Ram, a travel photographer, is waiting for his students. He instructs his students
on how to go about the photography assignment and has them dispersed to find the spots they
like. For the next day's assignment, Prabha, one
of Ram's students, proposes to drive him to the location. While passing through a town,
Ram tells her that he grew up in this town and excitedly starts showing her all the places
he has some memory associated with. But he stops himself from saying anything when they
cross a bridge. They soon stop outside Ram's school and meet
the guard. The guard is happy to see Ram after so many years and takes them to a tea stall.
Ram cannot help himself from leaving the stall to go inside his school. As he enters the
gates, he walks down a memory lane. He finally reaches his old classroom and sits on the
bench, trying to remember how it was back then. Lost in deep thought, he goes out to
sit on the bench near the playground. Ram feels surreal, realizing it has been twenty
years since they passed out. After a long time, he feels like connecting
with his school friends. He calls his best friend Murli, who is ecstatic to hear from
him. He adds Ram to the school Whatsapp group called the '96 batch, and the friends catch
up. When one of them sends their group photograph from their school times, Ram zooms it in to
see how everybody looked back then. One of them suggests a class reunion, and soon it
is decided the reunion will be in Chennai on 7th March.
It is the day of the reunion. The venue is brimming with happy faces. Those who couldn't
make it join via video call. They pull each other's leg by remembering embarrassing anecdotes
from their school time. A group hug from his friends welcomes Ram.
They still have four more guests to come before they have dinner. One of them is Jaanu. Ram
gets a bit uncomfortable hearing her name. His memories take him back to the year 1996,
remembering Jaanki, also known as Jaanu, from his 10th class. Jaanu had a mellifluous voice
and was a talented singer. Ram was in love with her and her voice. She also knew that
she was the reason Ram had 90% attendance. Jaanu had a significant impact on his life.
So much so that her asking if everything was fine was enough for Ram to come out of any
upsetting situation. Every time he visited a temple, he always
prayed to keep Jaanu before his eyes. Once when Jaanu didn't show up for two days, Ram
couldn't concentrate on anything. His friend assured him Jaanu would come on Monday.
The entire weekend was stressful for him. He couldn't eat or sleep properly and kept
wondering what had happened to Jaanu. Soon Monday came, and Ram was hopeful. Jaanu finally
came but didn't look well. She had been sick for some days. She was soon surrounded by
her classmates asking how she was doing, but Ram couldn't bring himself to go to her seat
and talk to her. Soon the teacher came and realized Jaanu still hadn't recovered and
had a fever. She instructed Subha to take care of her.
Soon Jaanu looked back at Ram and smiled. And he knew, even in this condition, she had
come to school for him. This was the start of their love story.
After that day, he felt shy talking to her. He couldn't understand the emotions he would
feel when he saw Jaanu. Every time she was called to sing, Ram would request his favorite
song through his friends, but Jaanu would never sing it. She wanted him to say it to
her. On her birthday, their friends held Ram to
stop him from running away and wished Jaanu a happy birthday. He managed to say so, but
his heart rate increased, which one of his friends noticed. She asked Jaanu to feel it
by placing her hand on his chest. This was enough to make Ram faint.
Soon their final exams are over. The next day their two month holiday will begin. Ram
is upset because he won't be seeing her for two months. But Jaanu asks him not to forget
her in these two months and then rides back on her bike, leaving Ram with a hopeful smile.
At present, Ram is anxiously waiting for Jaanu, who will be arriving from Singapore, where
she now resides. His friends joke about how Ram is behaving exactly as he did in 10th
grade. He walks behind the jumping house, almost hiding himself.
Soon Jaanu arrives. She meets everybody, and Subha almost cries seeing her dear friend
after a long time. She sits with them at the table, but her eyes search for Ram. Subha
sends Satish to call Ram, but he refuses to come out.
They're talking about Jaanu's husband and daughter when Satish comes, and Subha tells
her that Ram is hiding behind the playing house.
Jaanu eyes well up. She gets up from her chair and slowly walks towards Ram, remembering
her 11th class, the time after the school holidays were over. She was excited to meet
Ram, but couldn't find him anywhere in the class. The friends visit his house and find
that Ram's father was in debt. They sold their house to pay off the debt and left for Chennai
overnight. Ram and his mom came to know they were moving the night they were supposed to
go, leaving no time for Ram to meet Jaanu one last time. Jaanu is left devastated as
no one knows about his whereabouts. They soon pass their 12th, and before leaving the school
forever, Jaanu visits the class and sits on Ram's seat. Life continues.
Jaanu walks to where Ram is hiding and sees the 10th-grade Ram she last saw. The seemingly
tough Ram becomes a nervous wreck in front of Jaanu. He still can't look at her directly.
Jaanu does most of the talking and asking questions.
Jaanu places her hand on his chest out of nowhere, and Ram faints just like in 10th
class. His friends help him calm down and take him
to sit with them at the table. The friends soon leave Jaanu and Ram alone. Once Ram knows
Jaanu hasn't had anything, he quickly goes to get her food.
Ram doesn't get himself anything and sits there waiting for Jaanu to finish eating.
She doesn't finish her food but leaves some for Ram. They sit in silence till Ram eats,
savoring every bite from the same spoon Jaanu has eaten.
Their friends take it upon themselves to break the awkwardness between them. Murli invites
Jaanu on the stage to say a few words. The others cheer her to sing. Ram takes the opportunity
and signals Murli to ask Jaanu to sing his favorite song.
But Jaanu still doesn't sing his song. The entire time they are with their friends
catching up, their eyes find each other. In the end, the five friends decide to have coffee
in a cafe before saying their goodbyes, as Jaanu has to catch an early flight the next
morning. While they're talking about their families,
Subha reveals that Ram didn't get married. Jaanu is shocked at the revelation. He asks
Ram why he didn't get married. Ram is not able to make an excuse. So to help him, Murli
changes the topic and says they should leave now. Jaanu turns to Sathish for an explanation,
but he, too, doesn't reveal anything. Ram is entrusted to take the ladies home.
He drops Subha first so that he can get some more time with Jaanu. Once alone, he finally
opens his mouth to initiate the conversation. Jaanu again poses the same question. But Ram
doesn't answer. Instead, he drives her to her hotel and says he'll pick her up in the
morning to take her to the airport. He gives her his number.
Jaanu's curiosity has taken the best of her and when she doesn't get answers she gets
upset. She gets out of the car without saying anything. She reaches her room, but she can't
sit still. After a few minutes, she calls Ram and asks if he's gone. After a little
hesitation, Ram says he's standing where she left him.
Jaanu is relieved. She didn't want to end things between them on such a note. She runs
downstairs and finds him standing near the entrance. She walks towards him, but unlike
one would have thought, she smacks him many times. She's upset that Ram let her go without
properly talking, after all they were meeting after 22 years. Ram apologizes and even goes
down to touch her feet to ask for her apology. They get in the car, and he takes Jaanu on
a long drive. They giggle like teenagers when their friend Subha calls them individually
to ask where they are, and they blatantly lie.
Ram asks her where she wants to go, and after some contemplation, Jaanu says she wants to
go to a salon. She wants to see Ram as he was in class 10, so she asks the barber to
make him look like a 10th-class boy, which means he's getting a clean shave.
After a shave and a haircut, Ram refuses to show Jaanu his face and keeps it covered with
a towel. But the barber snatched it away, revealing a much younger-looking Ram. He must
have lost pounds after that shave. Jaanu is very happy to see such a transformation.
She asks him to open his shirt, to which Ram complies as he is wearing a T-shirt underneath.
With just the T-shirt, he looks much younger. But Jaanu can't fathom why he acts scared
when she gets close to him. She blatantly asks him if he's ever been with a woman. But
Ram is reluctant to answer this question as well.
Frustrated, Jaanu smacks him again. She makes him stand near the car and makes him promise
to answer all her questions. Ram hesitates before accepting he has been celibate all
his life. Jaanu can't hide her amusement. Ram asks her to change the topic as he is
feeling very shy. Jaanu reveals she wanted to know why he left
without meeting her because that took a toll on her. She couldn't concentrate on her studies
and somehow managed to pass 12th and complete her graduation. But she couldn't forget Ram
and yearned to meet him once again. Her sister had eloped, which made her father
furious. To avoid such a thing happening again, he got Jaanu married two months after the
incident. Jaanu couldn't say anything. She remembers waiting for him even on the day
of her marriage, hoping he would turn up somehow. She could almost feel his presence around
her. She was hoping that Ram wouldn't let her get married to anyone else, but this was
all her wishful thinking. Ram is stunned to hear this. Their conversation
is interrupted by a guard who tells them the gates will soon be closed. They get into their
car and exit the complex. They drive to Jaanu's hotel. Jaanu apologizes,
saying she didn't mean to embarrass him by sharing all this. She just wanted to let it
out. Ram reveals he had come to her college and
even sent her a message asking her to meet him outside the college.
Jaanu doesn't believe him. Ram recalls that he had come with Sathish
from Chennai only to meet Jaanu. He asks a girl to relay the message and tells her his
name. But the girl forgets his name when she meets Jaanu, but tells her a boy wants to
meet her. Jaanu looks at the guy standing outside the gate and mistakes him to be her
stalker. She rather rudely tells the girl to mind her business and not to bother her
with such frivolities. The girl goes back and tells them that Jaanu
has asked them to go away and never contact her. Disheartened, he asks the girl to tell
Jaanu that he will never bother her again. He then thanked the girl for her help and
went back to Chennai. Jaanu cannot hold her tears when she hears
about the incident. She gets out of the car, and Ram follows her to her room at the hotel.
Jaanu cries and regrets not seeing Ram that day. She then tells him she mistook him for
her stalker. She thinks their destiny was never meant to
intertwine. That is probably the reason they couldn't meet each other.
Ram confesses he tried to muster up the courage to meet Jaanu, but for one or the other reason,
he would back out at the last moment. But he would keep tabs on her life and knew
everything about her, except the stalker incident. Ram manages to make Jaanu laugh after she
has cried her eyes out. He also reveals he was present at her wedding.
What she felt was real, but he couldn't stay there long and see the love of his life marry
someone else. So he ran away. It is late, and Ram says he'll come tomorrow
to take her to the airport, but Jaanu wishes to spend time with him. So they decide to
go out. They're sitting in a cafe when Ram suddenly
hides his face. His students had just walked in, and he didn't want them to see him with
Jaanu. To his dismay, Prabha recognizes him and says
hi. She looks at Jaanu and asks Ram if she is Ram's wife.
Before Ram could reply, Jaanu plays along and says she is. Prabha and all the students
are in disbelief when Jaanu tells them theirs is a love marriage. It's difficult for them
to believe that a strict snob like their teacher could love someone.
The students are curious to know how Ram proposed to her. Jaanu looks at Ram once and then tells
the students their story. She tells them the truth about how they were classmates, and
then they started liking each other in 10th class, and that Ram had suddenly left for
Chennai without telling her. She adds how devastated she was after he left
her. But she didn't give up, hoping that she would meet Ram.
She twists the story about Ram coming to meet her at the college. This time he comes alone,
and the girl who relayed the message doesn't forget his name. And when Jaanu hears his
name, she runs to meet him. This time nothing could stop her.
The man who stood at the gate was what Ram had become in these three years she didn't
see him. He now supported a beard and looked brave.
She had many questions she thought she would ask when she met Ram, but at that moment,
she could only hug him. Jaanu is teary as she wishes things could
be different. Ram is teary too, but before anybody can see that, he gets up and asks
his students to go as it is getting late. Prabha talks to Jaanu before leaving.
After the students are gone, Ram hesitatingly suggests they go to his house because Jaanu's
hotel is far from there. Jaanu seemingly looks hurt hearing that, and Ram immediately apologizes.
But it turns out that Jaanu was pulling his leg. Ram is innocent, and she trusts him blindly.
They start walking to his home, but it soon starts raining. By the time they reach, they
are completely drenched. Jaanu goes to the bathroom to clean herself
up, and Ram brings her some of his clothes and a towel. She hands him her clothes to
dry out, and he hangs them on his balcony. He then makes tea for them, and they enjoy
sipping it as they look outside into the night sky. Jaanu is worried about Ram. She tries
to coax him into getting married and having a family of his own. He can't keep going on
living like this. She says she'll be happy to see him as a family man.
She continues that she wants to meet his life partner, to whom she can tell all about Ram
that how loving and caring he is. Ram looks at her lovingly. He asks if she wants to eat
anything. She says she is not hungry, but Ram is because he hasn't had anything to eat.
Jaanu quickly prepares something to eat. Ram eats to his content and compliments her cooking,
saying it reminds him of his mother's cooking. He wants to know if Jaanu is happy in her
life. She tells him it was difficult at first because she was all alone in Singapore, and
then adds that her husband is a good man and a great father. He understands her feelings
even if she doesn't express them. So to answer his question, she is leading a good life.
She playfully says she feels like saying something to him, but she wouldn't. Ram probably guessed
it, and he gestured not to say anything. There is a power cut. He asks her to keep
sitting, or she might get hurt, and goes to get a torch. As he reaches the other room,
he hears Jaanu's voice singing his favorite song, the one he had been requesting all those
years ago, but she never sang it. He runs frantically to get the emergency light
and runs back to see her sing. They look at each other once she is done singing, and the
power comes back. Jaanu smiles at him. It is her parting gift for him.
Ram then shows her a suitcase full of things he had collected when they were in school.
He calls it a memory box. Jaanu gets excited to see so many things associated with their
budding love in their school days. He shows her a diary in which he wrote poems for her.
But he doesn't want her to read because he feels embarrassed. Jaanu asks him to read
it for her. After a little hesitation, he reads.
She lies down on the bed as he reads, and soon she falls asleep. He looks up and sees
her sleeping. So as not to wake her, he quietly puts the things back in the suitcase. He keeps
an extra pillow on the edge so she doesn't fall and makes his bed on the floor.
Before sleeping, he looks at her and prays for her well-being. He then lies on the floor.
Jaanu wakes up after some time and finds Ram sleeping on the floor. She doesn't want him
to sleep on the hard floor and asks him to come up on the bed.
Ram hesitates, but seeing her sitting up, he goes to sit beside her.
They soon have to leave for the airport. While standing on the balcony, Jaanu shares that
before leaving, Prabha had told her to take care of sir as he's a very good man. Jaanu
knows he's a good man, but she doesn't know how she can take care of him.
Ram reminds her it is time to leave. The journey back to the hotel is quiet. Both are trying
to subdue their emotions as they are soon going to part ways.
Jaanu is leaving the only man she truly loves. She places her hand on the gear stick so she
can feel his touch and remember it once she's gone. Ram pulls away his hand when he realizes
she's placed her hand on the gear stick, but he has to shift gears and left with no choice,
he places his hand on hers to change the gear. Jaanu holds back her tears as, for the entire
journey, Ram keeps his hand on hers. They soon reach the airport.
Jaanu doesn't want to go. The anticipation of never being able to see each other is eating
her from inside. She asks him to stay a little longer. Seeing Jaanu in tears, Ram leaves
for a few minutes and returns with a ticket for himself so he can be with her till she
leaves. Jaanu cries tears of joy. Now she can be with
him even if it is for a little longer. With the announcement for onboarding, Ram
and Jaanu cry, not being able to say anything. The longing, the wish, only if things could
have turned out differently, the swell of emotions all flow out in tears.
Jaanu can't look at Ram and tries to turn him away. When he doesn't budge, she closes
his eyes with her hands and cries, pouring her heart out.
And without taking a second glance at him, she leaves.
Ram stays standing there for a long time. And then, finally, he cries. He didn't want
to cry in front of Jaanu, but now that she is gone, he cries his eyes out, even as he
exits the airport. He drives back home and looks at the empty
seat where Jaanu sat just a few hours ago. Back home, he stands on the balcony for a
long time, thinking about the woman to whom he dedicated his life. He never married because
after loving Jaanu, he couldn't bring himself to love any other woman.
Her clothes still hang on his balcony. He folds them and keeps them in the suitcase
with other such memories of Jaanu he has collected that he'll treasure for the rest of his life.