(2022) is a Tamil-language gangster drama directed by Gautham Vasudev Menon and written by B. Jeyamohan. The film marks a significant departure for Menon, moving away from his typical sophisticated urban romances into the gritty, unvarnished life of migrant laborers in Mumbai. Plot Summary and Structure

: Titled Part 1: The Kindling , the film explores the slow expansion of Muthu’s world and his journey from an innocent migrant to an emerging don. Themes and Analysis

The story follows (Silambarasan TR), a B.Sc. graduate from a village in Tamil Nadu. After an incident involving a brush with fire and a threat of violence at home, his mother sends him to Mumbai to work in a parotta shop.

: Muthu soon discovers the shop is a front for an underworld gang led by Karjee.

: Initially a "screw" in a larger machine, Muthu is forced by circumstance to pick up a gun, eventually realizing he may have a natural proclivity for violence.