Mohanlal’s Malayalam courtroom drama, Neru, offers a gripping storyline about justice and resilience. Jeethu Joseph directed and co-wrote the movie alongside Santhi Mayadevi. Antony Perumbavoor of Aashirvad Cinemas produced and distributed the movie. Neru also stars Anaswara Rajan, Priyamani, Santhi Mayadevi, Siddique, Sankar Induchoodan, Jagadish, and K. B. Ganesh Kumar in the supporting roles. It had its theatrical release on December 21, 2023, and digitally premiered on Disney+ Hotstar on January 23, 2024.
Neru became the 3rd highest-grossing Malayalam film of the year and the 5th highest-grossing Malayalam film of all time. Described as the comeback of Mohanlal after a series of unsuccessful movies, it also marked his third highest-grossing film.
Check out the trailer for the movie here:
Neru Ending: What happened on December 27?
On the final day of the verdict in Neru, Vijayamohan shared what possibly transpired on December 27, 2022. Michael Joseph had arrived at his friend Vinod’s house the day before the incident. While asking for directions to the house, he overheard the family discussing that they would leave Sara alone at home the next day. Her parents were planning to attend a wedding, and their house help had to visit the bank. So, one can presume that Michael planned his visit to Sara at that moment.
He called Robin at night and asked him to arrive at his location early the next morning. When Vinod and his family left for church, Michael met Robin and handed over his phone and car keys. He told Robin to go to the resort in Kanthalloor in his car.
Michael then waited for Sara to be alone at home, and when everyone left, he sneaked into her room through the terrace. He was also careful enough not to leave any fingerprints. While thinking his plan was foolproof, he was not aware of the dash camera, his past case, or getting caught while trying to manipulate evidence.
How does Sara identify the culprit?
After discrediting Sara’s sculpture, Michael’s advocate, Poornima, argued that Sara had failed to identify the actual perpetrator. In her closing statement, she also said her father could be both the culprit and the one who sculpted the figure.
But, due to a lack of concrete evidence, the defense advocate asked the court to declare Michael innocent. However, when Poornima questioned Sara’s skills and her ability to replicate a face through sculpting, Vijayamohan requested the court to allow Sara a chance to showcase her talent and prove the defense wrong. While the judge admitted to the exception, he still wanted to be completely sure before concluding.
Then, they allowed Sara to sculpt, and Poornima decided that she would have only five minutes to touch and feel the face of the subject. She also said that they would choose the subject for her so that it’s a fair test. Advocate Rajashekhar appeared as the subject and tried to break Sara’s confidence within the five minutes he had. While his words did affect Sara, she did not let that interfere with the task at hand.
During Neru’s ending, the judge was surprised to see the exact replica of Rajashekhar’s face, proving that Sara was skilled and had the talent to replicate the face of her perpetrator.
Was Michael convicted?
The judge declared Michael Joseph guilty of all charges. The court sentenced him to life imprisonment and imposed a monetary fine, while Sara was granted victim compensation. This case helped Vijayamohan get back his confidence and gave him hope to strive for justice and make court appearances.
Neru ends with Sara walking out of the courtroom without her head scarf and with her head held high. She did not want to live a life of shame. When Sara walked out of the courtroom, the journalists waiting outside lowered their cameras to respect her privacy.
Stream Neru on Disney+ Hotstar. The movie is available in Malayalam, Tamil, Hindi, Telugu, and Kannada languages.
