Thotta 2008

Shanmugham Jeevan arrives in Chennai with his mother in search of his father. When the duo reach the city, they discover his father living with another wife, a shocking scene that ends in tragedy: the father kills that wife and Shanmugham’s mother dies as a caused by the upheaval. An auto driver Dhamu helps them cremate the body, offers a small amount of money, and urges the boy to return to his own city and start anew. This brutal start seeds a raw, unflinching look at a life shaped by loss and a hunger for belonging.

Growing up, Shanmugham [Jeevan] finds that the world he’s stepping into favors those who bend the rules, and he becomes entangled with a corrupt police system that uses him for its own ends. He rises as a formidable local figure, earning the moniker Thotta as he earns a reputation for fearsome, blunt power. The shadows of law enforcement loom large: the highly corrupt DCP Murugavel [Sampath Raj] places him at the center of a string of deliberate encounters, taking credit for each blow and marching up the ranks toward the coveted position of commissioner.

In a grim turn of events, Muthuvel’s orders push Shanmugham to target a girl’s face with acid. That girl is Nalina [Priyamani]’s, who turns out to be the auto driver’s daughter—a truth that deepens Shanmugham’s conflict and stirs a protective, perhaps romantic, reaction toward Nalina. As their paths cross through danger and misfortune, Nalina’s quiet dream surfaces: she wants to become a police officer. She shares this ambition with Shanmugham, and with his influence as a would-be commissioner, he promises to pave the way for her.

To help Nalina reach her goal, Shanmugham makes a drastic move: he kills a minister who stands as a major rival to Chief Minister Manimaran [Livingston]. This act marks a deeper entanglement with power and politics, drawing Nalina and Shanmugham into a more perilous game where every step could trigger retaliation from higher-ups. When Nalina approaches Muthuvel [Sampath Raj] for the job, he tries to abuse his authority, demanding a sexual favor in return for the opportunity—a corruption that tests the limits of Nalina’s resolve and Shanmugham’s loyalties. Discovering this abuse, Shanmugham and Muthuvel part ways, setting the stage for a reckoning.

Shanmugham’s circle extends to his friend Giri [Vishnu Priyan], another rowdy who nevertheless stands by him. Giri marries Gauri [Mallika Kapoor], a woman determined to pull him away from the chaotic lifestyle and secure a more settled life. She Treads carefully, trying to shield him from the brutal cycles of their world, hoping for a calmer future. Shanmugham reluctantly gives them space, but the consequences are swift and deadly: Muthuvel kills Giri, cutting deep into Shanmugham’s tether to his old crew.

The pursuit of justice becomes a two-fronted challenge: CBI officer Prabhakar [Charan Raj] wants to capture Shanmugham alive, while Muthuvel would rather see him dead to silence possible exposure—the man who molded a city’s most infamous rowdy into a symbol of power. Both sides push toward a climactic confrontation, testing loyalties, love, and the line between protection and tyranny.

In the end, the story pivots on whether Shanmugham can outmaneuver the forces arrayed against him and whether Nalina will achieve her dream of donning a police uniform. The tension lingers as fate, ambition, and corruption collide, leaving a reckoning that asks how far one man will go to reclaim his humanity in a system that rewards brutality.