Balu Thevar (Sathyaraj) and Saritha live in a village and belong to a land-owning caste (Thevar), held supposedly lower in the Vedic caste system hierarchy than Brahmins. Balu Thevar though, is an atheist and speaks openly against the caste system, but is nevertheless tolerated by the villagers because he is generous in helping others in need. Their son, Raja, has just returned from the city having completed his education. He meets Vaidehi (Amala Akkineni), the daughter of a Brahmin priest, and they fall in love. One night, they are together in a temple, when Balu is discovered after hiding Vaidehi. To atone for his son's "crime," Balu prostrates before the Brahmins. Afterwards Vaidehi tells her father about their love, who then tells Balu. Vaidehi's father tries to marry her off to another man in a neighboring village, but she fakes her suicide on the way and hides in the house of Nizhagal Ravi, that she happens to pass by. Thinking Vaidehi is dead, Vaidehi's father confronts Raja and accuses him of causing her death. During the discussion, they slip and fall into the waterfall and both men die.