'Kaantha' Ending Explained, Who Really Killed 'Kumari' In Between The Ego Battle Of 'Ayya' And 'TK'?

Tamil film, Kaantha, starring Dulquer Salmaan was released on the OTT platform, Netflix on December 12, 2025. The film is directed by Selvamani Selvaraj, and the thriller murder mystery is set in 1950s Madras. While the first half of the film focuses on an ego battle between mentor and student, the second half focuses on an investigation after a murder takes place at a film set. Read on to know how the Tamil film ends.

Kaantha features a power battle between ‘Ayya’ and ‘TK’

The Tamil film, Kaantha, directed by Selvamani Selvaraj opens in a studio, with an actress, 'Kumari' (Bhagyashri Borse), who is about to make her debut. However, she is tragically shot dead, which sets the tone for a murder mystery. But before that, the film goes back in time to explain the people and the conflict between them. The film follows 'Ayya' (P. Samuthirakani), a respected director and 'T.K. Mahadevan' (Dulquer Salmaan), a superstar, who worked under 'Ayya' at one point. The two once shared a father-son bond. 

As the film progresses, 'Ayya's' dream project, 'Saantha', which was once rejected has been greenlit. However, the same dream project becomes the reason for a conflict between 'Ayya' and 'TK'. 'TK', who is now a superstar, tries to change the film according to his wish. This upsets 'Ayya', and this begins the battle of ego and power between 'Ayya' and 'TK'. For the film, 'Kumari' is chosen as the lead, however, she gets attracted to 'TK' and they start dating. It is worth mentioning that 'TK' is already married. 

Later, 'TK' plants a listening device on 'Kumari', so that he can monitor her conversations with 'Ayya'. However, he only hears a part of the conversation and believes that 'Kumari' was going against him and siding with 'Ayya'. Then on one tragic night, 'Kumari' is shot dead and all the blame goes to 'TK', in the beginning. To solve the investigation, Rana Daggubati enters as a police officer. 

Who killed ‘Kumari’?

As the film progresses, viewers see that ‘Kumari’ was waiting for 'TK' at the night of her murder. The two were about to leave together to get married. But 'TK' arrives in anger, confusion and completely convinced that 'Kumari' was betraying her. Later, she is found dead and the police arrives to investigate the same. It is eventually revealed that it was 'TK', who shot 'Kumari' in the chest and stomach. Gradually, the film also shows 'TK', who listens to the whole audio and eventually finds out that 'Kumari' had never betrayed him and was always defending him in front of 'Ayya'.

Kaantha ending explained

Towards the end of the film, 'Ayya' is completely crushed by the burden of guilt. He is unable to believe that a battle of ego and power could escalate to something like a murder. When 'Ayya' is unable to live with the burden, he ends up committing suicide. On the other hand, 'TK', who killed 'Kumari', is not legally convicted and is set free. Towards the end, he returns to his superstar world and is seen attending the premiere of 'Ayya' dream project, 'Saantha'.

More about Kaantha

Tamil film, Kaantha, starring Dulquer Salmaan, Bhagyashri Borse and P. Samuthirakani was released on Netflix on December 12, 2025. It is worth mentioning that the film is released in multiple languages including Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Hindi and Kannada. For those who do not know, when the film was released in theatres, it received positive response from the audience, as they hailed Dulquer Salmaan for his powerful and career-best film.

What are your thoughts on the film, Kaantha? Let us know.

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