Tiyaan 2017

Pattabhiraman Giri, Indrajith Sukumaran, a respected Malayali Brahmin teacher living far from home in North India, spends his days guiding Sanskrit aspirants and earning the trust of the village with his quiet wisdom. He shares a simple life with his wife, Amba, Ananya, and their daughter, Arya, Nakshatra Indrajith, in a house built by the ancestors of Giri’s people, a lineage tied to the Adi Shankara tradition and a notable land parcel tied to old power. The home sits on land with a well that never dries, a sacred water source that nourishes the entire community and a symbol of the balance Giri tries to maintain between tradition, duty, and modern pressures.

Across the way, a powerful, manipulative figure, Mahashay Bhagavan (a godman at the center of a growing land-movement), wants Giri to move out so he can convert the space into an ashram and leverage it for the interests of a local land mafia. The godman’s influence runs through a network of followers who believe in miracles even when the truth feels murkier than the smoke of a public spectacle. Giri’s steadfastness earns him respect, but it also puts a target on his back as the godman’s men scheme to take control of the land and the surrounding resources.

An unnamed middle‑aged man warns Giri that rebellion against the godman will come with grave consequences, yet Giri refuses to bow. He is urged to seek help from above—“look upwards to the fire on the hill”—an instruction that hints at forces larger than any mortal plan. The godman’s dirty tricks grow bolder, and tragedy strikes when Arya is poisoned; the young girl dies, and the sorrow threatens to fracture the family and the community that depends on Giri’s steady presence.

As fear spreads, Giri’s allies and friends begin to turn away, taken in by the godman’s fake miracles and the rhetoric of power. The godman and his men launch a nocturnal assault on Giri’s home, attempting to force him from his land. Though the attackers wield guns and intimidation, the house remains standing—its walls absorbing the blows while the well keeps faith with the people who rely on it. In his quest for answers about the mysterious helper, Giri ascends toward the hill, hoping to find the truth, but the search leaves him empty-handed.

Giri learns from Jameel Askari, Shine Tom Chacko that the unknown liberator is Azlan Muhammed, who once lived in Mumbai and was a priest who stood for nonviolence and healing. Azlan’s backstory unfolds through loss and violence: his sister Jaseela—the target of a violent assault—is left gravely wounded after a conflict involving a ruthless don, Khan Sahib, Ranjeet Bedi. Azlan’s wife, Parineeti Adve, Mridula Sathe, and his sister die protecting him, while Azlan survives with a heart that seems to beat on the other side of the chest, hinting at a deeper, almost miraculous destiny.

Azlan’s arc moves beyond personal revenge. With the blessing of a priestly figure who has ties to Bhagavan, a deadly antagonist named Ramnath Gujjar, Amit Kumar Tiwari, launches a pre-dawn assault on Azlan’s people. The onslaught claims Parineeti, Jaseela, and his wife, even as Azlan himself is gravely wounded. Yet his survival is not only physical; it becomes spiritual: his heart’s position and his encounter with human cruelty drive him to continue a journey that tests his faith and his sense of duty. He first escapes into the desert, then is rescued by a traveling group of yogis—ascetic travelers who guide him toward a wider sense of dharma and a clearer sense of purpose.

Azlan’s path toward enlightenment becomes a weapon in its own right. He moves as a living instrument of dharma, carrying a promise to protect the vulnerable and to resist the corruption that has found root in power, money, and fear. His appearances anchor a broader struggle between truth and illusion as the godman’s own visions begin to betray him. A frightening vision of Vasundhara Devi, a figure associated with Bhagavan’s greed and fall, haunts him, signaling that the cycle of deception may be closing in on those who abuse faith for profit.

As Bhagavan attempts to showcase his supposed power to a crowd driven by investors, Giri’s own growing abilities become a counterpoint. When Bhagavan asks Giri to demonstrate the same miracle‑like force, he falters under the dawning realization that Azlan’s presence—his steadfast courage and his example of selflessness—weakens Bhagavan’s grip on the people. In a tense moment of conviction, Bhagavan burns from within, unable to locate his own “remote” to control the crowd and the narrative, and he collapses in the wake of his sins.

The shared visions of two lookalikes—ancient rivals in a long-ago conflict—recur for both Baba (the godman) and Giri. The narrative hints at an old war narrative tied to the Battle of Raichur in 1520 A.D., where two soldiers who could be brothers fought side by side. These dreams connect their present and past selves, suggesting that the fight for justice, integrity, and honor is not merely political or personal, but a cyclical test of character passed only by those who choose to fight for a higher good.

Across this sprawling tale, the film threads themes of tradition versus exploitation, the value of community resources like the well that sustains a village, and the redemptive potential of courage in the face of corruption. It follows Giri’s transformation—from a revered teacher to a figure who discovers a deeper reservoir of inner strength, one that allows him to stand against a godman’s machinations and to defend those who cannot defend themselves. Throughout, the cast—led by the voices and presences of the figures above—serves to illuminate a story about belief, power, and the enduring pull of dharma in a world where faith is both life and weapon.