Moorthy sneers. "What will you do, conductor? Punch your way through a hundred men? Give me your best shot."

The students paid. Karthik’s heart hammered. In that single moment, he saw the entire film: Nadodi Mannan — The Vagabond King.

He rushed to his mentor, the legendary but reclusive director A. R. "Rocky" Srinivasan, a man who had defined the raw, gritty "Madras Noir" era of the 90s but hadn't made a film in a decade. Rocky was sipping filter coffee in his crumbling bungalow, surrounded by posters of Rajinikanth and Kamal Haasan. "The hero?" Rocky asked, not looking up.