Paayum Puli

Paayum Puli is a 2015 Indian Tamil-language action-thriller film written and directed by Suseenthiran starring Vishal and Kajal Aggarwal in the lead roles and Soori and Samuthirakani in supporting roles. The film was produced by Vendhar Movies and distributed by Escape Artists Motion Pictures. Music for the film was composed by D. Imman. The cinematography was handled by Velraj and the editing done by Anthony.

Set in the backdrop of Madurai, Paayum Puli features Vishal as an undercover police officer named Jayaseelan. The film revolves around an extortion gang spreading terror in Madurai, ACP Jayasheelan is assigned to bring an end to their wrongdoing. However, he is unaware that the mastermind of the crimes is someone closely related to him.

Principal photography commenced on 4 March 2015 and lasted for four months. Paayum Puli was shot predominantly in and around Chennai and other parts of Tamil Nadu in 75 working days. The film was released on 4 September 2015 worldwide.

Plot

The story is set in the backdrop of Madurai, where a gang kidnaps top businessmen in the city and demands a sum of Rs. 2 crores for their release. If failing to do, it will result in their death. The dead bodies are placed beneath a bridge. Bhavani (Bangalore Swamy) and Lal (Murali Sharma) are the main culprits behind the kidnaps. Albert (Harish Uthaman), a police sub-inspector, cracks the case and encounters the criminals involved in kidnap, but gets publicly killed by Bhavani.

Jayaseelan IPS (Vishal) is the new ACP who gets deputed in his hometown Madurai. Murugesan (Soori) is the head constable and a close friend of Jayaseelan. Jayaseelan wants to have a meeting with Bhavani and his gang to finalize his commission so he will never interfere in their illegal activities. However, it is revealed that Jayaseelan is the ACP in Special Branch and is in an undercover operation to eliminate Bhavani and his gang in police encounters. Jayaseelan lives with his parents (Vela Ramamoorthy and Sreeja Ravi) and elder brother Selvaraj (Samuthirakani). Meanwhile, Jayaseelan meets Sowmya (Kajal Aggarwal) and falls in love with her. Jayaseelan encounters two of Bhavani's men. Now, Bhavani is frightened knowing that someone has set an eye on him that and he will be the next target. Jayaseelan tracks down Bhavani and then kills him. Just before dying, Bhavani challenges Jayaseelan that all of the kidnapping incidents will continue after his death, which leaves Jayaseelan puzzled. It is actually Selvam who is actually the mastermind behind all the kidnapping incidents. He is the close friend of Lal. Both are involved in planning the kidnaps and murdering the businessmen, while Bhavani is involved only to execute the plan.

A small flashback is shown about Jayaseelan and Selvam's family. Jayaseelan and Selvam's grandfather Ramasamy was a famed freedom fighter and is widely respected by the local people. He also served as a minister for 4 terms and is known for his genuineness and loyalty. However, his son Kumarasamy (Jayaseelan and Selvam's father) was not interested in politics and preferred to stay away from all politics following his father's death. Meanwhile, Singarasu (R. K. ), a local politician and Kumarasamy's cousin, decides to bank on Ramasamy's political support for his victory. Singarasu convinces Selvam to support his party, for which Selvam agrees. Singarasu won in the election, became an MLA and a minister for 5 years. Selvam is encouraged by a few party men to contest for the same MLA seat during the next election, but unfortunately, Singarasu is the man behind the plan and wants to defeat Selvam to show his power. Selvam trusts a few friends but later understands that it was Singarasu's plan. Selvam loses the election, as Singarasu provided money to vote for him to the public. This made Selvam furious, and he decides to earn money and use it for election purposes. He makes his close friend lawyer Pankaj Lal earn Singarasu's confidence and collect all the information about his illegal business activities, while they are both also heavily involved in kidnapping rich businessmen in the city and demanding money.

Coming back to the present, Selvam knows that Jayaseelan is handling the kidnap case. and closely monitors his moves. Sowmya's father Lakshmi Narayanan (Jayaprakash) is kidnapped by Selvam and his men demanding money. Narayanan hands the money to Selvam, who appears with a mask in front of him, while collecting the money. The next day, a meeting is arranged between Jayaseelan and Sowmya's family members to discuss their marriage proposal. At that time, Narayanan observes Selvam's mannerisms and doubts that he could be the one who kidnapped him the day before. Selvam understands that Narayanan has a doubt on him and decides to kill him before he could contact Jayaseelan. Narayanan requests Jayaseelan to meet him immediately, but he ends up being killed by Selvam before that ever happened.

Jayaseelan formulates a plan to find the culprit. He decides to tap the mobile phones of all the leading businessmen in Madurai so that he can get to know if the kidnapper calls any of them demanding money. A special team is set up to find out who are involved in phone tapping. A businessman gets a call demanding money, and Jayaseelan decides to follow the person without anyone's knowledge. While the businessman is about to hand over the money to Selvam and Lal, Jayaseelan interferes. Selvam and Lal escape and are chased by Jayaseelan. Jayaseelan shoots and arrests Lal, but Selvam shoots himself in his hand, stages a scene that someone has shot him, and runs away. Jayaseelan admits Selvam in the hospital.

Meanwhile, Lal is killed inside the commissioner office by a hitman employed by Selvam. Jayaseelan and Selvam's father overhears a conversation of Selvam with one of his henchmen on his mobile cell phone and found out that Selvam is the mastermind behind all of the kidnapping incidents. Selvam decides to kill his father. In the meantime, Jayaseelan conducts a secret investigation against Selvam and finds out the truth. He has got enough evidence that Selvam shot himself based on the number of gunshots heard and also understands that Selvam staged a show that he was shot by the culprit who ran away. Jayaseelan goes to Selvam's hideout and finds a secret room behind where their father is tied to a chair. Jayaseelan saves his father and brings him back home.

Now, Selvam is shocked to know that all of his illegal activities are exposed to his family members. He requests them not to take any action as he will become the next minister post election. Suddenly, Selvam rushes to kill Jayaseelan and his father. Jayaseelan retaliates and hits Selvam. Finally, their father asks Jayaseelan to kill Selvam, saying that it will be a big embarrassment for their family, especially their grandfather Ramasamy's image in the society, if the truth comes out to the public. Jayaseelan agrees and Selvam, while putting his dead body beneath the bridge, where usually the kidnappers place the dead bodies of rich businessmen, staging a scene that Selvam is also killed by the kidnappers demanding money. In the meantime, Jayaseelan encounters Selvam's hitmen, who are staged and involved in all of the crimes with him as the culprits behind the kidnappings and closes the case.