By Jayabhuvaneshwari B

Tamil movies have given us an entire world of romance and love that we can cherish for life. Directors like Mani Ratnam and Gautam Vasudev Menon have given us many many love stories of fictitious characters which makes us yearn for such a love story in our own lives. While we celebrate these love stories, we also go deep into the lives of the characters and imagine ourselves in their shoes. And sometimes, when couples don’t end up together, although they deserve that the most, due to the twist of fate in the storyline, we get affected personally. There are many such stories where we really wished they came together. Here’s a look at 12 movie couples who were deprived of their endgame and how it would have been if they actually ended up together!

 

• Anbuselvan and Maya from Kaakha Kaakha:

Anybody who has watched Kaakha Kaakha will know better not to watch it again, only because of how sad it is when Anbuselvan and Maya don’t really unite in the end. A brilliant movie with brilliant acting, Kaakha Kaakha is one of the classics when it comes to both action and romance. The entire sequence of love between ACP Anbuselvan and Maya iis just so dreamy and equally realistic. Throughout the movie, all you want as the audience is to see them unite and have a happily ever after. You keep hoping for that till the climax, until Maya dies in Anbu’s hands. 

While this is devastating, let us think about a better twist in fate. If Shrikanth didn’t give out the hiding of Anbu and Maya, they might have actually been saved from what follows. As Maya beautifully says, “Ondra renda aasaigal, elaam sollave oru naal podhuma,” she would have gotten a lifetime with Anbu to cast out her wishes as spells for him to fulfill. We could have even seen how they become more and more successful in their respective careers, together as man and wife. 

 

• Vijaykumar and Mithra from Theri:

A mix of a commercial-cum-action movie, Theri is a solid entertainer, especially for Vijay fans. Most of the first half of the movie goes very lightly with the cute and adorable Baby Nainika nailing her role. When the flashback is narrated, our eyes can’t get enough of Samantha and Vijay as a couple. But, towards the end of their story, our hearts start sinking when we see the death of Mithra. We are reminded of how unfair life is when it gives Mithra the very same death she feared due to the risk of Vijaykumar being a police officer. 

Vijaykumar loses his entire family, having only Nivi, his child, left. This makes him change his entire idea about life. He changes his identity and moves to a different state. But, what if Vijaykumar had managed to save Mithra that day, like he had promised he would? Maybe, we could have seen how amazing a mother Mithra would have been. We could have also seen how she would have been supportive of all the risks he would have taken for his job. Maybe we would have seen how they would have faced all the difficulties and threats in their life together. 

 

•  Sivasaami and Mariyammal from Asuran:

Asuran, from beginning to end, is a movie filled with violence and action. The thing that makes us keep going with the movie, in spite of the violence is family values and of course the brilliant acting of the actors. It is not until the movie goes to its flashback do we even know that Romance also has a part in the movie. The entire screen time where Dhanush shares the screen space with Ammu Abirami is just too adorable. We first wonder if their age gap isn’t too much for them to fall in love with each other. But, when we look at the extent they go for each other, we realise that age is just a number. 

Again, because of someone’s actions, someone else faces the repercussions. In this case, it is Mariyammal, who faces the repercussions of death because of Sivasaami’s actions. We keep hoping if somehow Mariyamaal is still alive and living with Sivasaami. But, the bitter truth bothers us quite a bit through the course of the movie. Given the freedom of our imagination, if we think about them uniting, the first thing that comes to mind is Sivasaami moving hell and heaven to ensure Mariyammal is safe, happy and comfortable. We could have also seen the care and love Mariyammal would have showered Siva with as his very own wife. As a movie with death and distraught, Mariyammal and Sivasaami’s love story would have been the only silver lining, if Mariyammal survived and united with Siva.

 

• Shivakumar and Meenkashi from Thandavam:

Thandavam is a movie about RAW Agents and terrorism with action-thriller as its genre. The love story between Vikram and Anushka in the movie is just very different from your predictable rom-com love stories. Being almost forced into an arranged marriage, both Shiva and Meenakshi believe that they need to first get to know each other then start living with each other as man and wife. Although they get married, they continue to be friends who get to know each other more and more everyday. 

When Meenakshi finally decides to confess her love for Shivakumar, there is a horrible turn of events which is required to keep the movie going forward. As much as we realise that Meenakshi’s death is a much needed catalyst for the story to move forward, we as audience, yearn to see more of what could have actually happened after she confesses her feelings for him. Them not uniting is even more sad because, they did not even have the opportunity to actually express their love to each other, explicitly. If she does not fly to London afterall, maybe we could have seen them actually openly express their feelings for each other. We could have seen more of the care and affection which they covetedly poured on each other before. But maybe, this movie motivated a lot of people to confess their feelings to their loved ones, considering how uncertain life is. 

 

• Sathyadev and Hemanika from Yennai Arindhal:

Sathyadev and Hemanika’s love story from this movie is very different and something unexpected. We also have Victor and Lisa’s love story that runs parallely in the movie. This movie did a very unfair thing to its audience by killing both women and thereby giving no means to the end of their respective happily ever afters. 

But, more than anything, what we miss most about this movie’s story, is a chance to see Sathyadev and Hemanikas’ life after marriage. While we get to see how amazing Sathyadev is as a father, we are deprived of seeing how amazing a husband he might have been. The movie’s twisted fate also deprives Hemanika of a chance to have a happy life. She was somebody who already walked out of an unhappy marriage with her child. If she lived to marry Sathyadev, she would have had her chance at a happy and secure life. Sathyadev was willing to make the sacrifice of not wanting another child after Isha. It would have been great if we had the chance to see this trust and faith bloom into a beautiful love story on screen for Sathyadev and Hemanika. 

 

• Dharmadurai and Anbuselvi from Dharma Durai:

In this movie, Dharmadurai falls in love with a girl and decides to marry her against all odds. Even after she hesitates considering that she is uneducated and he is a doctor, he doesn’t falter from his stand to marry her and live a life together. It is disheartening as the audience to see that this does not happen after all that they do to come together. 

The entire movie is about Dharmadurai’s family creating trouble for him because he is well educated and successful. What we do not expect however is for them to interfere and ruin the beautiful love story of Anbuselvi and Durai. Anbu should have gotten a chance to live with Durai, because Anbuselvi has never experienced much happiness and comfort in life. She would have lived that life with Dharmadurai. If Anbu continued to live, instead of committing suicide, she might have been able to become a successful poet. He might have finally been able to live the peaceful life he always imagined and continue his service towards mankind. Together, they would have just been the most perfect couple that the village would have ever seen. 

 

• Suriya and Meghna from Varanam Aayiram:

Varanam Aayiram is a movie that is mainly made for hopeless romantics who would go to any extent to prove a point when it comes to love. Suriya is one such character and his love for Meghna, even though love at first sight, makes us believe in the concept. He takes a daring move to impress his lover and actually manages to do so. The love that blossoms between the two is so beautiful that it stings when it is short lived. 

Meghna finally starts reciprocating Suriya’s feelings and decides he’s the one. But fate had other plans when it decided to keep them from uniting. Of course, Suriya’s marriage to Priya later in the movie is also equally romantic and helps in making the audience a little peaceful. Still, for all the efforts and risks that Suriya took, he deserved to see the happily ever after with Meghna. If they did unite, we could have seen how Meghna convinces her father that he is the one for him. We could have also seen what other extremes Suriya would have gone to to make Meghna happy. Maybe, their love story could have fully made people believe in love at first sight. With such a beautiful love story, it is really unfair that the couple were deprived of their endgame. 

 

• Ram and Jaanu from ‘96:

If ‘Twist of Fate’ needs an example, the movie ‘96 is the most appropriate one. Throughout the movie, we keep wondering why Jaanu and Ram didn’t take that one extra step to unite, but we’re disappointed every single time. Unlike other movies, they do not separate because of a fight, death or any other problems. They do not unite because of the decisions they take at the moments they could have united and the very evil plot of fate. 

While this should have been first in the list, this is towards the end because this is the most unfair and indigestible way of stripping them of their chance to be together. Ram and Jaanu had so many situations where they could have united, but they let them all go.What if Jaanu came back unmarried? Or what if Ram intervened when Jaanu was getting married? Ram would have had an endless relay of ‘Yamunai Aatrile’ all his life. Maybe Ram would have finally mustered the courage to talk to Jaanu without fainting. The more we think about how amazing their couple would have been, the more we feel like cursing fate for separating them. This couple is undoubtedly the number 1 couple who should have been each other’s endgame!

 

• Theeran and Priya from Theeran Adhigaram Ondru:

Before we start watching Theeran Adhigaram Ondru, we already know that it is based on a true story. We prepare our minds for a crime-action thriller with a lot of violence and bloodshed. However, we are in for a sweet surprise in the movie with Theeran and Priya’s love story. The story in this movie is very unique because of the kind of unconditional love that both Theeran and Priya have for each other. Priya marries him knowing the risks in his job and Theeran loves her for who she is even if she is not well educated. 

At an inevitable point in the movie, Priya is attacked by the villain and his gang. We lose all hope for Theeran because throughout the movie it is established that she is his back bone even if he is inherently confident. There is also a point in the movie where he is made to choose between Priya and his job and he, with great difficulty chooses the latter because of anger and the need to avenge for the condition she is in. The ending conveys indirectly that she does not survive and that he lives alone. But, if she did come out of her Coma, maybe we could have seen how Priya would still be a part of Theeran’s boring life as an officer at the Traffic Vigilance Department. Maybe his life would have had the same colour it did when they were together. 

 

• Nallasivam and Bala from Anbe Sivam:

Anbe Sivam is a movie filled with messages for social issues and other sentimental values and belief systems. While the movie has a mix of comedy, drama and romance, the love story of Nallasivam and Bala is the best part of the movie. This love story is one such story where hatred turns into love, but she ends up loving someone who her family would never accept. The sad part about how this love story ends is that they do not unite because of the evil plot of her father, and not because of an actual twist of fate like death. 

Our heart sinks in the last scene where Nallasivam realises that Anbarasu is actually going to marry Bala, his lover. It sinks deeper when he decides not to create a ruckus considering the future of Bala. That very scene makes us think about the amount of love Nallasivam has for Bala. As planned, if Bala had really married Nalla, their love story would have surely been something entirely different. Bala and Nalla deserved to unite because their love transcends caste, class or family. If they did end up together, we could have seen how Bala would have merged along with Nalla into his street play troupe to fight more social issues. And just like in the song ‘Poo Vaasam’, we could have seen them create many more wonderful pieces of art together. Ofcourse, the character of Anbarasu would have had no role in the movie if they did unite. 

 

• Thomas and Priya from Minsara Kanavu:

At this point of the article you’re probably wondering how Priya and Thomas from Minsara Kanavu made their way into this list. Your thought might probably be that Deva and Priya made a good enough pair for us to cherish the movie enough, till date. Well, but what if Thomas had a chance to end up with Priya at the end of the movie? Yes, Thomas takes the help of Deva to change Priya’s mind. But, what if Deva just did his job and actually succeeded in it rather than falling in love with her? What if Thomas arrived early, before Deva and Kajol could realise their feelings for each other?

If Thomas and Priya actually united, Thomas could have looked after his father’s and his father-in-law’s businesses while supporting Priya’s career in Music. Being childhood friends, they could have led a life of comfort and happiness because they knew each other from a very young age. Maybe, we would have also had the chance to see how much more Thomas could love Priya after they ended up together. Maybe, Thomas should have never involved Deva in his attempts to confess his feelings to Priya and change her mind. But, we would have never gotten a masterpiece like Minsara Kanavu without the storyline it already has. 

 

• Surya and Subbalakshmi from Thalapathi:

It is a well known fact that Mani Ratnam’s Thalapathi is loosely based on the Mahabharatha with Surya being Karna and Devaraj being Duryodhana. Ofcourse, Aravind Swamy’s Arjun is Arjuna himself. And in the sequence of this list Shobana’s Subbalakshmi is actually Draupadi’s character. In the original story, Karna also participates in the contest to win Draupadi’s hand in marriage and almost succeeds, but is rejected by her, citing the fact that he belongs to a lower caste. 

In the movie, a similar storyline is shown where Subbalakshmi marries Arjun even though she loved Surya because Arjun is of a higher caste. But what if Subbalakshmi decided to fight against all odds and marry Surya no matter what? Maybe it would have given a chance for Surya to finally find security after being insecure his whole life without knowing why his birth mom deserted him. Maybe they would have broken the shackles of society by letting love win over caste identities. Subbalakshmi could have lived the life she wanted rather than the life she got. This change in idea also makes us think about the original epic. Maybe, if Draupadi had indeed married Karna, without rejecting him for his caste, she may have lived a much more peaceful life. 

 

All the couples that have made it to the list surely deserved a chance to be together. However, if they did unite, the movie would not stand where it does today. While it is understandable that story writers are forced to separate the couple for the story to move forward, as an audience the little hopeless romantic in us keeps cursing fate for depriving these couples at a chance for them to see their future together!