Paayum Puli

Bhavani and Lal launch a city-wide kidnapping operation targeting top businessmen in Madurai. They demand ₹2 crore for each victim, or they will kill them, and the bodies are dumped beneath a bridge as grisly proof. The fear spreads through the city as the gang carves out its deadly pattern.

Police SI Albert cracks the case and confronts the kidnappers, trying to stop the operations. In a dramatic confrontation, Bhavani kills Albert in public, sending shockwaves through the law-and-order machinery. The killing signals that the gang will not hesitate to strike back.

Jayaseelan is appointed as the new ACP in Madurai and vows to dismantle Bhavani's gang. He moves in with his father, mother, and brother Selvam, and teams up with his ally Murugesan, a loyal head constable. He begins laying the groundwork to infiltrate the kidnapping operation.

Jayaseelan meets Sowmya and falls in love, adding personal stakes to his professional mission. Their relationship develops even as the investigation deepens. The romance provides a human angle amid the escalating crime.

To avoid interference, Jayaseelan pretends to hold a meeting with Bhavani and his gang to seal his non-interference. He deliberately encounters two of Bhavani's men, testing their vigilance. Bhavani grows frightened by the sense that someone is targeting him.

Jayaseelan locates Bhavani and executes him, ending his apparent grip on the kidnapping network. Bhavani's dying line hints that the crimes will continue, leaving Jayaseelan puzzled about the real mastermind. The death triggers a deeper investigation into the conspiracy.

Flashback reveals Selvam as the true mastermind behind the kidnappings, with Lal as his ally. Bhavani is shown as only executing the plan, while Selvam pulls the strings from behind the scenes. The crime is reframed as Selvam's long-con.

In a past timeline, Ramasamy, a famed freedom fighter, is respected for four terms as minister. Kumarasamy, his son, withdraws from politics after his father's death, preferring a quieter life. The family’s political legacy shapes subsequent generations.

Singarasu, a local politician and Kumarasamy's cousin, uses Ramasamy's legacy to win support and becomes MLA and minister for five years. This power play sets the stage for ongoing political maneuvering that entangles Selvam. The feast of influence continues to widen the family's entanglements.

Selvam is encouraged to contest again but loses due to Singarasu's money-powered campaign. Frustrated, he plans to fund his ambitions through crime and enlists his lawyer friend Pankaj Lal to gather information and consolidate influence. The kidnapping operation expands as part of his approach to power.

Present-day Selvam and his men kidnap Sowmya’s father, Lakshmi Narayanan, and extract a ransom. Narayanan pays the money, but his suspicions about Selvam grow. The family and Jayaseelan brace for further danger as the chase tightens.

Jayaseelan launches a covert operation by tapping the mobile phones of prominent businessmen to trace the kidnapper's calls. A ransom call leads him to intervene as Lal is captured; Lal is arrested, but Selvam shoots himself and stages the scene to mislead investigators. The ruse buys time for Selvam's broader scheme.

Lal is killed inside the commissioner’s office by a hitman hired by Selvam, and Jayaseelan and Selvam's father overhear a phone conversation proving Selvam's mastermind status. The truth about the conspiracy becomes undeniable. The investigation now focuses squarely on Selvam.

Jayaseelan locates a hidden room behind Selvam's hideout where their father is tied up. He frees his father and brings him home, exposing Selvam’s cruelty to the family. The revelation fragments Selvam’s carefully built facade.

Selvam makes a last bid to kill Jayaseelan and his father, but their father urges justice. Jayaseelan kills Selvam and places his body beneath the bridge to mimic a kidnap victim, then frames Selvam’s hitmen as the culprits. The case is closed as the mastermind is exposed and the gang’s operations are dismantled.