section_path: Plot
section_name: Plot
paragraph_text: Plot
  
  In the serene hill town of Perunad, Ranni, Shanmugham—affectionately called Benz—leads a quiet life as a taxi driver. Once a renowned stuntman in Malayalam and Tamil cinema, he left the film world after a tragic on-set accident claimed the life of his dearest friend, Anbu. Now, Benz finds contentment in his modest routine, surrounded by his wife Lalitha, their two children, and his prized possession—a black Ambassador Mark 1. Life flows peacefully until one day, Benz's college-going son, Pavi, brings home a group of friends. Unaware, the boys take the Ambassador for a joyride and crash it. A furious Benz slaps Pavi, though regrets it later when an angry and hurt Pavi stops answering his parents' calls. Benz entrusts the car to his friend Kuttichan, a local mechanic, for repairs and soon after, travels to Chennai to attend the funeral of his former stuntmaster.
  
  Upon returning, Benz is shocked to discover that his beloved car has been seized by the police. Unknown to him, Maniyan, Kuttichan's assistant, had used the car to smuggle marijuana. Despite the flimsy evidence, SI Benny, an arrogant and corrupt officer, refuses to release it. Benz pleads outside the station for several hours until CI George Mathan, a seemingly composed senior officer nearing retirement, intervenes and agrees to release the car—but with a condition. George asks Benz to drive him and Benny to the wedding celebration of CPO Sudheesh's sister. Though reluctant, Benz agrees and the trio go there the next day and stay the night. But later that night, George insists on driving to a remote farmhouse in Panchalimedu to continue the celebrations. Hesitant but cornered, Benz agrees, with Sudheesh also joining them.
  
  Reaching deep inside the forest, Benz learns a horrifying truth from George. Earlier that evening, Sudheesh's sister was allegedly harassed by her ex-boyfriend, who accidentally died in a scuffle with her family. George and Benny are trying help protect the family's reputation and they've hidden the dead body in Benz's car with the intend of disposing it in the forest. Shaken and powerless, Benz watches as they dump the corpse.
  
  Haunted, a disturbed Benz returns home the next morning. Lalitha notices blood on his shirt and his distant behaviour. Lalitha reveals that Pavi is still not picking up their calls and Benz goes to his hostel. However, when Pavi's friends reveal that he left for home a few days ago, Benz gets concerned and goes to the police station. George and Benny dismisses it casually, stating Benz slapping his son as the reason he is not picking up calls and that he must have gone on a trip with his friends. Later while cleaning the car, Benz finds the dead man's wallet that had fallen inside his car. To his horror Benz realises that it was Pavi's and that the body he unknowingly helped bury was his own son's.
  
  Devastated, Benz launches his own investigation. He abducts Sudheesh and forces a confession. Sudheesh reveals that Benz was misled — there was no harassment towards his sister and no ex-boyfriends. He informs Benz that George orchestrated the whole thing and he himself realized that there was a body only upon George's revelation. Meanwhile, a landslide in Purakkayam, Panchalimedu uncovers the body and forensics confirm it is Pavi. To cover their tracks, George and Benny fabricate a new lie: that Benz murdered Pavi over family tensions. It is revealed that Anbu and Lalitha were married and Pavi is their child, whom Benz adopted when he married Lalitha after Anbu's death. The police arrests Lalitha along with her daughter and tortures them to support the false narrative.
  
  Benz is caught and held in the station's basement, where George plans to eliminate him with the help of some corrupt officers. But Benz, fueled by anger, erupts and vanquishes them. In a fit of rage, he also kills Benny and escapes. He calls George, threatening to go after his daughter, Mary. George rushes home, only to find Benz waiting with Benny's corpse. In a final confrontation, Benz learns the whole truth: Mary and Pavi were in love. But George, enraged by the relationship, murdered Pavi after arresting him on a fake charge. Benny helped him cover it up by hiding the body in Benz's car while Benz was unknowingly waiting outside to plead for his car. Enraged beyond measure, Benz brutally beats George and kills him, as Mary watches on.
  
  At Pavi's funeral, Mary grieves alongside Benz's family, choosing to stand with the man she once loved. Two title cards - "In India, an estimated 30,000 cases of honor killings occur every year", "Yet, shockingly, only 25-35 cases are officially registered. The rest vanish into silence, buried under the weight of caste bias and social pressure." are displayed.
  
  Days later, as he is being taken into the courtroom, one of the swarming press reporters asks Benz, "Did you kill your son?" to which he replies, "I didn't kill my son. The ones who killed my son, I..." and then pauses for a moment. The police remove the reporters and continue escorting Benz into the courtroom. The ending suggests that Mary is now embraced as part of Benz's family, and the story concludes with a soft resonance of its title: Thudarum — a continuation.
  
  In the serene hill town of Perunad, Ranni, Shanmugham—affectionately called Benz—leads a quiet life as a taxi driver. Once a renowned stuntman in Malayalam and Tamil cinema, he left the film world after a tragic on-set accident claimed the life of his dearest friend, Anbu. Now, Benz finds contentment in his modest routine, surrounded by his wife Lalitha, their two children, and his prized possession—a black Ambassador Mark 1. Life flows peacefully until one day, Benz's college-going son, Pavi, brings home a group of friends. Unaware, the boys take the Ambassador for a joyride and crash it. A furious Benz slaps Pavi, though regrets it later when an angry and hurt Pavi stops answering his parents' calls. Benz entrusts the car to his friend Kuttichan, a local mechanic, for repairs and soon after, travels to Chennai to attend the funeral of his former stuntmaster.
  
  Upon returning, Benz is shocked to discover that his beloved car has been seized by the police. Unknown to him, Maniyan, Kuttichan's assistant, had used the car to smuggle marijuana. Despite the flimsy evidence, SI Benny, an arrogant and corrupt officer, refuses to release it. Benz pleads outside the station for several hours until CI George Mathan, a seemingly composed senior officer nearing retirement, intervenes and agrees to release the car—but with a condition. George asks Benz to drive him and Benny to the wedding celebration of CPO Sudheesh's sister. Though reluctant, Benz agrees and the trio go there the next day and stay the night. But later that night, George insists on driving to a remote farmhouse in Panchalimedu to continue the celebrations. Hesitant but cornered, Benz agrees, with Sudheesh also joining them.
  
  Reaching deep inside the forest, Benz learns a horrifying truth from George. Earlier that evening, Sudheesh's sister was allegedly harassed by her ex-boyfriend, who accidentally died in a scuffle with her family. George and Benny are trying help protect the family's reputation and they've hidden the dead body in Benz's car with the intend of disposing it in the forest. Shaken and powerless, Benz watches as they dump the corpse.
  
  Haunted, a disturbed Benz returns home the next morning. Lalitha notices blood on his shirt and his distant behaviour. Lalitha reveals that Pavi is still not picking up their calls and Benz goes to his hostel. However, when Pavi's friends reveal that he left for home a few days ago, Benz gets concerned and goes to the police station. George and Benny dismisses it casually, stating Benz slapping his son as the reason he is not picking up calls and that he must have gone on a trip with his friends. Later while cleaning the car, Benz finds the dead man's wallet that had fallen inside his car. To his horror Benz realises that it was Pavi's and that the body he unknowingly helped bury was his own son's.
  
  Devastated, Benz launches his own investigation. He abducts Sudheesh and forces a confession. Sudheesh reveals that Benz was misled — there was no harassment towards his sister and no ex-boyfriends. He informs Benz that George orchestrated the whole thing and he himself realized that there was a body only upon George's revelation. Meanwhile, a landslide in Purakkayam, Panchalimedu uncovers the body and forensics confirm it is Pavi. To cover their tracks, George and Benny fabricate a new lie: that Benz murdered Pavi over family tensions. It is revealed that Anbu and Lalitha were married and Pavi is their child, whom Benz adopted when he married Lalitha after Anbu's death. The police arrests Lalitha along with her daughter and tortures them to support the false narrative.
  
  Benz is caught and held in the station's basement, where George plans to eliminate him with the help of some corrupt officers. But Benz, fueled by anger, erupts and vanquishes them. In a fit of rage, he also kills Benny and escapes. He calls George, threatening to go after his daughter, Mary. George rushes home, only to find Benz waiting with Benny's corpse. In a final confrontation, Benz learns the whole truth: Mary and Pavi were in love. But George, enraged by the relationship, murdered Pavi after arresting him on a fake charge. Benny helped him cover it up by hiding the body in Benz's car while Benz was unknowingly waiting outside to plead for his car. Enraged beyond measure, Benz brutally beats George and kills him, as Mary watches on.
  
  At Pavi's funeral, Mary grieves alongside Benz's family, choosing to stand with the man she once loved. Two title cards - "In India, an estimated 30,000 cases of honor killings occur every year", "Yet, shockingly, only 25-35 cases are officially registered. The rest vanish into silence, buried under the weight of caste bias and social pressure." are displayed.
  
  Days later, as he is being taken into the courtroom, one of the swarming press reporters asks Benz, "Did you kill your son?" to which he replies, "I didn't kill my son. The ones who killed my son, I..." and then pauses for a moment. The police remove the reporters and continue escorting Benz into the courtroom. The ending suggests that Mary is now embraced as part of Benz's family, and the story concludes with a soft resonance of its title: Thudarum — a continuation.