Ketugadu (1980)

Fast-paced and fiery, this evocative action drama follows the fluctuating fortunes in the life of a fearless youngster, who steals money from the temple donation box, in his desperation to help his mother.

His mother does not object, but he gets caught by the villagers, beaten, and labelled with a tattoo that identifies him as a burglar and thief. Hardened by this callous cruelty against a juvenile, he runs away to the city and becomes a career criminal.

His mother decides to join him and travels to the city by train. She lies her way into a first-class compartment, where a wealthy woman bearing a remarkable resemblance to her own appearance is present. They converse and become friends. In a quirk of fate, two trains collide and many are injured. The wealthy woman is fatally injured and dies soon after requesting her fellow passenger, to take care of her son as well.

The impoverished woman decides to take the place of the wealthy woman, as she is enchanted by her wealth and social status. She becomes the guardian and mother of the wealthy woman's son and abandons her own.

The wealthy young man grows up and chooses a career in law. As a public prosecutor, he comes face to face with a criminal, who happens to be the biological son of the woman posing as his mother. However, when his own mother refuses to acknowledge their relationship, the criminal is heartbroken. He promises to expose his mother's truth. Will he succeed? How will his future unfold?