Devarattam 2019

Past: In the 1980s, Kodumpavi Ganesan, a feared ruffian in Madurai, and Kalyani Thevar are part of a sprawling clan that has six daughters. They adopt a baby boy together, while Kalyani Thevar’s wife is pregnant and their families experience new births: a baby boy for the couple, and a baby girl for Kalyani Thevar’s daughter. Tension simmers in the household, and one day, after a heated confrontation, Ganesan stabs Kalyani Thevar and slits his throat, killing him and setting a long shadow over the generations to come.

Present: Vetri, Gautham Ram Karthik the son of Kalyani Thevar, grows up in a caste-heavy joint family that includes six sisters and their husbands. He is a passionate, skilled lawyer who carries anger like a shield, yet his family adores him because he’s the first advocate in the clan. His relationship with his eldest sister Pechi, Vinodhini Vaidyanathan, and her husband is close—almost mother-and-son in feeling—and they have played a vital role in shaping Vetri’s life. In the courtroom, Vetri and his kin witness a brutal moment: Kodumpavi Ganesan stabs a man named Veeran, who had threatened Deivam, the adopted son of Ganesan. Vetri’s heart aches that he could not intervene, and his brothers-in-law urge him to remain calm for the sake of the family. Pechi’s husband shares the grim backstory of Ganesan’s murder, and the couple fears Vetri’s potential to follow in his father’s violent footsteps.

The story widens when a crisis erupts at a shopping mall: Munna harasses a young woman on an escalator, a friend of Vetri’s niece. The assault triggers a chain of events that weaves through the town of Madurai. Munna’s misdeeds draw the attention of the law and of Deivam, Ganesan’s right-hand man, who mobilizes protection for Munna. The plot threads pull Vetri toward new romance as he falls for Madhu, Manjima Mohan, who returns his feelings. At the M.G.R. bus stand, Vanitha—another young woman in the network of Vetri’s circle—finds herself in a precarious situation after she is seen embracing strangers and her father grows worried about her fate. Madhu and Vanitha’s father approach the police, but the inspector cannot help, so they turn to Vetri for justice.

Tragedy intensifies when Vanitha is abducted after Munna’s gang corners her with drugs and violence. She is subjected to a brutal gang-rape by multiple men, a crime that shakes Vetri to his core. He confronts Munna and Deivam, and the next day he seeks to bring Vanitha’s family to the courtroom. In a brutal escalation, Munna, Deivam, and their men murder Vanitha’s parents before Vetri’s eyes, a crime that hardens Vetri’s resolve. Deivam tries to finish Vetri, but Vetri fights back and ends up killing Deivam and Munna in a reckless, daylight confrontation. Ganesan learns of Deivam’s death and grows even more consumed by vengeance.

Vetri’s world shifts as the family calls for a reckoning. Ganesan shaves his head and face, undertakes the funeral rites for his adopted son, and declares a vow of revenge against Vetri. Vetri is taken into custody and sent to Madurai Central Prison, where doubt and fear mix with a fragile hope for mercy. Munna’s father hires assassins to finish Vetri, but Vetri’s courage helps him hold his own. In retaliation, Ganesan kills Munna’s father and dumps his body at Vetri’s doorstep.

When Vetri is released, the family urges him to seek safety in Kodaikanal, but Ganesan’s goons remain in pursuit. A chilling video message from Ganesan shows Vetri’s loved ones under threat, and tragedy strikes again when Pechi and her husband are brutally killed. The family mourns, and Vetri discovers a shocking sight in the fridge: the head of Ganesan’s henchmen, a grim symbol of the father’s brutal code of revenge, placed at the funeral site of Pechi and her husband. The film closes on a haunting note: a newly married Vanitha glances toward Vetri and feels the deeper, lingering weight of her father’s spirit as the credits roll, leaving a sense of unresolved vengeance and uneasy peace in the wake of a family’s long, violent saga.