the protagonist could not possibly have overheard. And Sundaram’s dog following the bus further implies that the missing man’s spirit had possessed James while he slept on the bus and left his body while he was napping the following afternoon.

What did you think of the ending of the 2022 film Nanpakal Nerathu Mayakkam? Comment below.