Mankatha 2011

Vinayak Mahadevan, Ajith Kumar a corrupt ACP of Maharashtra Police, is suspended for having saved a smuggler Faizal from encounter killing. Kamal Ekambaram, Subbu Panchu, a police officer, commits suicide after leaks of his IPL gambling plans, and ACP Prithviraj, Arjun Sarja, takes charge to end the betting scandals in IPL cricket in Mumbai. Prithvi then reveals that Kamal faked his death in a secret mission to draw attention to the betting scandals and returned under the name Praveen Kumar. Arumuga Chettiyar, Jayaprakash, a powerful yet illegal businessman who runs “Golden Theatres” in Mumbai and uses it as a gambling front, aims to route through his old theater a stash of over ₹5 billion to the betting world.

Vinayak is introduced to Chettiyar through his girlfriend Sanjana, Trisha Krishnan, who is in love with Vinayak, though his feelings are not genuine. Sumanth, Vaibhav, a goon in Chettiyar’s orbit, hatches a plan with his associates Ganesh, Ashwin Kakumanu; Mahat, Mahat Raghavendra; and Prem, [Premji Amaran](/actor/premji-amaran, to rob the money. Vinayak befriends the four at Sumanth’s wedding to Suchithra, and Prem, intoxicated, reveals the heist. Vinayak pretends to assist them but actually intends to seize the loot for himself, and lures them with a promise to share.

After the loot is secured, they stash the money in an abandoned godown and later celebrate at Mahat’s bar. Sumanth is identified by Faizal and cornered, and Chettiyar orders Faizal to kill him, but Ganesh and Vinayak rescue him and escape with Chettiyar hostage. On the road, Vinayak brutally shoves Chettiyar out of the car in front of Sanjana, shattering her trust as she learns Vinayak’s true intentions. At the godown, Mahat and Prem have escaped with the cash and are joined by Sona, Raai Laxmi. The trio is pursued by Faizal and Chettiyar’s men but manages to elude them; Sumanth’s wife is kidnapped by Chettiyar, prompting Prithviraj to take action.

Prithvi arrives and takes Sumanth into custody to turn approver, but the kidnapping of Sabitha, Prithvi’s wife, by Vinayak escalates the danger and leads to Sumanth’s death. Vinayak, learning Mahat and Prem’s whereabouts with Ganesh, presses on with the chase. The group converges at a highway resort with the money, and a string of killings follows: Sona kills Mahat, Vinayak kills Sona, and Prithvi kills Prem, leaving Ganesh and Vinayak standing. A final duel between Vinayak and Prithvi ends with Praveen tossing a gun to Prithvi, who shoots Vinayak as a massive explosion rocks the shack, seemingly ending the confrontation.

Days later, police learn that Ganesh is living in Thailand. Praveen arrives and encounters Vinayak, and he calls Prithvi to report Vinayak’s presence. It is revealed that Prithvi and Vinayak have been best friends since college, trained together, and hatched the money scheme with Vinayak’s fake death; Ganesh had been killed as part of the plan, and Prithvi and Vinayak escape the explosion with ₹500 crore, each taking ₹250 crore. Prithvi tells Vinayak that their money is safe in the Bank of England and asks him to deal with Praveen. Vinayak seizes Praveen’s gun and menaces him, declaring that the game is over.