- The last active farmer in a remote village tries to hold out against a property developer.
- Octogenarian Maayandi is the last active farmer in his remote village in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. His farm work, his fields and livestock are enough for him, and he refuses to sell his land to a property developer. But Maayandi's pleasantly predictable way of life comes to an abrupt end when he is wrongly accused of killing three peacocks - the national symbol of India - and burying them on his property.—jakkepoes
- Mayandi is an eighty year old farmer, living a frugal lifestyle. He talks very little and displays very little emotion. As there is no other farmer in the village, he is tasked with providing the symbolic first grain for the village temple's annual ceremony. The village's other farmers have sold their lands to financiers for supposed developmental projects. Mayandi plants a new batch of paddy in his field, and one day, he finds a peacock and 2 peahens dead in his field. He considers them vehicles of his favorite God Murugan and buries them in his field. A fellow villager sees him bury the birds. Soon, Mayandi is arrested for the crime of killing a peacock, India's national bird.
It is then revealed that some years before, peafowl were killed in the village and the investigating police were heckled and there were no witnesses. The police want to avenge their humiliation. They find a witness and file a case against Mayandi, who is taken into judicial remand. He is then brought to court where he states the facts to the magistrate (Raichal Rebecca). Mayandi explains that the witness only saw him bury the birds, not the act of killing them. She reprimands the police for filing a false case and orders them to submit a changed report. However, since the First Information Report had been filed and filing a new report takes time, Mayandi is ordered to spend 15 days in jail. Mayandi mentions his newly-planted crop that needs regular watering. The magistrate orders the police constable to water the crop.
The police delay filing the changed report and neglect the care of the field while Mayandi's stay in prison gets extended. Mayandi's relatives in the village take pity on the police constable (who is watering the field) and agree to take up that task themselves. When pests attack the crop, Mayandi advises them on how to control them with a traditional spray, but this is laborious. Mayandi's relative instead buys a pesticide that is pushed by the village agro-chemical dealer. Mayandi makes an escape while waiting for his hearing and discovers the crop destroyed. The magistrate finds him in the field and tries to hasten a speedy release, while also ensuring support for a new crop to be planted and raised in time for the festival. The festival itself involves Ayyanar deities (including Karuppu Sami), who are appeased by a coming together of all the caste groups in the society, including the village potter who has nearly lost his livelihood.
There are two side stories. One is that of a village simpleton Ramaiah (Vijay Sethupathi). Ramaiah has gone insane following the death of his love. At several points in the movie, it is hinted that he is the sane one in a world gone mad. Another is that of Thadikozhanthai (Yogi Babu) and the elephant he bought after selling his land to a financial institution. There are also commentaries on hybrid seeds, industrial animal feed, and other high-input practices that are destroying sustenance farmers.
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