Amaran (Hindi)

Amaran (transl. The Immortal) is a 2024 Indian Tamil-language biographical action war film directed by Rajkumar Periasamy and produced by Raaj Kamal Films International, together with Sony Pictures Films India. The film stars Sivakarthikeyan as Major Mukund Varadarajan, alongside Sai Pallavi, Rahul Bose and Bhuvan Arora. It is an adaptation of the book series India’s Most Fearless: True Stories of Modern Military Heroes by Shiv Aroor and Rahul Singh, which contains a segment based on Mukund. The film follows Indhu Rebecca Varghese, Mukund’s wife, who narrates the life of the Major on her way to New Delhi to receive the Ashoka Chakra, which was awarded posthumously to Mukund.

The film was officially announced in January 2022 under the tentative title Sivakarthikeyan 21, as it is his 21st film as a lead actor, and the official title was announced in February 2024. Principal photography commenced in May 2023 with a sporadic schedule at Kashmir along with a schedule in Chennai, which was again followed by another schedule held at Pondicherry, and wrapped after a year. The film has music composed by G. V. Prakash Kumar, cinematography handled by debutant CH Sai and editing by R. Kalaivanan.

Amaran released worldwide on 31 October 2024 in theatres, coinciding with Diwali, to widespread critical acclaim from critics, who praised Sivakarthikeyan and Sai Pallavi’s performances, direction, screenplay, and G. V. Prakash’s music. It set several box office records, emerging as the second highest-grossing Tamil film of 2024, ninth highest-grossing Indian film of 2024, eighth highest-grossing Tamil film of all time and the sixth highest-grossing film in Tamil Nadu.

Indhu Rebecca Varghese, along with her daughter, Arsheya Mukund, father-in-law, Varadarajan, and mother-in-law, Geetha Varadarajan, are on their way to New Delhi to receive the Ashoka Chakra, which is being posthumously awarded to Indhu’s husband, Mukund Varadarajan. Saying that she is forever in a long-distance relationship with her love, she begins narrating the story of him.

Indhu begins her undergraduate degree at a Madras Christian College in Chennai, where Mukund is her senior. Indhu is chosen as a model for a fashion show after many participants modeled from many colleges, where she would represent their college at a modeling event. Initially, she resists from going, however Mukund, as her helper, makes her reconsider her decision of participating. Eventually winning the competition, she thanks Mukund, love blossoming between them. Shortly afterward, they fall in love and begin dating, and Indhu eventually finds out that he wants to join the Indian Army. However, his mother, Geetha, upon finding this out, starts to oppose his decision; still, a determined Mukund passes his Officers Training Academy entry exam with the support of Indhu and Varadarajan.

Later, when Indhu is introduced to the Varadarajan family, his mother is immediately displeased and shows disapproval towards the marriage, unlike his father and two sisters.

After several months of hard training, Mukund is promoted to be a rifle and gun trainer, serving in Mhowgaon. Meanwhile, when Indhu expresses her love for Mukund to her family, her father, George Varghese, and her second elder brother, Deebu, show anger and reluctance, due to the fact that he was a Tamilian, and that too, an Army officer. Tensions heat up when Mukund gets enraged over George’s reporting to his commanding officer that his daughter was in love with Mukund. Eventually they break up, disheartening Indhu.

After a year of silence, both the families agree to their marriage and they get married on June 30, 2009, after which, the couple get pregnant and have a daughter named Arsheya, on March 17, 2011. Soon after, Mukund gets promoted to the role of a Captain, serving in the United Nations Syria-Lebanon border Mission.

Afterwards, Mukund gets posted into the Rashtriya Rifles battalion in the 44th regiment, on October 18, 2012, in place of the previous Company Commander, Major Mithun Mohan. He is introduced to the CAT (Counter Assault Team) Team – Sepoy Vikram Singh, Ravi Shankar, Michael, Waheed, Saifudeen, Rajesh, Venkanna, Major Srinath, Jyoti, and Joginder –and to his Commanding officer, Colonel Amit Singh Dabas. Dabas gives him a brief overview on the most wanted terrorist in all of Kashmir, Altaf Baba. Waheed and Saifudeen lead Mukund into the nooks and corners of Kashmir, and Mukund meets the father of Altaf Baba, Abdul Gilani, who refuses to concede with the fact that his son is a terrorist and deems him a freedom fighter. Mukund, saving his ego, eventually leaves.

After many months of gathering information, Mukund and his CAT team finally kill Altaf Baba, after a tough fight and stone pelting by civilians on June of 2013. Mukund’s bravery and valor is celebrated by his entire team, but he refuses to accept the Sena Medal from the Colonel, instead recommending Waheed or Joginder as Waheed guided him through Kashmir and Joginder neutralized a terrorist allowing Mukund to nab Altaf Baba, during the operation. But soon, another terrorist named Asif Wani, a Jaish-e-Mohammed commander, pops up in the Military intelligence radar; Mukund and his team are on on a hunt for him. Afterwards, during a training with guns and rifles, Saifudeen misfires and hits Mukund in the back, agonizing him in pain. Mukund insists to shift to Kerala, in the care of his father-in-law, and suggests that the care at the military hospital will let officials know Saifudeen misfired it, leading them to fire him from the job. He later takes treatment in Kerala, simultaneously spending time with Indhu and Arsheya. When Indhu cries looking at his wound, he asks her to promise that she will never cry, even if he were to die in the future. A reluctant Indhu promises him, and they head to Chennai to see Mukund’s parents and buy a new house.

After a month, he leaves, and is traumatized by the death of his informer, Latif, who is killed by Asif Wani once finding out that he contributed to the death of Altaf Baba.

Moments before his death, Latif lets Wani know that Waheed and Mukund were the major culprits for Altaf Baba dying. By this, an enraged Wani attacks Mukund and Srinath in their convoys, and Waheed is kidnapped and tortured, but Mukund and the CAT team eventually save him from being beheaded, despite Dabas expressing ambivalence. Dabas, as the election time nears, gives a major alert to the CAT team to help with voting safely, and Mukund along with his team, start to educate the local children and help citizens vote.

Despite the attempts for a successful election, the CAT team is let know that an attack is executed, in the bus with the polling officers, burning the voting ballots, as a warning by Wani to prevent citizens from voting.

Then, on the next day, while the CAT Team sits down for lunch, Waheed lets Mukund know that they’ve received an important intel that Wani and his people are cooped up in a house in Doodhpathri; the entire team frantically rushes there. Venkanna, Joginder, Jyoti, and Hardeep evacuate the civilians while Ravi, Michael, Waheed, Rajesh, and Saifudeen cover Mukund and Vikram as they enter in the house.

Dabas insists many times that they come back as unknown explosives were planted inside the house; however, Mukund and Vikram are firm on their decision to not let Wani go. They slowly eliminate each and every terrorist, but when Vikram tries to fire at Wani, he shoots Vikram violently, instantly killing him. An enraged Mukund, lobs a grenade into the room of Wani, and eventually kills him through hand-to-hand combat. He later walks out, confirming that the operation was a success, but faints due to the bullet injuries, and excessive blood loss. On Venkanna’s lap, Mukund expresses despair for losing Vikram, however Dabas cuts him off and rushes him in the ambulance. Despite multiple attempts to revive him, Mukund breathes his last in Ravi’s arms, devastating the CAT team.

It is already morning, and Indhu’s first elder brother, Andrews, visits her to break the news on Mukund’s death. Indhu breaks down after hearing Dabas’s voice message, but later controls herself, remembering the promise she made to her husband.

Mukund’s body departs from Kashmir with gun salutes and a teary farewell from the CAT team and Amit Singh Dabas to Tambaram, where his funeral procession takes place. Ravi, with held-back tears lets a stoic Indhu know about Mukund’s last words. Saddened but without a single tear in her eyes, Indhu later heads to the crematorium and watches his cremation, with a numb-heart.

Presently, Indhu receives the Ashoka Chakra from President Pranab Mukherjee on 26 January 2015, and a bust of Mukund is opened up in Officers Training Academy, in Chennai, on June 1 2015. The film ends with Indhu sitting next to his monument and feeling the presence of Mukund leaning on her shoulder, but later fading away, implying that it is his soul, which is still bonded to her and his daughter, and will always be.

The real Mukund Varadarajan is later shown in the credits.