Missamma

Gopalam, the zamindar of Appapuram, opens a high school named after his elder daughter Mahalakshmi, signaling his commitment to education and local prestige. The school becomes the centerpiece of his family’s influence in the town.

As a child, Mahalakshmi disappears during a pilgrimage in Kakinada, leaving her family and the community anxious. The mystery of her disappearance drives the backstory and motivations of several characters.

Gopalam’s nephew A. K. Raju and the ayurvedic doctor Panthulu mismanage the school, exploiting students to prepare medicines. Their failures threaten the school’s future and prompt Gopalam to seek a cleaner, more capable replacement.

To turn things around, Gopalam decides to replace the mismanagers with a married pair of graduates who can also train his younger daughter Sita in music and dance. He hopes a stable family setup will restore discipline and ambition at the school.

Mahalakshmi is located and adopted by a Christian couple in Madras, who rename her Mary. Her new life abroad marks the start of a long journey to find stability and understand her roots.

Back in Madras, Mary seeks work to ease her family's finances but is haunted by a debt from I.P. David. David offers to waive the debt if she marries him, pushing her toward a desperate, morally fraught plan.

Mary teams up with fellow graduate M. T. Rao to pretend they are a married couple to qualify for positions at Gopalam’s school. Devayya joins as their helper and cook, accompanying them to Appapuram to enact the plan.

Gopalam and his wife treat Rao and Mary as their daughter and son-in-law, inviting them into the household. Mary feels stifled by the role and quietly vents to Rao about her discomfort.

Sita begins music lessons with Rao, and Mary’s irritation grows as her own affections for Rao begin to surface. The evolving feelings strain the precarious arrangement and Mary’s sense of belonging.

Mary resolves to reveal her true identity to Gopalam and his wife. To safeguard their jobs, Rao fabricates a story that Mary is possessed by the soul of Mary, mother of Jesus, complicating the deception.

Raju grows suspicious that Mary is the missing Mahalakshmi after noticing a mole on her right foot. Gopalam’s wife reveals the telltale mole, and they sneak into Mary's room at night to verify, only to be startled by her waking.

David arrives and presses that Mary is a Christian posing as Hindu to keep the job. Raju retrieves a necklace David had stolen from Mary’s Madras home—the same necklace Mahalakshmi wore when she disappeared—linking Mary to her past.

Mr. and Mrs. Paul arrive, and Raju pieces together Mary’s true origins. Mary learns that Gopalam and his wife are actually her biological parents, while she remains bonded to her foster family.

With Rao and Mary not yet married, Gopalam announces their wedding and also the marriage of Sita to Raju, signaling a hopeful if complicated future for all involved. The film closes on the note of family ties, love, and reconciliation.