Prasanna is a young man who drifts into revolutionary activities against the wishes of his father, Mahendran, a widower. After Prasanna confesses that, because rice prices have risen, he stole rice from a lorry, shared it with the poor, and set the lorry ablaze before the police arrived, a disgusted Mahendran helps the authorities arrest him, widening the already frayed bond between father and son. Once released, Prasanna decides to put distance between himself and his hometown of Bangalore and heads to Madras, seeking a quieter life away from his past clashes.
One day, Prasanna is beaten after insulting passengers of a car that splashed water on him. Carnatic singer Bhairavi, returning home after a katcheri concert, finds him unconscious on the roadside, takes him to her house, and her doctor friend, Dr. Soori, treats him. At Bhairavi's request, Prasanna stays on in her home even after he recovers, and a slow, consuming attraction grows between them, despite the clear age gap.
Before Prasanna’s arrival, Bhairavi’s daughter, Ranjani, who had believed she was adopted, discovers she is Bhairavi’s biological daughter born out of wedlock. Unable to digest her mother’s past, she runs away from home and ends up in Bangalore at Mahendran’s house, where she remains for a few days at his invitation. Mahendran is moved by her warmth and by the memory of his own late wife, and by Prasanna’s absence, which has left him longing for his son. Ranjani, recognizing a genuine bond, expresses a wish to marry Mahendran—the man who is old enough to be her father—despite the social dissonance this would cause.
Bhairavi and Mahendran initially reject the match, citing the age difference and other complications, but perseverance on both sides helps them see potential in the coupling. Bhairavi is eventually drawn toward Prasanna after he gives up his revolutionary work and embraces music for her sake, taking up the role of a mridangam player. The moment is bittersweet: Prasanna is overjoyed when Bhairavi accepts him, yet Pandiyan, Bhairavi’s former lover and Ranjani’s father, arrives to apologize and to reconnect. Prasanna blocks this reunion and, knowing Pandiyan is dying of blood cancer, arranges treatment for him and shares his plan to wed Bhairavi, seeking Pandiyan’s blessing.
Meanwhile, Mahendran learns of Bhairavi’s advertisement seeking her missing daughter and visits Bhairavi, finding Prasanna’s photograph among her possessions. He realizes the two lovers have found each other. Bhairavi, informed by the advertisement, urges Prasanna to obtain his father’s consent before marrying her. The two meet Mahendran, who introduces Ranjani as Prasanna’s future mother, since she would become Bhairavi’s daughter-in-law. A riddle is explained: Prasanna’s wife will be the mother of his father’s wife, implying that Ranjani would become the mother-in-law to her own mother, and Mahendran would become the son-in-law of his own son. Mahendran asks how this paradox will be resolved in their case.
During Bhairavi’s next katcheri, with Prasanna now a dedicated mridangam player, Bhairavi performs, and the chorus of fate shifts with it. She sings the challenging line, and the moment becomes a turning point:
> Kelviyin Nayagane, Indha Kelvikku Badhil Edhayya?
As the audience of love watches, Ranjani changes her mind and joins her mother on stage. Prasanna, moved by the changes around him, also steps into the fold and aligns with his father. When all these tensions seem poised to resolve, Pandiyan sends a note to Bhairavi in the middle of the concert. She searches for him after the performance and discovers him dead, a note in his hand wishing Bhairavi happiness with Prasanna. Bhairavi removes the kumkuma from her forehead to declare herself a widow, and she leaves with Ranjani, while Prasanna joins Mahendran in a new, complicated family future.
