Kadaisi Vivasayi

The village near Usilampatti designates Mayandi, an eighty-year-old farmer who lives frugally, to provide the symbolic first grain for the temple's annual ceremony. The act marks ritual trust in his steadiness and devotion. The villagers rely on him because other farmers have sold land to financiers.

Mayandi begins a fresh sowing in his field, tending carefully to the newly planted paddy. He is described as quiet and emotionless, yet he approaches the task with steady diligence. The act sustains the village's ritual needs despite others' abandonment of land.

While tending the crop, Mayandi discovers a peacock and two peahens dead in his cropland. He believes they are vehicles of the god Murugan and buries them in his field as an offering. A fellow villager witnesses the burial, setting off suspicions.

The news spreads that Mayandi killed the national bird, the peacock. Police arrest him, alleging a crime for which the evidence is the burial and local rumors. The arrest triggers a deeper inquiry into past peafowl killings and community attitudes.

The film reveals that earlier someone killed peafowl in the village and villagers attacked the investigation; there were no witnesses. The police want to avenge their public humiliation, which fuels their aggressive pursuit of Mayandi. This backstory adds a motive to the case.

In court, Mayandi explains that the witness saw only the burial, not the killing itself. He argues the case is built on misinterpreted actions and requests the magistrate to consider the truth. The witness' reprimand to the police for the false filing frames the statutory process.

The magistrate orders a revised report, but the filing of a new FIR takes time, delaying the proceedings. To ensure his basic needs, Mayandi is ordered to spend 15 days in jail and to keep his newly planted crop watered. The judge leverages the agricultural need to justify detention.

The magistrate tasks the police constable with watering Mayandi's crop while he is jailed. Over time, the police delay the new report, and Mayandi's relatives in the village take over the watering duties. This shift reflects community involvement in agriculture during legal delays.

As pests threaten the crop, Mayandi advocates a traditional spray, a laborious method reflecting subsistence farming. A local agrochemical dealer pushes a pesticide alternative, influencing Mayandi's relatives to buy it. The debate underscores the tension between traditional practices and industrial inputs.

While waiting for the hearing, Mayandi escapes custody and returns to the field, only to discover the crop has been destroyed. The moment intensifies his resolve to clear his name and salvage the harvest. The destruction adds pressure on the magistrate to resolve the case quickly.

The magistrate locates Mayandi in the field and pushes for a speedy release, while arranging support for a new crop to be planted and raised in time for the festival. The magistrate's actions tie legal resolution to agricultural continuity and ritual preparations. This moment blends justice with community sustenance.

The festival honoring Ayyanar deities becomes a convergence of all caste groups, including the village potter whose livelihood was threatened. The community comes together to appease the deities, signaling social harmony despite economic tensions. The ceremony reinforces the symbolic first grain Mayandi was meant to provide.

Parallel to the main plot, Ramaiah descends into insanity after losing his love, and the film hints that he might be the sanest person in a world that seems mad. This perspective adds a layer of social commentary about perception and sanity. His arc runs alongside the central events, offering a counterpoint to Mayandi's restraint.

Another thread follows Thadikozhanthai and an elephant purchased after selling land to a financier. The film also comments on hybrid seeds, industrial animal feed, and high-input agriculture that threaten sustenance farming. These elements frame the broader critique of modernization.