SYNOPSIS

Anbe Sivam is a 2003 Indian Tamil-language slice-of-life drama film directed by Sundar C and produced by K. Muralitharan, V. Swaminathan and G. Venugopal under the banner of Lakshmi Movie Makers. The film was written by Kamal Haasan, and Madhan provided the dialogues. Anbe Sivam stars Haasan, Madhavan and Kiran Rathod, with Nassar, Santhana Bharathi, Seema and Uma Riyaz Khan playing supporting characters. The film tells the story of Nallasivam and Anbarasu, two men of contrasting personalities who undertake an unexpected journey from Bhubaneswar to Chennai.

Plot: Two men waiting at the Biju Patnaik Airport (in Bhubaneswar, Odisha, for a flight to Chennai, Tamil Nadu) engage in conversation. One is a commercial director, Anbarasu, who prefers the abbreviated name A. Aras, and the other is a scarred and deformed socialist, Nallasivam, going by Mr. Sivam. When the flight is cancelled due to heavy rain, Aras initially suspects Sivam to be a terrorist and informs the authorities, only to discover that he was mistaken. With the rain flooding the city, the two men are forced to share a room for the night. Both need to return to Chennai: Aras to be present at his wedding, and Sivam has to deliver a ₹32,00,000 cheque, recently awarded to him after he won a court case, to a group of union workers.

After a traumatic night, and no hope for a flight, the two men take a bus to board the Coromandel Express train. Aras's bag gets stolen on the way, leaving him with only his credit card, which no one accepts. Using his presence of mind, Sivam repeatedly bails Aras out of trouble while Aras tries to escape from him at every juncture, only to end up with him again. While waiting for the train at the Ichchapuram railway station (in Andhra Pradesh), Sivam begins to tell Aras his story.

A few years earlier, a healthy Nallasivam, going by Nalla, took part in various street theatre performances protesting against multinational corporation-driven industrialisation, which resulted in the marginalisation of the labour force. He was at odds with Kandasamy Padayatchi, a manipulative factory owner who refused to give his workers a raise. Nalla satirically imitated Padayatchi in many of his shows. In an unexpected turn of events, Nalla and Balasaraswathi (Bala), Padayatchi's daughter, fell in love with each other. To avoid a potential conflict with Padayatchi, the two decided to elope to Kerala.

Nalla boarded a bus bound for Kerala, and on his way to meet Bala, the bus met with an accident on a hillside, leaving him scarred, disfigured, and partially paralysed for life. After recovering from his wounds, he visited Bala, only to be informed by Padayatchi that his daughter was already married and pregnant with her first child, and had settled abroad. Padayatchi had earlier lied to Bala that Nalla died in the accident. It was also at this time that Nalla became a firm believer in kindness and love after experiencing patience and compassion from the nurses at the hospital. Despite suffering from an inferiority complex due to his scarred and deformed body, Nalla performs community service and social work with renewed fervour while continuing to fight for union causes.

Upon their arrival in Chennai, Aras delivers Sivam's cheque to the union workers. He invites Sivam to his wedding, letting him know how much he means to him, to utter astonishment, Sivam sees that Aras's bride is Bala. Padayatchi spots Sivam and asks him why he is at the wedding. He tells Padayatchi that he was invited by Aras, and later persuades him to sign the papers which will help Padayatchi's workers get a raise. To prevent the disruption of Bala's wedding and avoid damaging his own reputation, Padayatchi yields to Sivam's demands. After signing the papers, Padayatchi instructs his assistant to eliminate Sivam. However, his assistant has a change of heart as he is about to kill him, letting Sivam know that he believed that the misdeeds he committed for Padayatchi resulted in the death of his own daughter. Padayatchi's assistant requests Sivam to stay as far away from his boss as possible. Sivam assents and walks away.