Two conmen, who believe that money can solve all their problems, decide to extract money from wrongdoers. Trouble begins when a mad policeman crosses their way.

The story revolves around two bad guys who struggle with forces of good and evil while exploring the psychological secret that people tend to bury deep within their minds. The film reveals dark secrets, which manifest into a series of attacks that seek to destroy the protagonists.

Vaanavaraayan (Rajinikanth) is a feudal chieftain, adored and respected by the people of his village. He lives with his grandparents (M. N. Nambiar & Manorama). Following his advice, they abstain from voting in the elections and instead, pool the money given by the candidates to get themselves some basic amenities. Vallavaraayan (Napoleon) is his arch enemy. Their enmity is further sharpened when Vaanavaraayan wins the hand of Vaitheeswari (Meena), whom Vallavaraayan had also wished to wed. Vallavaraayan then convinces the priest of the village temple to mix poison in the holy water that Vaitheeswari drinks. As a result, she becomes incapable of conceiving a baby. But surprisingly, Vaitheeswari soon becomes pregnant-though she has pretended with the help of the mid-wife (S. N. Lakshmi), to do so to uphold her husband’s honour. She takes poison and kills herself unable to bear the grief of being incapable of giving her husband a child and on her deathbed makes Vaanavarayan swear to take Ponni (Aishwariya) as his wife. Vaanavarayan however refuses until Ponni agrees to marry Sembattai (Thalapathi Dinesh)- Vallavarayan’s hechman-who abandons her to Vallavarayan’s vice. Infuriated, Vaanavarayan attacks Vallavarayan and spares his life after giving him a sermon on how to win the heart of the people.

A brother and sister share a close bond with each other. When the sister gets married, her husband dislikes the bond, due to which problems arise between the couple.

The movie starts in 1970s, where there is heavy drought in southern districts of Tamil Nadu. Ayyadurai (Sarath Kumar) and Maadasaamy (Napoleon) are close friends and landlords of different castes in Tenkasi town in Tirunelveli district, and they try hard to help people and save them from dying during the drought. Local MLA (OAK Sundar), also a relative of Madasami, smuggles rice given by the government and people protest, knowing about this. The MLA denies knowing anything about the sanctioned rice. That night, he starts to smuggle the rice, but the lorries are waylaid and ransacked by the people led by Madasamy. The MLA comes there and starts shooting towards people’s legs. Ayyadurai sees the MLA aiming for Madasamy’s head and pushes him. Then Ayyadurai beats the MLA using hilt of the gun, following which he dies. But the local people support Ayyadurai and save him from police and also urge him to contest in the assembly by-elections.