Plot
A bomb blast in Hyderabad kills 40 people. Five terrorists are arrested, found guilty, and sentenced to death. Among them is Aditya (Nithin), who continues to deny any involvement and files an appeal. While in jail awaiting the verdict, Aditya befriends an elderly inmate, Srimannarayana (aka Narayan, Sai Chand), a passionate chess player. Aditya quickly learns the game from him and proves to be exceptionally talented.
Aditya’s case is taken up by lawyer Manasa (Rakul Preet Singh), who visits him in prison. Aditya tells her his story:
He was an orphan raised by a travelling circus performing magic shows. As an adult, he became a petty con artist involved in white-collar scams. He later fell in love with Yatra (Priya Prakash Varrier). After a vacation together, Yatra mysteriously disappeared. Aditya was soon arrested when police found emails related to the Hyderabad blast on his laptop. He insists he is innocent: at the time the emails were sent, he was in another city with Yatra, who could provide an alibi - but she had vanished.
Believing him, Manasa brings the case to court. The judge grants Aditya six months to locate Yatra. What Aditya does not reveal to Manasa or the judge is the truth he has secretly realised: Yatra herself was one of the terrorists and deliberately framed him, so she will never testify.
Meanwhile, Aditya defeats a young chess player named Pooja, a youth champion, during a game outside the courtroom. This shocks Narayan, who becomes convinced that Aditya has the potential to become a professional player.
Narayan is eventually released. At Aditya’s request, he contacts Varna, Aditya’s former crime partner, and persuades her to pretend to be Yatra in court. Varna agrees, but Manasa discovers the deception and withdraws the appeal, making Aditya’s death sentence final. Now Aditya’s last hope is a presidential pardon. He decides to earn it by proving his extraordinary chess talent.
With Narayan’s help, Aditya is allowed to participate in a major chess championship, which he wins. A convicted terrorist winning a professional tournament becomes major news. Seizing the moment, Aditya publicly proclaims his innocence and donates his prize money to build a sports stadium in the prison. Public sympathy grows, and he wins another national title, increasing support for his pardon.
However, after another terrorist attack occurs, public sentiment sharply turns against him, and the president officially rejects his clemency request. Manasa then informs him of another blow: Yatra, whose real name is Isabel, has been killed in a police encounter. Devastated, Aditya awaits execution.
On the day of his hanging, Aditya requests one final wish: to participate in the World Chess Championship, held in the very stadium built with his donation. During the match, he asks to use the restroom, and vanishes. The police search desperately but cannot locate him.
In the final reveal, it is shown that the stadium was constructed by Aditya’s childhood friend Swami, who secretly built a hidden escape tunnel. Inside the bathroom, Aditya used the magic tricks he learned in the circus to create a diversion with smoke and escaped through the tunnel, disappearing without a trace.
