Zebra 2024

Surya and Swathi are a couple who work at two different banks, each climbing their own career ladders. One day, Swathi makes a grave mistake at work when she accidentally deposits a client’s ₹400,000 into the wrong account, and the recipient refuses to return the money. Fearing for her job and future prospects, she pleads with the client not to file a formal complaint and offers to compensate him herself. Seeing her distress, Surya steps in to help. He exploits a loophole in his own bank’s system, managing to siphon the same amount and hand it over to the client, a temporary fix that buys time but does not solve the deeper problem.

To replace the money he stole, Surya sets out to locate the mistaken recipient, Benny D’Souza, in hopes of recovering the funds. He forges Benny’s signature, prepares a withdrawal slip, and successfully withdraws ₹400,000 from Benny’s account at another bank. He then deposits the money back into his own bank to cover the shortfall and restore appearances, all while the clock ticks.

Yet trouble intensifies when Surya is summoned by his boss and accused of theft. Benny has filed an official complaint—not for ₹400,000, but for ₹80 million—claiming that Surya stole the entire amount from his account. Transaction records show ₹80 million moving into Surya’s bank, then being split into thousands of smaller transactions across a web of accounts, making recovery nearly impossible. Surya maintains that he had no connection to the accounts and alleges that someone has stolen his identity to open them and launder money. The branch manager Sheela, who has long held a grudge against him, pushes to have Surya fired and handed over to the police, but his superior grants him a brief window to prove his innocence.

Desperate, Surya tracks Benny only to learn that Benny has recently died in an accident. Moments later, he is abducted and brought to gangster Aditya “Aadhi” Devaraj, who reveals that Benny worked for him and that the stolen ₹80 million belongs to him. Aadhi gives Surya four days to return the money, or he will kill Surya’s entire family.

With time running out, Surya turns to the notorious broker Baba, a man connected to various illegal enterprises and known for his gambling and “insider” stock market tips. Baba promises to help him win the ₹80 million if Surya can raise enough money to invest. In the meantime, Swathi has joined Surya’s bank, and the two hatch a desperate plan to fund the investment by stealing money from the accounts of deceased clients.

Just as Surya is about to hand over the money to Baba, his boss grows suspicious and attempts to inspect the accounts, forcing Surya to abort the plan and quickly return every rupee before being discovered. Cornered, Surya decides to rob his own bank. With Swathi and his friend Bob’s help, they trigger the fire alarm, creating a chaotic evacuation. While the building is empty, Surya manages to steal several hundred thousand rupees from the vault. He hands the cash to Baba, who executes the scheme and wins the ₹80 million, sending it to Aadhi.

When Surya returns to the bank to put the stolen money back, he learns that his boss has already uncovered the heist. The bank is shut down and all employees are subjected to searches. In a last-ditch effort to escape blame, Surya hides the stolen money in Sheela’s safe. When the money is later found there, Sheela is fired and arrested, ending the immediate crisis but leaving a trail of consequences for everyone involved.