Pencil 2016

Shiva is the top student at his school, respected for his sharp mind and steady demeanor. His main rival is Nithin, the spoiled son of a famous film star, who uses insults and bold challenges to keep him off balance, making them notorious enemies among the students. Amid the tense dynamics, Shiva finds a rare spark of happiness with his classmate and love interest, Maya Srinivasan, who gradually returns his feelings after he heroically saves her from a dangerous science-lab accident.

One day, the conflict between Shiva and Nithin escalates when Nithin burns Shiva’s thesis. In a heated moment, Shiva confronts him in front of the entire school, drawing intervention from the school management. Later, when Shiva returns to his class, he discovers Nithin dead, stabbed in the neck with a sharp pencil. He pulls the bloody pencil away just as Maya Srinivasan arrives, and she believes his innocence and offers to help uncover the real killer with a tight 40-minute window before the rest of the class returns and the killer might be exposed.

The list of suspects is broad and intricate: the school driver who clashed with Nithin over an open wall behind the building; a local goon who slips into the school through that same opening to meet his girlfriend; the chemistry teacher Sridhar, whose romance with his colleague Nandhini is exposed after Nithin secretly records an intimate moment and uses the footage to blackmail her; and Nithin’s ex-girlfriend Indhulekha, whose ties to a past tragedy involve an eight-year-old friend named Divya who was killed during one of Nithin’s harassing episodes.

With Maya and Shiva steering the investigation, they embark on a wild goose chase, aided by Indhulekha and Shiva’s friend Napoleon, following a tangled trail of clues, pressure, and fear that permeates the campus. As clues accumulate, it becomes clear that the killer’s motive is rooted in revenge, leading to the revelation that Divya’s father orchestrated the murder to settle old scores. The resolution brings a sense of closure, yet the final moments hint at unresolved emotions between Maya and Shiva, leaving a subtle tension as the story closes.