Rating: 7.2/10
Director: Vysakh
Writer: Udaykrishnan
Stars: Mohanlal, Jagapathi Babu, Kamalinee Mukherjee
Runtime: 2h 41min
Genre: Action, Thriller
Released: 21 October 2016

Summary: Murugan (Mohanlal) lives in Puliyoor, a small forest village that is vulnerable to man-eating tigers— called Varayan Puli (striped leopard) by the villagers—and frequent human–wildlife conflicts. When he was young, Murugan’s mother died after his brother Manikuttan was born. Soon after, his father was kiled by tiger; in vengeance, Murugan traps and kills the tiger with the help of his uncle Balaraman.

Years later, Murugan is a lorry driver, has married Myna (Kamalini Mukherjee), and has a daughter, Chakki. He hunts and kills rogue tigers whenever they invade the village. Acknowledging his skills in hunting Varayan Puli, the villagers call him Pulimurugan (Leopard-Murugan). Murugan is grateful to the villagers who cared for him after his parents’ deaths, and is obsessively protective of Manikuttan, who is about to finish his MBA graduation in Mangalore.

One day, Kadutha, the village chief, meets a hooded stranger who asks the whereabouts of Murugan for a hunting assignment. Murugan has been away from Puliyoor for days and many people have been killed by tigers. According to Kadutha, Manikuttan’s friends Benny and Shiva have arriving at Puliyoor, sent by Manikuttan to see Balaraman. Shiva’s father Daddy Girija owns a pharmaceutical company that is developing a drug to treat cancer and they need ganja (marijuana) from the forest. If the medical research succeeds, Manikuttan will be offered a job in the company, so Balaraman helps them. They make a contract with Ramaiya, an illegal ganja dealer in the forest; on their return to the village they encounter a tiger but are saved by Murugan, who kills it.