Navarathiri

Navarathiri

Year: 1964

Runtime: 166 mins

Language: Tamil

Director: A. P. Nagarajan

Drama

Following a heated argument with her father about the man he wants her to marry, Nalina leaves home on the first night of Navaratri. For the next nine nights she meets a different facet of human behavior each day, confronting a range of attitudes and actions that challenge her and lead her toward self‑realization.

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Timeline – Navarathiri (1964)

Trace every key event in Navarathiri (1964) with our detailed, chronological timeline. Perfect for unpacking nonlinear stories, spotting hidden connections, and understanding how each scene builds toward the film’s climax. Whether you're revisiting or decoding for the first time, this timeline gives you the full picture.

1

Navarasam setup and Navaratri

The film opens with a narrator introducing Navarasam—the nine types of human behavior—and explains that Sivaji Ganesan embodies nine roles, one for each emotion. This framing sets Nalina's journey as a medley of Wonder, Fear, Compassion, and the other Navarasams across the Navaratri nights. The setting is Nalina's home during the festival, foreshadowing the trials to come.

Opening Nalina's home
2

First Night: Wonder

Nalina learns that Anand, her college mate and lover, is about to marry someone else. Believing she has been betrayed, she attempts suicide. A widower named Arputharaj stops her and takes her to his house, hoping to help; reluctant to return home, she leaves at dawn the next day.

Night 1 College hostel; Arputharaj's house
3

Second Night: Fear

After unintentionally damaging a vegetable vendor's wares, Nalina is confronted by the vendor. A homely looking woman takes Nalina to her home and to a brothel house, where Nalina confronts a drunkard who rationalizes his actions. After a struggle, the drunkard faints and Nalina escapes.

Night 2 Brothel house
4

Third Night: Compassion

At a police station, Nalina pretends to be a mentally ill woman to avoid arrest. An elderly doctor, Karunaagaran, realises she is sane and helps her. She spends the night in the mental hospital, and the next morning a missing-person notice with her photo is found; she escapes while the doctor is distracted.

Night 3 Mental hospital
5

Fourth Night: Anger

Nalina mistakes a police jeep for an arrest and heads toward a man with a gun. The man is a killer seeking revenge for his brother's death, and Nalina convinces him to surrender to the police. In an ensuing attack, the gunman is killed by the businessman's henchmen, and Nalina escapes.

Night 4 Gunman's hideout
6

Fifth Night: Equanimity

Fed up with life, Nalina walks onto a railway track to commit suicide. An innocent villager saves her and brings her to his home, introducing her to his elder sister. A local priest accuses Nalina of being possessed by a spirit to extract money through fake rituals, and she escapes that night.

Night 5 Villager's home
7

Sixth Night: Disgust

Nalina meets an old leper who was once rich but lost everything to charity. The doctor who treats him learns that the leper’s wealth helped others, including the doctor himself, and decides to stay with him until he is cured. Nalina eventually leaves the hospital.

Night 6 Hospital
8

Seventh Night: Elegance

Nalina comes to aid Sathyavaan Singaaram, a director and actor whose village troupe needs a replacement for the seventh-day play. She agrees to act on the condition that she can leave after the performance, and the show is a success. Afterward, the troupe’s agent tries to misbehave, but the actor protects her and Nalina quietly departs.

Night 7 Village theatre
9

Eighth Night: Bravery

Nalina disguises herself as a man, Nathan, and visits hunter Veerapan, rumored to hunt a man-eater. Veerapan turns out to be the police commissioner pursuing a criminal, and he catches her during a tense confrontation. He reveals that the groom arranged by Nalina's father is Anand, her lover, setting up the ninth night.

Night 8 Hunter's house
10

Ninth Night: Bliss

Anand, initially pale and withdrawn, waits for Nalina at his home where his family worries about his condition. Miscommunication had led Nalina to leave home on the first Navaratri night, and she returns on the ninth. They finally marry, with the wedding attended by all the people she met during the nights—except the dead gunman.

Ninth Night Anand's home

Last Updated: October 05, 2025 at 12:19

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