Sumathi, a high school student, is the eldest daughter of S. Varalakshmi, Parvathy, a single mother trying to make ends meet. Parvathy works as a tailor to provide for her four children, with the occasional financial help from a cloth store owner. Their neighbor, K. Bhagyaraj as Alagappan, a drama writer, harbors a secret affection for Saroja, weaving a quiet tension into the neighborhood.
Saroja, too, develops feelings for Murthy, but Alagappan mistakenly assumes she has feelings for him. Murthy befriends Saroja's neighbor, Goundamani as Kaliyannan, a skilled tailor, and also joins Alagappan's drama troupe to spend more time with Saroja. Veeramuthu Gounder, watching the pair, believes they are truly in love, a misread that will ripple through every decision the family makes.
Saroja embarks on a school excursion to Ooty, funded by Alagappan, while Murthy helps by sharing modern attire. Alagappan quietly follows Saroja to the hill station and discovers that Murthy and Saroja are indeed in love, a realization that tightens the circle around them. When a school strike forces Saroja to return home early, she walks into a troubling scene: Parvathy, her mother, in a compromising situation with the cloth store owner who had been supporting their family.
Parvathy confesses that she had resorted to this arrangement for the sake of her children, a truth that both shames and consoles Saroja in equal measure. To protect the family’s dignity, Saroja asks Parvathy to sever ties with the store owner, while she herself gives up her education to work and help keep the household afloat. Murthy’s hope wanes as he tries to understand the new reality, and the two young lovers also begin to drift apart as circumstances tighten around them.
Murthy’s father refuses to accept his relationship with Saroja, creating a rift that ripples through the family. Murthy’s cousin and fiancée, Selvi, rejects him and takes her own life, a tragedy that closes a door on one future and pushes Murthy deeper into poverty. Despite Saroja’s insistence that he leave, Murthy chooses to stay and support his in-laws, and they both find work, only to find the jobs disappear with alarming speed, plunging the family into renewed hunger and hardship.
Alagappan, who has been quietly observing, steps forward to help. He learns that Saroja needs Rs. 2000 to secure a job at a supermarket, a sum that could change their trajectory. Kaliyannan informs him that a bride’s father is offering Rs. 2000 as a dowry for his daughter’s second marriage, a cruel opportunity to solve a shortage of cash in the family. Alagappan marries that woman solely to obtain the dowry and help Saroja, but the money goes missing, and his mother disowns him for the deceit.
As the family’s struggles worsen, the cloth store owner offers financial help for Babu’s medical emergency, but Saroja declines, and Babu dies. The family’s desperation grows, and the second youngest sibling is forced to steal bread just to survive. Parvathy, filled with regret and anger, seeks help from the cloth store owner again, only to be met with a callous rejection that suggests one of Parvathy’s daughters accompany him in exchange for support. The family is stunned and horrified by this cruel proposition.
Saroja’s younger sister, newly reaching puberty, contemplates sacrificing her dignity to feed the family, but Saroja refuses to compromise her values. In a final, tragic twist, she purchases jangiri sweets laced with poison and serves them to her family. Murthy, who has finally seen Alagappan with his toddler stepdaughter, is reminded of the sacrifices made for Saroja’s family. After the marriage, Murthy and Saroja share the same fate as the others and consume the poisoned sweets, sealing the family’s fate.
The next morning, the neighborhood gathers in mourning, lamenting that the family died before they could clear their debts to the community. This end, shaped by love, desperation, and moral choices, leaves the community to reckon with the consequences of poverty and the thin line between sacrifice and survival.
