Five close friends—Vinod, Shyam, Arjun, Sajith, and Jannath—share a vibrant life in Bengaluru, filled with laughter, shared meals, and lively parties. Their strong bond is tested when they engage in playful, sometimes mischievous pranks, such as surprising a friend with a humorous costume and a night out. The story explores whether these lighthearted jokes will remain good-natured or escalate into something more significant, potentially straining their friendship.
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Six friends — Vinod Viswanathan [Tovino Thomas], Jannath Ali [Darshana Rajendran], Arjun [Arjun Lal], Shyam [Arjun Radhakrishnan], Sajith [Basil Joseph], and Amudha [Sanchana Natarajan] — come together to celebrate Vinod’s birthday, kicking off with a playful dare: wearing a homemade Superman costume and roaming the city to make the night their own.
At a club they clash with a passer-by who livestreams Vinod without permission, which leads to their arrest. A police officer mocks Vinod’s tattoos, one of which reads AMMA in Malayalam, and Vinod is slapped after he reacts in defense. The sobering moment lingers as he confesses to Jannath that this birthday left a lasting, painful impression.
Back home, Jannath struggles to win the blessing of her conservative father for her relationship with Arjun, so the couple chooses a courthouse wedding. Meanwhile, the group is hustling to secure backing for a health-focused app they’re developing. Shyam hails from a well-off family but resists stepping into the family pub business, while Sajith comes from a financially strained background and faces repeated challenges in job interviews due to limited English and social experience.
One night, at the club, Arjun spikes Vinod’s drink, and Vinod—who had been abstaining that day in memory of his mother’s death anniversary—ends up shoving him. After leaving the club, Amudha confesses her love for Vinod, but he does not return the feelings.
Later, Vinod visits Jannath at the medical practice she works in and opens up about lingering feelings and unresolved grief surrounding his mother’s death. They share a sincere, heartfelt conversation that deepens their connection.
The next morning, Vinod disappears, leaving behind a letter in which he says he doesn’t want to be searched and thanks his friends for the memories they shared. The group is drawn in for questioning by the police, who suspect Vinod of theft—allegedly ₹70 lakhs—from a former employer. Jannath believes the situation is a misunderstanding, while Shyam is furious at the betrayal he feels from a supposed business partner.
As the investigation unfolds, the friends learn that Vinod didn’t record pieces of music he had claimed to have created and discover a web of untruths he had spun. They travel to Mumbai to meet the original musician, Sreenath [Hakkim Shajahan], who reveals the truth: Vinod and Sreenath were roommates, and Vinod once helped Sreenath after his mother’s death by registering him on a matrimonial website. Vinod’s sudden disappearance afterward becomes intertwined with the police inquiry into the stolen money.
The group then uncovers that Vinod’s mother is actually alive, but Vinod’s estrangement from her led her to believe he was dead. They return home, and life gradually brightens: Jannath and Arjun are expecting a baby, Sajith secures a solid, well-paying job, and Shyam takes over the family business.
One night, Sajith spots Vinod parking a car on a street and alerts Jannath, Arjun, and Shyam. They converge at the spot, but Vinod reveals that he is on the run from the police and has lied about his mother’s death to conceal his past. When asked about his identity, Vinod points to the ever-present “Mother” tattoo on his arm, suggesting that this familiar story has become his easiest fallback in difficult moments. The truth behind Vinod’s past remains murky, leaving the friends to reckon with the complex line between memory, deception, and loyalty.
Last Updated: October 09, 2025 at 14:17
Discover curated groups of movies connected by mood, themes, and story style. Browse collections built around emotion, atmosphere, and narrative focus to easily find films that match what you feel like watching right now.
Stories where a close-knit group unravels under the weight of secrets and lies.If you enjoyed Dear Friend's exploration of a friend group unraveling, you'll find similar stories here. These movies, spanning drama and mystery, focus on the emotional impact of secrets and betrayal within close relationships, often leading to a bittersweet or tense atmosphere.
This thread follows narratives centered on a group of friends whose seemingly solid foundation is cracked by a revelation or crisis. The story unfolds by peeling back layers of shared history and individual secrets, leading to confrontations and a re-evaluation of the friendships, often without a neat, happy resolution for everyone involved.
Movies are grouped here for their shared focus on the dynamics of friendship under duress. They typically feature a medium emotional weight, a steady, character-driven pace, and a melancholic or tense tone, creating a compelling and introspective look at how relationships change.
Character-driven mysteries where a person's fabricated life unravels those around them.Fans of Dear Friend's mystery surrounding Vinod's lies will appreciate these films. This collection features dramas and mysteries where a character's deception forces others to question everything they knew, focusing on the emotional investigation rather than action, often with a steady pace and melancholic feel.
The narrative pattern involves a central character whose web of lies is slowly uncovered, often triggering an investigation—both literal and emotional—by those closest to them. The journey is less about catching a criminal and more about the characters grappling with the betrayal and the unsettling question of who the person they knew really was.
These movies share a specific plot engine: a personal deception that drives the story. They consistently blend mystery and drama genres, maintain a moderate complexity in the reveal of lies, and create a medium intensity through emotional tension and the unsettling nature of the uncovered truth.
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