Thalaikoothal

A middle-aged man who sacrifices his own work and stability to care for his bedridden father Muthu. He quits his job and takes night shifts as an ATM guard to fund treatment, while his wife Kalaiselvi bears the economic strain. Haunted by debt from a moneylender, he faces mounting pressure from relatives to perform Thalaikoothal, even as he clings to the belief that his father should be cared for. His resolve and moral conflict form the emotional core of the film.

Pazhani's wife, a working mother who must support the family after Pazhani's shift to night guarding. She resents the time Pazhani spends tending his father and fears financial instability, leading to tensions at home. Forced to work at a matchstick factory, she pushes back against feeling neglected and becomes embroiled in conflicts with the moneylender and the family’s elders. Her decision to leave with their daughter marks a turning point in their relationship.

Pazhani's comatose father, whose accident and continuing illness drive the family's finances and emotions. The bedbound man intermittently awakens, triggering non-linear flashbacks to his youth. In those memories, he recalls a forbidden romance with Pechi, revealing the social forces that shaped his life. His condition catalyzes the family’s struggle and Pazhani's ultimate dilemma.

The younger version of Pazhani's father, seen in flashbacks as a man who falls in love with Pechi under social scrutiny. His romance is crushed by family interference, sowing seeds of regret that echo into the present. These memories illuminate the caste barriers that still influence decisions in the family. His story helps explain the generational weight of tradition.

A lower-caste washerwoman whose romance with Muthu exposes the caste-based constraints of the time. Their relationship is crushed by family interference, foreshadowing the social consequences that haunt the couple. She reappears only in memory and at the funeral, a symbol of a love that could never be fully realized. Pechi's presence underscores the film's critique of rigid social hierarchies.