Rakshasudu 2019

Two elderly men discover the corpse of Samyuktha, a 15-year-old school student who was brutally murdered and wrapped in a polythene bag, signaling the start of a case that will test everyone involved.

Arun Kumar is an aspiring filmmaker who dreams of making a movie about psychopaths. After facing repeated rejections despite a solid script and mounting family pressure, he copes by joining the police as a sub-inspector with help from his brother-in-law Prasad. He moves in with his sister Sapna, Prasad, and their daughter Siri, and quickly becomes entangled in the everyday chaos of family life while chasing a larger obsession. Siri drags Arun into trouble when she asks him to forge her father’s signature on a report card; a ruse that exposes his growing willingness to bend rules for the sake of her.

Siri’s school life becomes a new focal point as Arun befriends Krishnaveni, the class teacher, and Kavya, Krishnaveni’s niece who is speech deprived. The relationship between education, trust, and danger begins to blur as Arun tries to navigate the delicate terrain of adolescence and authority, all while contending with a system that is slow to acknowledge the danger stalking the city’s corridors.

Meanwhile, a teenage girl named Amrutha is abducted on her way home, and a disturbing clue arrives in the form of a mutilated doll’s head tucked into a gift box tied to a dog’s collar. Arun sees a shocking parallel with Samyuktha: both deaths share hair uprooted from the forehead, drilled eyes, and damaged mouths, along with distinctive knife marks on Samyuktha’s forehead, ears, and nasion that echo in the doll’s face. He urges ACP Lakshmi, his egotistical superior, to recognize a single, calculated psychopath at work, but his theory is dismissed as mere storytelling by many in authority.

As the investigation intensifies, Amrutha’s body is found in a brutal display of violence—eyes drilled, teeth broken, patches of hair uprooted, and stab wounds that suggest she was alive during the assault. Arun proposes concealing the corpses to deny the killer’s platform for further notoriety, a plan that clashes with protocol but eventually gains traction as the bodies are moved to a hidden facility under Dr. Kishore’s supervision. The case thickens when another schoolgirl, Meera, is abducted and the search points toward a pattern that hinges on who would exploit trust and innocence.

The trail leads to Somaraj, a teacher at Siri’s current school, who is revealed to be a pedophile preying on schoolgirls. Arun confronts Somaraj when he attempts to molest Siri, beating him and detaining him. Somaraj admits his predatory behavior but denies involvement in the murders. In a desperate bid to escape, Somaraj holds Venkat, a policeman, at gunpoint; Arun shoots him down inside an elevator, saving Venkat and demonstrating his willingness to bend danger into action.

Siri is taken from her birthday party, and Arun and Prasad discover her mutilated body in their car trunk, a devastating blow that results in Arun’s suspension for alleged negligence. Devastated and angry, Arun continues the hunt alone, aided by a small cadre of sympathetic officers. A crucial clue comes from an audio clip recorded on Meera’s hearing aid, which points to an elderly magician’s act—Annabella George’s stage performance at a school function—as the method by which the killer lures victims. The realization sets Arun on a new path toward the next potential target, a girl named Sanjana who appears to have a twin sister.

Arun watches vigilantly and follows the trail to a house in the city; he narrowly rescues Sanjana from a murderous fate, but the killer escapes once more. The investigation finally zeroes in on Mary Fernandez, who has deep ties to a long-ago killing. In a twist revealed by Jaya Prakash, a retired officer who shares crucial files, it becomes clear that Christopher, Mary’s son, has been masquerading as his mother—his aged appearance masking the fact that he is the true killer. The six-finger clue on his right hand seals the realization. Christopher’s double life explains the series of murders, including the death of Sophie, which had been misattributed before.

As the truth unravels, Mary dies in an accident, and Christopher becomes the sole killer who used his disguise to avoid capture. Before Arun can confront him, Christopher abducts Kavya; Venkat sheds his life in the line of duty as he confronts the killer. Kavya escapes and is sheltered by Dr. Kishore, who sacrifices himself protecting her. Arun tracks Christopher to a final confrontation at a police facility, where a long, brutal fight ends with Arun killing Christopher and saving Kavya.

Back in the hospital, Arun watches a news report that chronicles the serial crimes and their resolution, recognizing that the police have claimed credit for stopping the psychopath’s spree. The bittersweet ending leaves Arun with a renewed resolve to finally pursue his lifelong dream: a movie about a psychopath, one story he can now tell from firsthand experience.