Vikram Vedha

During a nighttime operation, Vikram's encounter squad kills several of Vedha's henchmen and shoots an unarmed suspect. The unit frames the unarmed man as Vedha's victim to shield themselves from inquiries. This botched action plants the seed for Vikram's growing unease with what counts as justice.

Vedha walks into the police station and surrenders voluntarily. In the interrogation, he offers to tell a story that reframes his crimes rather than admit guilt. The encounter sets up a cat-and-mouse dynamic centered on truth and morality.

In the first act of his tale, Vedha explains how he becomes a drug smuggler and warns his younger brother Pulli to stay away from crime. Pulli is pressured by rival Ravi to carry drugs, unleashing a chain of consequences. The story challenges Vikram's black-and-white view of good and evil.

Pulli and his friend Chandra are arrested after being used by Ravi to transport drugs. Pulli confesses, and Ravi is arrested, illustrating how loyalty is compromised by criminal networks. The episode intensifies Vedha's argument that crime operates in shades of gray.

On Sangu's orders, Ravi assaults Pulli, leaving a permanent scar on his hand. Vedha asks whether to kill Ravi or Sangu, and Vikram responds that Sangu is the true culprit and Ravi is merely a weapon. Vedha agrees, implying he may have killed Sangu, deepening the ambiguity of who deserves punishment.

Vedha's lawyer Priya—a revelation later tied to Vikram's wife—bails him out. Vikram realizes the 'unarmed criminal' framed earlier is actually Pulli, identifiable by the scar. The revelation unsettles Vikram's judgments about guilt and truth.

Worried Vedha might target Simon, Vikram hurries to protect him, only to find Simon and Chandra shot dead. SP Surendhar dismisses the killings as a botched encounter. Priya refuses to divulge Vedha's whereabouts, further complicating Vikram's pursuit.

Enraged, Vikram raids Vedha's tenements and captures him. Vedha then asks to hear another story before any action is taken. The scene sets up the second act's moral labyrinth.

Pulli grows up and offers to launder Vedha's income by investing it in shares; Cheta puts ₹5 crore into the venture. Chandra is allegedly kidnapped and the money disappears, but she returns to reveal she took the money to start a new life and came back for Pulli. Vedha returns the money to Cheta, who orders him to kill Chandra.

Cheta's orders force Vedha into a moral dilemma: kill Chandra or respect the code that supports Pulli. Vikram tells Vedha to back Pulli, altering Vedha's stance and aligning him with Pulli's side. Vedha agrees, intensifying the conflict between loyalty, love, and law.

Realizing Pulli's innocence shakes Vikram, but Vedha attacks and subdues him, urging Vikram to investigate Simon and Pulli's deaths further. This turn marks the end of the second-act heightening of tension and pushes toward the third act's revelations. Vedha's manipulation becomes clearer as Vikram's certainty fractures.

Vikram begins his investigation with Simon's informant Kaattai, who is killed. The unit then corners a member of the Kerala Quotation Gang; he nearly kills Vikram before Santhanam intervenes and kills him. A cigar in the informant's room is found to be filled with marijuana, revealing Ravi's central role in the earlier encounter.

Vikram informs Vedha of Ravi's confession at Vedha's restaurant, then Ravi is brought to an abandoned factory. Ravi confesses, and Vedha questions whether Simon was bribed to kill his men. Vedha then kills Ravi, turning the table on those who trusted Ravi's payoffs.

Surendhar and the unit are revealed to have been bribed by Ravi to kill Vedha and to abduct Chandra to lure Vedha out of hiding. Simon, guilt-ridden, had tried to save Chandra but was killed along with her; Vedha reappears and saves Vikram as a gunfight erupts. Surendhar is killed in the firefight, and Vikram and Vedha retreat into a tense standoff.

In the final standoff, Vikram asks Vedha whether he should spare him or kill him. Vedha's cryptic question leaves the outcome unresolved as the two stand-off, signaling an open-ended end to their moral duel.