Dhilluku Dhuddu 2016

The film opens with a cautionary tale about a greedy woman who longs to marry a king. After their wedding, the couple finds it hard to live together for long, and she leaves to be with her former lover, with whom she conceives a son. The woman secretly tends to the boy, but the king discovers him and, in a fit of anger, casts the boy into a fire. Grief-stricken, the mother sacrifices her own soul to the Satan by hanging herself in front of the house. News of this tragedy leaves the king in deep sorrow, and he dies after a crushing fall from his fort. Soon after, the people living near the house experience ominous paranormal events, and many are killed by a malevolent ghost. A Buddhist monk learns of these disturbances and travels to Sivankondamalai. There, he meditates and, when he opens his eyes, finds himself in a bungalow facing the haunted spirit. The ghost menaces him, but the monk manages to trap the spirit inside a magical box, only to collapse from a concussion. His assistants warn the bungalow’s owner that the place is haunted.

The narrative then shifts to present-day Chennai, where Kajal Anchal Singh hosts a party to reunite with her school friends. She reveals that a classmate named Kumar Santhanam was once expelled from school because of her. In a flashback, on Valentine’s Day, Kajal gives Kumar a card, and he returns it with warmth; a teacher witnesses this, and Kumar is dismissed. In the present, Kumar’s uncle Mohan Karunas struggles with a truck loan and loses it to a financier who is also Kajal’s father Saurabh Shukla. When Mohan and Kumar break into the financier’s house, they are unaware it is Kajal’s home, and Kajal catches Kumar, turning him over to the police. The next day, Kumar’s father Anandaraj threatens Kajal’s father to withdraw the case. Later, Kajal tracks down Kumar’s address and realizes that her childhood crush is the same man she just encountered. Meanwhile, Kumar and Mohan plan to kidnap Kajal to teach her a lesson, which leads to Kajal’s capture and a surprising moment: she reveals herself to Kumar with a kiss, and they both fall in love.

At a wedding where Kajal is present, Kumar and Kajal’s closeness is observed by Kajal’s sister’s husband, who misreads the family connection. When Kajal’s father presses for family approval, Kumar brings his own family, only to have Kajal’s father discover they are not part of the Kapoor clan. He schedules another arranged marriage for Kajal, but Kumar intervenes. In response, Kajal’s father hires a ruthless force led by Sketch Mani Rajendran to kill Kumar. Mani demands that Kajal’s father bring Kumar and his family to the haunted house in Sivankodamalai under the guise of a marriage gathering to murder them and blame the ghost. Before departure, Kumar’s mother prays to Lord Muruga and inadvertently places the Vel into the bag, taking it along. Unbeknownst to all, the house remains haunted, and Mani and his henchmen arrive as servants, while the magical box containing the spirit still sits inside.

Mani and his cohort begin to terrify Kajal with staged ghost tricks, and Kumar soon recognizes the ruse. He urges his family to strike back against the “ghost” in any form. The monk, who understands the box’s power, explains that moonlight touching the box will release the trapped spirit. A disciple is dispatched to retrieve the box, but Kumar’s father and Mohan mistake him for an intruder and knock him unconscious. When the moon’s light finally touches the box, the real ghost is released, and Kumar confronts the haunting. The monk arrives and manages to compel one ghost into the box while another takes possession of Kajal’s body in a fit of rage. The monk ventures into a realm where Kajal’s soul is trapped and hears a cry calling out for Kumar. He sends Kumar into that realm to control the ghost, but Kumar ends up trapped there as well. Fortunately, Kajal’s mother retrieves the Vel and places it into Kumar’s hand. With renewed spiritual focus, Kumar channels the Vel’s power and destroys the ghost.

Months pass, and Kajal and Kumar are married, living a quiet, happy life. Yet the threat lingers: Mani returns as a ghost and ominously declares, “This is not the end. This is the beginning.” >