Chantabbai

Pandu Rao works as an amateur detective at Universal Detective Agency in Visakhapatnam, and he models himself after James Bond, even giving himself the name James Pond. He treats detective work with gusto, but colleagues and the police do not take him seriously. This sets up his determined, underdog persona for the story ahead.

Jwala visits a businessman's house to clean the telephone and ends up holding a gun, not a phone receiver. She is accused of killing the businessman and stealing diamonds, thrusting Pandu into the investigation. Pandu refuses to back down despite pressure from Murthy and the police.

The police assign Murthy to help, but Pandu remains skeptical of the progress being made. Jwala had spotted a chocolate brown Maruti car near the murder site, a clue that links Murthy to the case. Pandu starts to suspect Murthy might be more involved than he appears.

Pandu, with Saumitri's help, secretly shadows Murthy and finally catches him confessing his crime to a jeweller. The incriminating evidence leads to Murthy's arrest and shifts public opinion about Pandu's abilities. Following this breakthrough, Pandu is appointed head of Universal Detective Agency.

Nischala approaches Pandu with a personal case: locating her missing paternal half-brother nicknamed Chantabbai. She explains the complicated family history involving Gangadharam and Sarmishta. Pandu accepts the challenge, setting the mission in motion.

Pandu learns that Ramkoti cared for Sarmishta and Chantabbai and had two sons, Kalyan and Pattabhi. He deduces that Kalyan is Gangadharam's son, while Pattabhi claims to be Chantabbai. The two brothers become central to the family mystery.

Pattabhi arrives and asserts that he is Chantabbai, challenging Pandu's deductions. Pandu tests several clues and theories, but both brothers provide conflicting narratives, keeping the truth elusive. Tensions rise as the search for the real heir continues.

A blood test manipulated by both sides leaves Pandu believing that both brothers are frauds. Gangadharam expels them from his house, and the brothers swear revenge. The family rift deepens as Pandu tries to navigate loyalty, lineage, and justice.

Amid the turmoil of the heir mystery, Pandu and Jwala fall in love and begin to plan their future together. Their relationship adds a personal stake to the investigations and complicates Pandu's professional priorities. They dream of marriage even as new clues emerge.

Chantabbai's aunt Bala arrives for a family function and reveals that his mother was Sarmishta, the woman once loved by Gangadharam. Pandu realizes Chantabbai’s true lineage is connected to his own birth, exposing painful truths about social ostracism. This revelation reshapes his stance on the inheritance.

Pandu recognizes Chantabbai as tied to his own identity and refuses to take Gangadharam's wealth unless it is donated to the orphanage he runs. Nischala mediates to bridge Pandu's ethics with Gangadharam's expectations. The moral crossroads redefine his role in the family drama.

Kalyan and Pattabhi kidnap Pandu and demand ransom from Gangadharam. Pandu sends a pleading letter, and Ganapathi notices the number 1 on the page. He decodes the first-letter acrostic, which instructs them to claim Pandu is not the real heir, foreshadowing a trap.

Gangadharam executes a plan that leads the brothers to a house where they try to kidnap him. Saumitri arrives in time to arrest Kalyan and Pattabhi, ending the immediate threat. The plan brings a dramatic close to the confrontation over the inheritance.

With the truth about Chantabbai clarified, Gangadharam welcomes Pandu as his son. Pandu also marries Jwala, uniting his professional life with his personal happiness. The film closes on a note of reconciliation and new beginnings.