Kavaludaari 2019

SI K. S. Shyam, Achyuth Kumar is a sincere traffic cop, whose real interest lies in handling crime-related cases. One day, he accidentally comes across the skeletal remains of a three-member family, and he decides to pursue the mystery despite warnings from his senior officer. The forensic reports show signs of struggle on the bodies, so it most likely was a murder that happened decades ago. As Shyam digs deeper, a chance encounter with a curious journalist named Kumar, Achyuth Kumar pulls him further into the case. They learn that the family’s head was Suresh, the boss of a university archaeology department, who had partnered with Sampath Maitreya, Sampath Maitreya to unearth jewels from the Vijayanagara Empire, and that Sampath was killed on the very same day.

The plot thickens with the arrival of Mutthanna, Anant Nag, a retired cop who investigated the case years ago, and Madhuri, Suman Ranganathan, an actress whose connection to the mystery becomes crucial. Kumar hints to Shyam that Madhuri is tied to the case, but his questions meet resistance. Mutthanna lends his knowledge, revealing a pivotal twist: Suresh did not murder Sampath. The blood on Suresh’s shirt, Mutthanna explains, belonged to a wounded person whom Suresh had saved. The question of who killed Sampath, and how the family died, remains, as Madhuri herself is killed soon after.

When Mutthanna and Shyam investigate Madhuri’s house, they uncover a photo of Madhuri wearing a Vijayanagara-era necklace, a clue that ties her to the region’s treasure hunt. A goon interrupts, and a pursuit through a resort ensues. A park adjacent to the resort reveals the burned car’s location, and inside the resort, a political rally unfolds while Kumar reaches out with new information. Kumar reveals that before she became an actress, Madhuri had danced for gangsters, and one man in particular—Mailur Srinivas Rao, the rising chief minister—had a deep connection to her.

Mutthanna traces the resort to Mailur, and Shyam investigates Mailur’s old home, where sacred Christian objects are hidden on a high shelf, puzzling him since Mailur is publicly Hindu. Mutthanna attends Mailur’s campaign stop and notices that Mailur bears a striking resemblance to Fernandez, Suresh’s former driver. In a tense moment before the crowd, Mutthanna shouts “Fernandez,” and Mailur stares back with fear, ordering his goons to abduct him. Mutthanna shares the revelation with Shyam, but is then seized.

Mailur explains that he discovered a treasure worth 80 lakhs within Suresh’s department and murdered Sampath to secure the loot. He enlists Bablu, the killer’s collaborator, to slip sleeping pills into the family’s meals, planning a clean getaway. Bablu, however, unwittingly leaves behind his fingerprints, threatening to implicate him as the culprit. Mailur’s scheme proceeds: he buries the bodies, burns the car, and assumes a new identity as Mailur Srinivas Rao.

After Mutthanna’s death at the hands of Mailur’s goons, Shyam presses on. He confronts Mailur, but the confrontation becomes personal when Kumar’s true connections emerge. Kumar, who is revealed later to be Bablu in disguise, confronts Shyam and shares a crucial confession on a recording: during an interview with Madhuri, he accidentally knocked her and ended her life. The truth about Madhuri’s involvement and Mailur’s past comes to light as the recording goes viral.

In a dramatic turn, Kumar, now exposed, poisons Mailur by serving him milk that is poisoned, and Mailur dies on the spot. Shyam and Kumar drive away, with Kumar drinking the remaining poison to atone for his guilt. The incriminating recording makes its way to the public, sealing Mailur’s downfall and earning Shyam a promotion to Inspector in the crime branch.

In the final twist, it is revealed that the man Suresh saved all those years ago was actually Shyam’s father, a revelation that finally explains why Shyam felt an almost personal pull toward this long-dormant case. The case, its tangled history, and the sacrifices of those swept into the mystery culminate in a hard-won sense of justice and a new chapter for Shyam’s career.