Vetrivel alias Velu (Vijay) is a car racer who lives with his large family in Chennai. His father, Singamuthu (Manivannan), had gone to Kadapa in Andhra Pradesh to work at a colliery and never returned, prompting Velu and his family to think that he is dead. Velu comes to know that a Malaysia-based don named Koccha (Suman) owed his father a huge sum of money. Velu and his friend Ops (Vivek) travel to Malaysia as "Kuruvi", the trade jargon for low-level contraband carriers. They come to Malaysia at a time when internal rivalry and problems are surfacing in Koccha's family. Koccha's younger sister Radhadevi alias Devi (Trisha) has refused to marry Soori (Pawan), the brother of Konda Reddy (Ashish Vidyarthi), Koccha's Kadapa-based business associate. Irritated and preoccupied, neither Koccha nor his henchmen want to devote any time or attention to resolve Velu's problem. Velu is ill-treated and thrown out of Koccha's place without any help rendered. Determined to return to India only after his father's issue is solved to his satisfaction, Velu conceals himself in Koccha's palace-like residence. He soon finds out about a large diamond owned by Koccha and steals it, feeling that it would pay off his father's debt, and returns to India with Ops. Devi also follows Velu to India, having fallen in love with him, when he saves her from falling from a tall building during New Year's Eve.