His rival Nithin (Shariq Hassan), the son of a leading film star and a spoiled brat, takes any and every opportunity to knock him down both verbally and physically, and the two are known enemies amongst the other students.
Shiva doesn't find much happiness in school other than his classmate and love interest, Maya Srinivasan (Sri Divya) who later reciprocates his feelings after he saves her from a science lab accident.
Fortunately for him, she not only believes his innocence, but also offers to help him to solve the mystery and catch the real killer – a task made particularly urgent by the fact that in 40 minutes, the rest of the class will return and then the body will be discovered.
In October 2013, it was announced that music composer G. V. Prakash Kumar would make his debut as an actor with Mani Nagaraj's Pencil, a school based thriller film.
[3] The team initially approached Samantha and then Priya Anand however both were unable to sign on, due to their busy filming schedule, and subsequently Sri Divya was recruited to portray the lead female role.