Duruvan, a trainer at an NCC camp for women cadets, endures daily prejudice from his superior ranger Ganapathiram because he comes from a tribal background and carries a rough demeanor. The warden, Victoria, shows him rare sympathy, recognizing the unfairness he faces. In a bid to toughen up the troop, he selects five cadets who stand out for their insubordination: Kalpana, Ajitha, Susheela, Jennifer, and Tulsi. He hopes a demanding expedition will transform them into disciplined, capable cadets, and perhaps reveal their true potential beneath their brash exteriors.
As the journey begins, Duruvan handles a few administrative wrangles at the forest checkpost, while the girls, in a moment of reckless mischief, purchase condoms and other items before starting the jeep down a slope. After losing the vehicle, the group chooses to camp in the forest for the night and plan a fresh route at first light. Over those hours, the girls gradually begin to see Duruvan in a new light; his blunt honesty and practical wisdom start to earn their respect. Kalpana, in particular, notices unusual activity when she spots two foreigners in military gear—a clue that something bigger is at play.
From this discovery, Duruvan concludes that a coordinated group of mercenaries is trying to sabotage a rocket launch tied to India’s space program. He maps a plan: if they head to the opposite bank by a shortcut, they might reach safety in about 4.5 hours, instead of risking a longer, exposed trek. He asks the girls to return and alert Ganapathiram with reinforcements, but they choose to stay with him, driven by a growing trust. When they reach the opposite bank, they realize they are vastly outnumbered by sixteen men, not just a handful.
Duruvan pieces together their intent and gears up to thwart the sabotage, sending Ajitha back to warn the authorities while the rest stay to face the threat. Ajitha parts with a quick, urgent goodbye as Susheela urges her to tear up the complaint letter before it can be used against Duruvan, a moment that underscores the tension between perception and truth. Tragically, Ajitha slips into quicksand and dies, a loss that steels the group’s resolve. Duruvan navigates with precision, pushing the group ahead of the mercenaries and obstructing their advance by felling trees to slow them down.
Anderson, the mercenary leader, stays cautious, deploying two of his men to scout. Yet Duruvan eliminates them through swift, decisive moves, and Anderson responds by sending three more—Thompson, George, and Edwin—to track what happened. Duruvan’s troops ambush and kill George and Edwin, while Thompson escapes, heightening the mercenaries’ fury. Realizing the odds are turning against them, Anderson orders a more aggressive push, hoping to erase the obstacle Duruvan and the cadets pose.
Meanwhile, the group seizes one of the two boxes the mercenaries carry, a container believed to hold critical information about the air missile. That night, they raid the mercenary camp, seizing the box and gathering armaments while intending to thwart the launch. By morning, Anderson and Benny discover two bodies and a missing box, enraging them and escalating the conflict into a full-blown clash. The plan morphs into a two-front war: attack Duruvan and the girls, and ensure the rocket launch succeeds.
At the checkpoint, Ganapathiram finds the incriminating letter, gathers a posse, and rushes into the forest to retrieve the truth. The storekeeper confirms condoms were bought, feeding Ganapathiram’s suspicions that Duruvan had abducted the girls. He broadens his assault on Duruvan’s community, expelling them and stripping them of dignity by labeling them lower-caste outcasts. The investigation crescendos when Ganapathiram discovers Ajitha’s corpse and leaps to the grim conclusion that Duruvan harmed her, using it to push for a shoot-at-sight order from the district collector.
As the battle rages, Duruvan and the cadets wipe out three mercenaries allied with Anderson. Benny tries to hold a line and keep the mission intact by instructing Collin to guard the crucial box as the others rush to reinforce Anderson. A brutal signal from Anderson’s side follows: Susheela is killed and hung from a tree, a wound that shakes the young fighters to their core. They bury her with NCC honors and double their resolve to press on. The rest of the mercenary force falls to the combined blows of Duruvan and the cadets; Benny is outmaneuvered and killed after Duruvan uses him to lure Anderson closer, aided by the girls’ determination.
Duruvan heads in search of Anderson, while the girls race toward the rocket’s launch site to try to disarm or disable the weapon. Ganapathiram corners Duruvan, firing his weapon with dwindling bullets, but Duruvan disables the walkie-talkie and escapes, leaving Ganapathiram to confront the grim reality when he discovers the mercenaries’ dead bodies—proof of Duruvan’s effectiveness. He warns the district collector but remains intent on proving his own supremacy.
In the climactic confrontation, Duruvan faces Anderson in a direct, high-stakes duel, ultimately defeating him. The girls join to disable the counter-missile mechanism, and a fierce struggle ensues as they struggle to keep the rocket from firing. Duruvan ultimately triumphs, killing Anderson and aiding the launch team to reprogram the rocket’s trajectory. He lengthens the countdown by 25 seconds and shifts the rocket’s direction left, ensuring the mission proceeds safely.
The Indian space rocket lifts off, aided by the redirected countermeasure, and explodes the counter-missile on impact after a precise delay. The mission’s success is celebrated by the group, yet a cloud lingers: Duruvan’s bravery remains unacknowledged by the authorities because of his caste. Ganapathiram is publicly honored for bravery, while Duruvan returns to the camp to train a new batch of NCC cadets. In a quiet, emotional finale, the five cadets bid a tearful farewell, remembering Ajitha and Susheela as the price of their hard-won victory.
