Battery (2022) Ending Explained: Pugazh’s Revenge, Bone Bullets and the Pacemaker Scam

Spoiler Warning: This article contains major spoilers for Battery (2022), including the identity of the killer and the complete ending.

Battery is a 2022 Tamil crime thriller directed by Mani Bharathi, starring Senguttuvan as SI Pugazh, Ammu Abhirami as Asha, Deepak Shetty as Victor and Yog Japee as Inspector Rathnam. The film revolves around medical corruption, mysterious murders and a revenge story connected to defective pacemakers.

What initially looks like a conventional murder investigation gradually turns into something much darker. Victims are found with batteries stuffed inside their mouths, while postmortems reveal bullet wounds without any bullets inside their bodies.

So who is the killer, why are batteries left with the victims, and what really happens to Arjun at the end?

Here is the complete Battery movie ending explained.

The Mystery Begins With a Burned Body

The investigation begins after police discover a badly burned body near a bridge in Chennai.

Newly appointed Sub-Inspector Pugazh joins Inspector Rathnam's team and immediately proves that he has a sharp eye for evidence. While Rathnam initially dismisses him, Pugazh discovers an important clue: a partially burned locket containing a grain of rice with the name “Malli” written on it.

The investigation eventually leads police to Malleshwar, also known as Malli.

Meanwhile, another important character, Asha, is searching for Surendra Kumar and Suguna on the instructions of her father. At first, her mission appears unrelated to the murder investigation, but the two stories eventually become connected.

Why Was Inspector Rathnam Murdered?

The story takes a disturbing turn when Inspector Rathnam is kidnapped by a masked attacker.

The killer stuffs several small batteries into Rathnam's mouth before shooting him with an unusual weapon.

During the autopsy, investigators discover something almost impossible: Rathnam has what appears to be a bullet-entry wound, but there is no bullet inside his body.

ACP Victor initially considers whether the killer might have used a bullet made from ice. However, an experiment proves that the theory does not explain the strange wounds.

Before police can solve the mystery, businessman David receives a similar death threat.

Despite being given police protection, David is murdered in almost exactly the same way as Rathnam. Batteries are forced into his mouth, and once again there is an apparent gunshot wound but no conventional bullet.

Then the movie reveals its biggest twist.

Pugazh Is the Masked Killer

The person killing Rathnam and David is none other than SI Pugazh himself.

Until this point, Pugazh has appeared to be the intelligent young officer helping the police solve the case. In reality, he has been manipulating the investigation while secretly carrying out his own revenge.

Victor eventually becomes suspicious of Pugazh after recreating David's murder scene.

He also investigates Pugazh's past and discovers his fascination with experimenting with guns.

That leads Victor to understand the killer's ingenious weapon.

What Are the Bone Bullets in Battery?

Pugazh has been using bullets made from bone rather than conventional metal ammunition.

After entering the victim's body, these bone bullets break apart. During an autopsy, the fragments can easily appear to be pieces of the victim's own shattered bone rather than ammunition.

That is why doctors could identify what looked like bullet injuries but could not find a normal bullet.

It is one of the most unusual ideas in Battery and explains the mystery that has confused the police throughout the investigation.

But the bigger question remains: why is Pugazh murdering these people?

Why Did Pugazh Kill Rathnam and David?

Pugazh's motive begins with the death of his younger sister, Ammu.

Ammu suffered from a heart condition and received a pacemaker. Initially, the operation appeared successful, but only a short time later she suddenly collapsed while playing badminton and died.

Dr. Ramkumar investigated the pacemaker and discovered something horrifying.

The pacemaker's battery had already died.

A pacemaker that should have continued functioning for years had failed after an extremely short period because it was connected to a larger medical scam involving refurbished devices.

According to the story, an old pacemaker had been sold through a trust, refurbished without properly replacing its battery, and put back into circulation.

That defective device eventually reached Ammu.

The people behind the trust were David and Arjun.

When Dr. Ramkumar discovered the truth, he approached Inspector Rathnam. But Rathnam was already connected to David and Arjun. Instead of exposing the operation, Rathnam joined them and helped silence Ramkumar.

After joining the police, Pugazh discovers evidence connecting Rathnam, David and Arjun to the corruption and Ramkumar's death.

His sister's death therefore becomes the reason behind his violent revenge.

The batteries stuffed into the victims' mouths are not random. They are Pugazh's symbolic message, representing the defective pacemaker battery that destroyed his sister's life.

Asha's Connection to Dr. Ramkumar

Another emotional revelation comes when Asha learns the full story.

Dr. Ramkumar was her father.

Before his death, he had asked Asha to locate Surendra Kumar and Suguna because their lives could also be threatened by the defective pacemakers.

This finally explains why Asha has been searching for them throughout the movie.

Victor also realizes that Ramkumar once tried to approach him about the medical scam. Victor had been too busy to properly hear him out.

Later, Rathnam lied to Victor and claimed that Ramkumar had never contacted him.

Who Was the Second Masked Man?

For part of the story, another masked attacker begins targeting Pugazh, Victor and even Asha.

Eventually, the film reveals that this second masked man is Arjun.

Arjun knows that Pugazh is closing in on the medical scam and realizes that he could become the next target.

Victor wants Arjun arrested and protected inside police custody, believing that the law should deal with him.

Pugazh has another plan.

Battery Ending Explained: How Does Arjun Die?

Victor finds Arjun first and attempts to take him to the police station.

However, Pugazh secretly places an injection in Victor's car seat. When Victor sits down, the injection pierces him and causes him to lose consciousness.

Pugazh then takes Arjun away.

The final revenge is carefully designed.

Later, Victor and Pugazh go to a shooting range for target practice. Victor repeatedly fires at a target board without realizing that Arjun has been tied behind it.

Every shot Victor fires into the target is actually hitting Arjun.

By the time the truth becomes clear, Arjun has been killed.

Pugazh therefore completes his revenge without directly pulling the trigger himself. He creates the circumstances in which Victor unknowingly kills Arjun.

What Does the Ending of Battery Mean?

The ending completes Pugazh's transformation from police officer to vigilante.

His sister Ammu became an innocent victim of a system in which human lives were sacrificed for money. Dr. Ramkumar tried to expose that system and was also eliminated.

Instead of trusting the same system to deliver justice, Pugazh decides to punish those responsible himself.

The title Battery therefore has a much deeper meaning than it first appears.

A tiny battery inside a medical device can keep someone's heart beating, but when greed and corruption interfere, that same failed battery can become the reason a life ends.

Pugazh turns that symbol into his signature, forcing the people responsible for the pacemaker scandal to confront the very object connected to the deaths they caused.

The final shooting-range twist brings his revenge full circle and leaves the audience with an uncomfortable question: Pugazh exposed terrible crimes, but after becoming a murderer himself, can his actions really be called justice?