| Director | K. V. Anand |
|---|---|
| Genre | political thriller film |
| Runtime | 150 min |
| Country | India |
Thilak is a news anchor who works for Zen One TV, which is run by Kalyan, a corrupt and unethical media baron who uses blatant sensationalism to gain TRP and is closely associated with Dheeran Maniarasu, a corrupt and powerful politician. Kalyan ensures that his channel does not report anything negatively about Dheeran and receives kickbacks in return. Also working for Zen One is Malar, Thilak's ex-girlfriend. Though Malar initially avoids Thilak, she soon realises her feelings for him, and they get back together.
One day, Malar gets the news that her friend Kalpana, who is a social activist, has been assaulted, and her boyfriend Abdul Kader has been blamed. Thilak, creative head Ashok, and Malar manage to smuggle Kalpana from the hospital and convince her to tell her story. Kalpana had been assaulted by Dheeran's goons in retribution for protesting against Dheeran's pesticide factory, which had ruined a once-prosperous village due to the effluents coming out of the factory, and the blame was put on Abdul instead. This confession is telecast live, and Kalpana gains massive public support. However, Kalyan telecasts another video that depicts Kalpana as "mentally ill" and had tried to malign Dheeran due to her "mental state". Enraged, Thilak attempts to expose Dheeran at a talk show, despite being bound by the Zen One management to ask questions framed by them for Dheeran. A brawl eventually ensues between Thilak and Dheeran, and Thilak brutally assaults Ashok, who is responsible for the video that had defamed Kalpana. Thilak then confronts Kalyan for his cronyism and lack of journalism ethics and is fired and blacklisted from all major media networks in response. Malar, executive producer Jagan, and two other colleagues, Nishandhini and Aarthi, also walk out with Thilak in a show of solidarity, and they are blacklisted as well.
With nowhere else to go, Thilak, Malar, Jagan, Nishandhini, and Aarthi take up jobs with Muthamizh TV, a struggling local news channel run by Mayilvaganan. Thilak goes to the village and reports on how the villagers are affected due to the pesticide factory and telecasts it on Muthamizh. He also makes Abdul and Kalpana reveal their side of the story and also gets that telecasted along with a video showing Dheeran assaulting him at the Zen One studio. With Zen One as well as Dheeran now exposed, Kalyan decides to take revenge on Thilak by orchestrating a bomb blast with the help of Dheeran at the DC's office and blaming Abdul, who was present at the Collector's Office minutes before the bomb exploded, thereby sensationalising it as a "terrorist attack". He also frames Thilak, Malar, and Muthamizh as co-conspirators, leading to Muthamizh being blacked out by the Central Government.
On the run, Thilak manages to capture a video of Abdul revealing that he was not involved in any terrorist attack and was framed by Dheeran and Zen One. Thilak also records a video showing Ashok and the police orchestrating a fake encounter to kill Abdul. He manages to get both videos telecast on Zen One itself with the help of Jagan, Aarthi, and Nishandhini, who have rejoined Zen One TV as part of Thilak's plan to expose Kalyan and Dheeran, as well as his former boss Pillai, the chief editor at Zen One who had suffered in silence against the atrocities committed by the Zen One management. Having been exposed completely, Kalyan and Dheeran, who are at the Muthamizh studio, boldly admit their crimes to Thilak and defend themselves. Unfortunately for them, their confession is recorded by the Police Commissioner, who was working undercover in Muthamizh. Kalyan and Dheeran are arrested. Thilak, Mayilvaganan, Malar, Jagan, Pillai, Nisha, and Aishwarya celebrate their victory.