Bommalattam (2008) Plot Summary

Film director Rana is filming a scene with the female lead of his upcoming film, Cinema. Rana is unhappy with the actor’s behaviour, and he decides to find another female lead. He finally finds Trishna suitable but never discloses her identity to the media, and the film’s wallpapers do not show the names of the male and female leads. The film is eventually completed, and Rana must attend a press meeting about his film’s release, but he does not attend the meeting and is shown to have had an illegal relationship with Trishna. At this instant, the film’s producer calls Rana, and the media discovers his location and who he is with. Press reporters gather at the hotel where Rana is staying; he escapes from them and gets into a car. The press chase him, and Rana kills Trishna by creating an accident-like situation.

SP Vivek Varma, a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) officer, takes charge of this murder case along with two previous murder cases in which Rana is also a suspect. Rana is arrested and taken into CBI custody, and Vivek starts his interrogation. Meanwhile, a poet named Anitha, who is a superfan of Rana, is revealed to be Vivek’s lover and worked as an assistant to Rana during his filmmaking. During the interrogation, Rana reveals how he met Trishna and their relationship.

Trishna was a dancer who performed in temples and at small-time shows across Andhra Pradesh. Rana hires Trishna as his muse, and they become lovers. When a hairdresser is left homeless, Rana offers her a place in his room; another unit member sees this and informs Rana’s wife. The next morning, as Rana is shooting with Trishna, his wife arrives, beats up the hairdresser, and accuses Rana of being a womaniser. Rana continues filming, appearing to be unperturbed by the incident but cries while instructing his actors. His assistant notices this; she and Rana are also shown to be lovers, and she comforts Rana. At the village in which they are filming, the village chief is notorious and constantly lusts over Trishna. Rana states he will kill the chief if he causes more inconvenience. The next day, the chief is murdered. Vivek recalls this and states Rana committed this murder, but Rana neither agrees with nor denies this statement.

Rana faints shortly after the interrogation and is taken to the hospital. Vivek follows him there and recollects the incident of the second murder. After finishing their schedule at the village, the unit travels to Malaysia to continue the filming. There, Rana has to meet the financier’s son, who is also the film’s second male lead. The financier’s son flirts with Trishna and constantly tries to approach her, with which she is uncomfortable. Shortly afterwards, the financier’s son is also found murdered, and Rana again neither agrees nor denies this murder. Anitha, upon witnessing what Vivek is doing, confronts him and accuses him of trying to pin down Rana. Anitha offers Vivek her body in exchange for him leaving Rana alone. Vivek tells Anitha about the complications of the investigation. A badly burnt body in a car that fell from a cliff belongs to a man, and all of the evidence at the crime scene is fake and used as props for filmmaking.

With the mystery unsolved, Rana is released due to the absence of strong evidence to convict him. He goes to live in a secluded bungalow with his assistant. Vivek follows Rana there and uncovers the mystery. Trishna is revealed to be a man whose real name is Krishna and comes from a very poor background. Krishna’s mother raised him as a girl, so his demeanour has become feminine since he is small. Rana sees an opportunity to introduce Krishna as a female hero and provide financial aid to his struggling family. Krishna killed the village chief, who discovered Krishna’s true sex and demanded Krishna have sex with him in return for concealing the truth. Krishna also killed the financier’s son, who falsely told Krishna he had photographed Krishna while he was bathing. Rana asks Vivek to give Krishna the lightest-available sentence, but Vivek decides to release him. Rana thanks Vivek, who says Rana is a greater human being than he is a director.