| Director | Akshat Verma, Pa. Ranjith |
|---|---|
| Budget | ₹140 crore |
| Box office | ₹159.6 crore |
In Mumbai, the people who had migrated from southern Tamil Nadu are living as a poor people in the slum of Dharavi. However, a ruthless minister named Haridev "Hari Dada" Abhayankar repeatedly tries to evict the people of Dharavi and seize their land. Over the years, Hari, a former gangster, becomes an MP and later Union Minister. By 2015, Dharavi becomes the central spot of downtown Mumbai. Hari plans to clear the area to construct posh buildings using his construction company in the form of government schemes with the help of his party supporter Vishnu Bhai.
Karikaalan alias "Kaala" is the godfather of the Dharavi residents who oppose Hari's plans as he wants to protect the area and his people. Kaala's ex-love interest, Zareena, returns to her native Dharavi as a representative NGO that hopes to improve the living standards in Dharavi, where she is unaware of Hari's intentions. Despite many attempts by Hari's men, Kaala does not permit evacuation of the slum. Vishnu Bhai's men try to kill Kaala after Kaala visits Zareena. Vishnu Bhai kills the son of a Dharavi resident after the boy throws a stone at a poster of Hari. Kaala eventually kills Vishnu Bhai. The police arrest Kaala after his wedding anniversary party, where he is assaulted at the police station in front of Hari and State Minister and is released the next day. While returning home, Hari makes an assassination attempt on Kaala to take control of the area. However, the attempt goes awry, and Kaala's wife, Selvi, and his second son, Selvam, get killed. Kaala then decides to take revenge on Hari.
Hari threatens the people in Dharavi by creating problems, but Kaala encourages the people to protest against the government to give up the scheme. Kaala and his people campaign through social media, and within two weeks, the State government cancels Hari's "Clean Mumbai Initiative." Humiliated, Hari creates a curfew in Dharavi with the aid of SP Pankaj Patil. Along with some cops and Hari's right-hand man, Inspector Sunil, they raid the area. Kaala and his younger son, Lenin, daughter-in-law, Puyal, and his brother-in-law, Vaaliyappan, fight alongside him against Hari's henchmen and the police. The police believe Kaala is dead after henchmen set his chawl ablaze.
Pankaj gets arrested after a video taken by a reporter named Praveen during the curfew provides evidence that Hari brought the henchmen into Dharavi to create problems with the police's support. They inform the media, but the people of Dharavi deny the news of Kaala's death. Hari again enters Dharavi at a function for constructing a new building, where he begins to hallucinate Kaala's appearance among the crowd and behaves erratically. The people of Dharavi murders Hari in a riot, and the government again cancels the scheme. With Dharavi's success, many slums start to follow Kaala's way of protest to protect their neighbourhood irrespective of their illegal occupation of lands.