Thiru.Manickam

Manickam is a principled man who runs a lottery shop at the Kumily bus stand, doing his best to support his family: a devoted wife, Sumathi, and their two daughters. To help make ends meet, Sumathi also prepares parcel meals for estate workers. Their younger daughter, Vaanathi, lives with a speech stammer that adds another layer of challenge to everyday life. The family faces financial strain when Sumathi borrows ₹6 lakhs from SI Rajendran, and a looming construction project threatens to force them out of their rented shop. In a moment of urgency, Sumathi parts with her only gold chain to help Manickam secure a new premises.

An impoverished elderly man, whose pregnant daughter Valli was abandoned by her husband over dowry issues, visits the shop. He selects lottery tickets but discovers he has lost his ₹500 note; Manickam agrees to set the tickets aside until the man can return to pay. One of those tickets turns out to be a life‑changing win, a staggering ₹1.5 crore. Sumathi warns against spending beyond their means, citing debt and family pressures, but [Manickam] remains steadfast. He boards a bus bound for Idukki to deliver the winning ticket to the elderly man, a selfless act that defies easy logic. Along the way, he encounters Gurumurthy, an NRI who questions the practicality of chasing a stranger for such a fortune when the odds of finding him are so uncertain.

Back home, Sumathi’s uncle urges Manickam to quit his pursuit and return with the ticket, stressing their precarious situation. Yet Manickam, guided by a strong sense of integrity, refuses to waver. They enlist the help of Church Father Samuel to persuade him to come back, but he still does not relent. The tension intensifies as the pursuit strings together a web of interest and interference: Father Samuel reaches out to Joseph, a cybercrime policeman, to locate Manickam, offering a bribe of ₹2 lakhs for cooperation. Rajendran, hearing of the windfall, schemes to profit from the situation and tries to intercept Manickam by contacting the bus driver Narayanan, though this plan fails.

The chase continues through a series of narrow escapes. At a rest stop, Sumathi leverages emotional pressure on Manickam, while a theft complicates the journey—Manickam’s bag is snatched, only to be recovered from a sewage drain after a tense struggle. He makes a clear stance: the lottery money does not belong to him. He then switches to another private bus, prompting SI Rajendran to direct Kesavan in Senganur to arrest Manickam on trumped‑up charges of stealing ₹1.5 crores. Kesavan calls in Constable Esakki, claiming the lottery holder possesses 20 kg of cannabis, in a bid to justify a capture.

A photo of Manickam is sent to Constable Sargunam, who happens to be a fellow passenger, but a weak signal in the forest prevents him from confirming the identity in time. When the bus is punctured, Manickam hops onto a different minibus, and Sargunam realizes he has lost the trail. Joseph’s efforts to track him misdirect Chandru toward a cliff, sparing Manickam’s life. Back home, Sumathi tries again to sway him with concerns for their younger daughter, but Manickam shares a childhood memory: a thief’s moment of remorse when a kindly lottery seller named Bhai forgives him, only for Bhai to die later after Manickam is falsely arrested. That story deepens the family’s resolve and softens the younger daughter’s resistance, helping him press on.

Eventually, Manickam spots the elderly man, but law enforcement closes in just as he reaches him, and he escapes in time to hand over the winning ticket to the authorities, thereby saving the elderly man’s daughter from a potential suicide. The elderly man insists that Manickam deserves the lottery winnings since he did not buy the ticket from him, but Manickam refuses the prize, choosing integrity over personal gain.

The moment becomes a viral sensation, earning widespread praise. The Chief Minister of Kerala publicly recognizes Manickam and Sumathi, and a government job is secured for Sumathi while the district collector covers their eldest daughter’s education expenses. The ruling party steps in to cover Vaanathi’s medical needs, and a builder friend of the Chief Minister offers the family a new home. In a public address, Manickam emphasizes that honesty and righteousness are essential values, and being rewarded for them should not be seen as exceptional. The elderly man ultimately uses the lottery winnings to help fund a hospital in Poomparai, with government support, illustrating how one act of virtue can ripple outward to create lasting community impact.

Last Updated: October 01, 2025 at 10:22