Kara

In 1990, Karasaami "Kara" and his accomplice, Murugesan, attempt to rob the local MLA's house in Thiruverumbur, Trichy district, disguised as EB line men. Kara, who has decided to give up crime and live peacefully with his wife Selli, tells Murugesan to break the lock, calling it Murugesan's first theft and his last. However, the MLA and his family return home and discover them. Kara helps Murugesan escape, only to be left behind, captured, and badly beaten. At the police station, where he is hung upside down, Selli pleads for his release, insisting that he is innocent. Kara then admits that he is a thief, shocking her. Meanwhile, DSP Bharathan uses the case to build his reputation and retire with dignity and falsely implicates Kara in a larger theft. Unable to bear the injustice, Kara overpowers Bharathan and escapes.

Six months later in 1991, Kara and Selli are working for daily wages in a mess at Renigunta, but their poverty drives Kara to seek a bank loan to start his own mess. When he cannot provide security documents, he claims he owns eight acres of land in his village and is told to bring the papers. Kara and Selli travel to Ramanathapuram, where he reunites with his family after years away. It is revealed that, at 16, he stole money from his father, Kandhasaami, and ran away. Kara later learns that his father has been struggling to repay a tractor loan taken through EMI, and that the land papers are with Panjavan Union Bank. When Kara asks his father to sell the land and give him money to start a business, Kandhasaami refuses, saying the land belongs to his ancestors and is sacred.

Soon after, the bank sends a notice threatening to seize the land for defaulting on the tractor loan. Kara is devastated to learn that his father has been trapped by a dishonest banker. When the family cannot secure the body after Kandhasaami dies, the villagers try to bury him in the ancestral land. Officials from the bank and the police stop them; humiliated by the bank manager, Muthu Selvan, Kara decides to rob the bank. With Murugesan and Kasi, he studies the branches and learns that the banks have alarm systems. Kara first attempts a robbery at a branch near the bypass, but fails because he does not understand the locker system. Later, after noticing that villagers are distracted by a television programme, he plans a daytime robbery at the Mudukulathur branch. The robbery succeeds, though he only takes ₹3 lakh (equivalent to ₹29 lakh or US$31,000 in 2023). He later discovers that Muthu Selvan has stolen another ₹2 lakh (equivalent to ₹20 lakh or US$20,000 in 2023) from the branch and pinned it on him. Bharathan investigates by tracing the stolen note numbers and checking customers who had recently received seizure notices.

When Kara returns to the head office to exchange the stolen money and repay the loan, he is told to pay extra charges and penalties. Furious, he learns that Muthu Selvan has also been profiting from farmers by trapping them in high EMI loans. Kara realises that the bank has ruined many poor villagers, not just his own family. When Muthu Selvan offers to work with him and split the profits from future robberies, Kara sees the extent of his corruption. Bharathan predicts another robbery, and Kara is forced into a new series of thefts, this time targeting banks to help the villagers repay their loans and reclaim their land documents. As his robberies begin to expose the bank's practices, Muthu Selvan hires others to steal for him, but his plan collapses when Murugesan is stabbed in a scuffle. Kara continues, driven by desperation and a growing sense of justice.

Finally, Kara learns that a large amount of money is being transported from a film shoot in Sayalkudi. He steals it and uses the money to help settle villagers' debts. Bharathan eventually realises that the robberies have been directed at banks for the benefit of the poor. Kara is able to retrieve his father's body from the mortuary and bury him in his ancestral land, fulfilling his wish. Muthu Selvan, gravely injured after being hit by a tractor, confesses everything before being killed by Bharathan. Bharathan confronts Kara, but chooses not to arrest him, acknowledging that he would become the hero and Bharathan would become the villain if he arrests him; all the blame would be pinned on Muthu Selvan so he could get credited for the arrests. Kara remains in his village, implied to have turned to agriculture.