- Rajaraman, a goon, has lied to his parents that he is a doctor. Once, on their visit, the truth comes out and they are heartbroken. That's when he decides to become a real doctor by hook or by crook.
- Vasool Raja- is in a rowdy gang, where they get money from people. When his parents are coming for a visit,he & his gang pretend they are running a hospital. Later Vasool's parents find out that they were cheated by their own son as pretending to be a doctor. Now Vasool must attend a medical school to earn his parent's trust back. There he encounters his love at first sight (childhood friend) and he encounters his arch-enemy.—nickraman
- Rajaraman, nicknamed "Vasool Raja", is a local don in Chennai who makes a living by collecting money from people who refuse or dilly-dally in paying their debts to others (adithadi), with the help of his right-hand man Vatti. Given that his father Sriman Venkataraman had wished him to be a doctor, he creates the faux Venkataraman Charitable Hospital and pretends to live in accordance with this wish whenever his father and mother Kasturi visit him in Chennai.
One year later, Raja's plan goes awry when Venkataraman meets an old acquaintance, Dr Vishwanathan. The two men decide to get Raja married to Vishwanathan's daughter Dr Janaki aka "Paapu", who was a childhood friend of Raja under that name. At this point, the truth about Raja is revealed. Vishwanathan insults Raja's parents and ridicules them for being ignorant of Raja's real life. Venkataraman and Kasturi, who are both aghast and heartbroken, disown Raja and leave for their village.
Raja, in grief and despair, decides that the only way to redeem himself and gain revenge for the humiliation suffered by his father at the hands of the spiteful Vishwanathan is to become a doctor. He goes to a medical college to obtain an MBBS degree, a graduate medical degree in South Asia.
With the help of Vatti and others, Raja gains admission to the SLR Institute of Medical Sciences by threatening Margabandhu, a faculty member of the college, as well as Margabandhu's father. Upon admission, he again encounters Vishwanathan, who is the college dean. His success there becomes dependent upon the coerced help of Margabandhu. Margabandhu is initially hostile to Raja but does not reveal the truth to the dean. While Raja's skills as a medical doctor are minimal, he transforms those around him with the "Kattipudi Vaithiyam" ("hugging therapy"), a method of comfort taught to Raja by his mother, and the compassion he shows towards those in need. Despite the school's emphasis on mechanical, Cartesian, impersonal, and often bureaucratic relationships between doctors and patients, Raja constantly seeks to impose a more empathetic, almost holistic, regimen. To this end, he defies all convention by treating a brain-dead man as if the man were able to perceive and understand normally; intimidating Dr Kalidas into admitting and treating a suicide patient; interacting on familiar but autocratic terms with patients; humiliating school bullies; effusively thanking a hitherto-underappreciated cleaner; helping a terminally ill cancer patient named Zakir; and encouraging the patients themselves to make changes in their lives so that they do not need pharmaceuticals or surgery.
Vishwanathan, who perceives all this as symptoms of chaos, is unable to prevent it from expanding and gaining ground at his college. He becomes increasingly irritable, almost to the point of insanity. Repeatedly, this near-dementia is shown when he receives unwelcome tidings and begins laughing in a way that implies that he has gone mad. This behaviour is explained early on as an attempt to practise laughter therapy, an attempt that seems to have backfired. Vishwanathan's laughing serves more to convey his anger than diffuse it. Meanwhile, Janaki becomes increasingly fond of Raja, who, in his turn, becomes unreservedly infatuated with her. Some comedy appears here because Raja is unaware that Janaki and his childhood friend "Paapu" are one and the same; an ignorance that Janaki hilariously exploits. Vishwanathan tries several times to expel Raja but is often outsmarted by Raja's wit or the affection with which the others at the college regard Raja, as having gained superior self-esteem by his methods. In a final attempt, Raja is almost expelled but he injures himself and multiple bones to prevent himself from being expelled.
Margabandhu's senile father is admitted to the hospital and all hope seems lost for him. Having threatened Margabandhu before, Raja's gang knows that he is a passionate board game player and Raja orders a carrom board to come to the hospital. One late night, Raja and his gang play carrom and chat and Margabandhu's father miraculously wakes up and walks to the board, to the shock of the nurses, doctors, and Margabandhu. Raja and Margabandhu's father play against each other and Margabandhu's father wins the match and celebrates. Upon witnessing this, Margabandhu is extremely touched by Raja's gesture and tearfully thanks him for saving his father, dropping his hostility towards Raja and his gang.
Upon recovery, Vishwanathan orders Raja to leave and brings the police to throw him out, but everyone in the college protests and blocks the way. Vishwanathan tells the students the truth about Raja, but no one believes him and upon questioning the staff, Margabandhu denies any of Vishwanathan's allegations and claims that Raja is innocent. Infuriated, Vishwanathan challenges Raja to answer all questions asked by the doctors in front of the entire university and Raja accepts. Despite preparing well and getting help from Margabandhu and supporting staff, Raja is unable to focus as Zakir's condition becomes worse and Zakir dies in Raja's hands.
The next morning, Raja starts answering the questions well, but Vishwanathan stops the staff and says he will ask all the forthcoming questions, shocking everyone. Raja is unable to answer and is shamed into leaving the college. He confesses the truth to everyone and breaks down about his guilt to Zakir, his parents, and everyone he cared for. Everyone, except Vishwanathan (who smiles maliciously throughout the speech), are moved to tears by his speech. In the moments immediately following Raja's departure, the brain-dead man miraculously awakens from his vegetative state; at this point, Janaki gives a heartfelt speech wherein she criticises her father for having banished Raja, saying that to do so is to banish hope, compassion, love, happiness, etc. from the college. Vishwanathan eventually realises his folly.
Raja later marries Janaki, learning for the first time that she is "Paapu", while also reconciling with his parents, who appreciate him for the first time in many years.
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