Skip to content

Iruvar Mattum Full Story Explained (2006)

Imagine being lost in a deep forest with no way out. That is what happens to Selvi, a college girl who runs away from an arranged marriage. She stumbles into the home of Azhagu, a strange man who lives alone with wild animals. At first, he seems harmless but a little crazy. Then she discovers his dark secret — he keeps his dead mother's skeleton in the house. This 2006 Tamil thriller stars Abhay and Sunitha Varma as the only two characters in the entire film. Directed by Dwaraki Raghavan, the movie takes you on a wild ride of love, fear, and survival. It is a bold experiment with just two actors and one location. The story will make you think about how far someone can go for love.

Tamil200610 slides
View movie
I
Iruvar Mattum
1/10
Hook

A skeleton in the house

Selvi wakes up in Azhagu's wooden house. She feels safe for a moment. Then Azhagu takes her to meet his mother. He opens a cupboard and shows her a human skeleton. Selvi screams in terror. She realizes she is trapped with a madman.

Iruvar Mattum Story in Slides01 / 10
Hook01 / 10

A skeleton in the house

Selvi wakes up in Azhagu's wooden house. She feels safe for a moment. Then Azhagu takes her to meet his mother. He opens a cupboard and shows her a human skeleton. Selvi screams in terror. She realizes she is trapped with a madman.

Full Plot

The film begins with an old couple walking through a forest. They are retracing their roots and laughing together. This is the end of their long journey. The story then goes back in time to show how they met.

Azhagu is a young hermit living alone in a dense forest. He lives in a wooden house and eats only fruits. He loves wild animals and takes care of them. He also keeps the skeleton of his dead mother in a cupboard. He talks to her every day as if she is alive.

Selvi is a college student who runs away from home. Her parents arranged a marriage with a man she does not like. She gets lost in the forest and finds Azhagu's house. She is scared but has nowhere else to go. She spends the night there.

The next morning, Selvi asks Azhagu to help her leave the forest. He agrees and they start walking. But fallen trees block the path. Selvi has to return to Azhagu's house. She stays with him and they slowly become friends. They argue and laugh like children. Eventually, they fall in love.

Selvi decides to marry Azhagu. He is overjoyed and takes her to meet his mother. He opens the cupboard and shows her the skeleton. Selvi is terrified and tries to run. Azhagu catches her and forces her to marry him. He ties a knot around her neck and declares them husband and wife.

Selvi tries to escape again. She runs into the forest at night but gets injured. Azhagu finds her and takes care of her. She realizes she cannot escape. She changes her plan. She tells Azhagu that his mother will be reborn in her belly. He believes her and becomes gentle again. Selvi becomes pregnant and gives birth to a baby. Azhagu believes the baby is his mother reborn.

The film returns to the present. The old couple is Azhagu and Selvi. Azhagu has recovered from his mental illness. They laugh about the past. They are happy and in love. The film ends with them walking together through the forest.

Characters

A

Azhagu Sundaram

Azhagu is a young hermit who lives alone in a forest. He loves his dead mother so much that he cannot accept her death. He keeps her skeleton and talks to it every day. He is gentle with animals but becomes aggressive when his beliefs are challenged. By the end, he recovers from his mental illness and grows old with Selvi.

S

Selvi

Selvi is a college student who runs away from an arranged marriage. She gets lost in the forest and ends up at Azhagu's house. She is scared at first but eventually falls in love with him. After discovering his secret, she tries to escape but fails. She uses a lie to survive and ends up staying with him for life.

Themes

Love and obsession

Azhagu's love for his mother turns into an unhealthy obsession. He cannot let go of her even after death. This obsession drives him to keep her skeleton and force Selvi to marry him. The film shows how love can become dangerous when it is not balanced with reality.

Survival and adaptation

Selvi is trapped in a dangerous situation with no way out. She learns to adapt to survive. She pretends to believe Azhagu's delusion to stay safe. This shows how people change their behavior when their life is at risk. Sometimes survival means telling lies.

Isolation and madness

Azhagu lives alone in the forest with no human contact. This isolation makes him lose touch with reality. He creates a world where his mother is still alive. The film suggests that loneliness can drive a person to madness. Human connection is essential for mental health.

Redemption and healing

By the end of the film, Azhagu recovers from his mental illness. Selvi's presence and their child help him heal. He finally accepts that his mother is gone. The film ends with a happy old couple. This shows that even deep trauma can be healed with time and love.

How does it end?

Ending Explained

The film ends with a beautiful twist. The old couple walking through the forest at the start is Azhagu and Selvi. They are now very old and have been together for decades. Azhagu has fully recovered from his mental illness. He no longer believes his mother is alive. He laughs at his own past madness. Selvi teases him about the crazy things he did. They hold hands and walk through the forest together. This ending shows that Selvi's lie saved both of them. She gave Azhagu a reason to live and heal. Their love, which started in fear and madness, became real over time. The director leaves the audience with a message of hope. Even the darkest situations can lead to happiness if you survive long enough. The final image of the old couple laughing together is warm and emotional.

Frequently Asked Questions

No, Iruvar Mattum is a fictional story. It was written and directed by Dwaraki Raghavan. He created an original plot about a hermit and a lost girl in a forest.

The film has only two main actors. Abhay plays Azhagu and Sunitha Varma plays Selvi. There are no other characters in the movie. This makes it a very unique and experimental film.

The movie was shot in deep forests across Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and Karnataka. A special bungalow was built at Athirapalli Falls in Kerala. The shoot took about 60 days.

Iruvar Mattum translates to 'Only Two Persons' in English. This refers to the fact that the film has only two characters. The original title was 'By 2' but was changed for tax reasons.

Iruvar Mattum is a thriller with some horror elements. The skeleton scene is scary, but the film is more about psychological tension. It focuses on the relationship between the two characters.