Drishya 2014

Rajendra Ponnappa is an orphan who had dropped out of school after his fourth standard. He is now a cable television businessman running a service in a rural area. He is married to Seetha and they have two daughters, Sindhu, a Plus Two student, and Shreya, a student of class sixth. His only real interest outside his family is watching films, and he spends most of his time in front of the TV inside his small office. Life here moves at a quiet, predictable pace, the kind of routine that makes one feel secure—until it doesn’t.

During a nature camp, Sindhu is photographed in the bathroom by a hidden cell phone. The culprit, Tarun, is the spoiled son of Inspector General of Police Roopa Chandrashekar. Tarun is accidentally killed by Seetha and her daughter when he comes to blackmail them using the clip. They hide his body in a compost pit, which is witnessed by Shreya. Seetha tells Rajendra about the incident and he devises a way to save his family from the law. He removes the broken cell phone and disposes of Tarun’s car, which is seen by a police constable, Suryaprakash, who has a grudge against Rajendra. The fear of exposure tightens the family’s bonds while pushing the husband into a dangerous calculus.

Rajendra takes his family on a trip to attend a religious meeting, watch a movie, and eat at a restaurant. Roopa, realizing that her son has gone missing, starts an investigation. After a preliminary inquiry, Roopa calls Rajendra and family for questioning. Rajendra had predicted that this would happen and taught his family how to change their alibi. When questioned individually, they reply with a unified story and present the restaurant bill, movie tickets, and bus journeys’ tickets as proof of their alibi. Roopa questions the owners of the establishments they have been to, and their statements appear to support Rajendra’s alibi. Yet Roopa realizes that on the day of the incident, Rajendra had collected the tickets and the bills, had made acquaintances with the owners, and had gone on the trip with his family the next day, thereby making the alibi look credible while the owners unwittingly tell the lie with him.

Roopa arrests Rajendra and family, and Suryaprakash uses brute force to squeeze the truth out of them. Eventually, Shreya breaks and reveals the place where the body is buried. After digging the compost pit, they find the carcass of a calf, indicating that Rajendra had moved the body. Rajendra reports to the media and complains against Suryaprakash. The constable is suspended and Roopa resigns from her post. Roopa and her husband meet Rajendra to ask forgiveness for their rough and violent conduct. Rajendra suspects there might be foul play involved and still does not directly reveal that his family committed a crime. He is then seen in remand, signing a register at the newly constructed local police station. As he leaves, a flashback shows him exiting the incomplete police station with a shovel in hand, implying that Tarun’s body has been hidden in the foundations of the very police station that handled the investigation.