Mahalakshmi was found and adopted by a Madras-based Christian couple, Mr. and Mrs. Paul, who named her Mary. After graduation, Mary looks for a job to ease her family's financial situation. She accepts a loan from I. P. David, a loan shark who offers to waive the debt if she marries him. Mary and her former colleague M. T. Rao decide to pose as a married couple and apply for the jobs at Gopalam's school. Devaiah, a con artist and a beggar, befriends them and Rao asks him to accompany them to Appapuram. They find accommodation in a small house behind Gopalam's bungalow. Unaware of her true identity, Mary decides to call herself Mahalakshmi.