The people who had migrated from Tirunelveli District of Tamil Nadu live in Dharavi slum in Mumbai. The Union Minister Haridev Abhayankar alias Hari Dada (Nana Patekar), previously a gangster, tries to evict people and seize the land of Dharavi. He comes up with a plan of promising furnished homes to people through a Government scheme with the help of Vishnu Bhai (Sampath Raj). But Karikaalan alias Kaala (Rajinikanth), the leader of Dharavi, stands in his way to protect the area. Zareena, ex-girlfriend of Kaala, returns from Africa as the head of an NGO to improve the living standards in Dharavi. Hari Dada's failed attempts to kill Kaala in order to take control over the area leads to the death of Kaala's wife (Easwari Rao) and elder son Selvam (Dileepan). Kaala encourages people of Dharavi to protest in spite of Hari Dada constantly creating problems for them.