The film stars an ensemble cast of Mohanlal, Dev Gill, Vijay Babu, Miya, Manjari Phadnis, Siddique, Vijayakumar, Pallavi Purohit, Rahul Madhav, Sai Kumar, Suresh Krishna, Devan and Kalasala Babu.
After conducting certain rituals, they find that the goddess is angry because of the bloodshed that happened, and it is decided that the treasure will be locked for 41 years.
In the present, Bhai Ji is a con artist, who disguises himself as John Cliff and successfully loots ₹100 crore (US$12 million) from a wedding along with his assistants Abbas and Priya.
At that time, his acquaintance Javed introduces him to Nikhil Adharva "Nikki", who tells Bhai Ji about the royal treasure and the story behind it.
Nikki tells that Rajashekhara Varma has moved to the court, stating that the treasure should be given back to the government and used for helping the public rather than dividing among themselves.
They appoint a private consultant named Sivaram from Jaipur to assess the value of the treasure, but before he reaches there, Bhai Ji kidnaps him and takes him to his place.
Rajashekara Varma takes Bhai Ji to the royal palace, where he meets the other family members.
Bhai Ji enters the cellar and, using a metal detector, finds the passage and the exit point.
15 years back, Sajan was chasing a thief, who had robbed a bank, and on the way, he encountered an unconscious Saraswathy, and takes her to the hospital, where he informs Rajashekhara Varma, who was the local MLA.
Saraswathy arrives at the palace, along with Rajashekhara Varma and tells the family members that they can do whatever they want, but her father wouldn't withdraw the case.
The next day Bhai Ji submits his evaluation report, and before he leaves, the cops arrive there and informs them that Sajan has been murdered and arrest Rajashekhara Varma as he is the main suspect.
When Bhai Ji was searching for the door to a secret tunnel inside the cellar, he finds an old bullet stuck on the walls, and he realized how the prism broke.
Though he was happy with getting one-fourth of the treasure, he was upset when his brother Rajashekhara Varma filed a case, and this prompted him to join with Nikki and plan a heist.
Javed begs for mercy, and Bhai Ji tells him to take the van having the treasure to a place along with Sudhakara Varma and Sivaram.
Bhai Ji leaves a gun back, telling Shekara Varma that it was destiny that brought him there for the job and he had never stolen the treasure.
[13] The song "Poothinkale" sung by Shankar Mahadevan, in which Mohanlal appears in a rock star getup with salt and pepper look, went viral in music sharing websites.
[19] The issue reached a flashpoint with the FEFKA saying that no other Malayalam film will be released in cinemas refusing to screen Mr.
But we won't exhibit any film that Unnikrishnan plans to write, direct or produce in the future in Kerala.
[5] Aswin J. Kumar from The Times of India rated the film 3.5 in a scale of 5 and said, "Mr Fraud is not at all such a tedious watch with its luxuriant display of gadgets, air-screen projectors and dialogues resonant with technical terms.
The fight and chase happen with the accompaniment of dry leaves propelled away with vigour, but certainly not as unbearable as the tiring song sequences which offer no mercy for ears.
"[23] Sify.com's reviewer gave the verdict as "average" and commented, "With a rather flimsy premise, the film is presented in a grand scale, but it is evident that the opulence is limited to some colourful garments, swanky cars and technical gimmicks.
"[24] International Business Times wrote: "Mr Fraud is a decent masala entertainer, though it not as gripping as one would expect from a heist film.
"[25] Chandrakanth Viswanath of The New Indian Express described the film as "a fine attempt in a novel genre" and concluded his review saying: "Carved in the popular format, with enough action-packed sequences and convincing performances, coupled with technical finesse, Mr Fraud has the potential to win hearts of die-hard Mohanlal fans and thrill junkies alike.