In the early 1970s, a thoughtful high schooler named Venu Dhyan Sreenivasan dedicates his days to supporting traveling plays that stop in his hometown. One night, the play’s producer asks Venu to fetch an instrumentalist named Murali Pranav Mohanlal from the house of a stern local landlord. Murali, while clearly intoxicated, agrees to perform for the evening, and his raw, spontaneous musical talent leaves a lasting impression on Venu. Their bond forms quickly as they share stories, music, and a budding sense of artistic kinship.
As time passes, Venu enters college and Murali reappears one day in the library, hoping to borrow a book from the principal. Venu helps and learns that the book has already been lent to a first-year student named Annie Kalyani Priyadarshan. Murali meets Annie and instantly falls in love. They arrange to exchange the book that night and continue seeing each other, but Annie delivers a devastating truth: she is sexually involved with her brother-in-law due to his coercive behavior. Murali is shattered, and he vanishes for a while. When he resurfaces, he writes to Venu that he is heading to Madras to pursue cinema, and Venu decides to accompany him. They rent a room in Kodambakkam, where Murali secures work as a violinist under the ambitious music director Indra Dhanush. After a small film credit, Murali meets the film producer Kamukara Keshavadev Aju Varghese and is warned that the movie will flop, a prophecy that seems sadly prescient.
The drama deepens as Murali introduces Keshavadev to Venu, who has a script for a potential film. Though Murali urges Venu to let him compose the film’s music, Murali’s inexperience leads him to refuse, and he secretly passes on some of his melodies to Indra Dhanush, who goes on to craft the score. The film’s release becomes a sensational hit, and a single song—composed by Murali—dominates the charts. Murali confronts Venu at his home, accusing him of seizing credit for a gift that should have belonged to him. Venu, shaken by the truth, tries to reach Murali, only to find that Murali has already moved on. Murali travels to Bombay, where he teaches music and falls for a colleague named Bhumi, but a misunderstanding drives them apart. After the 1993 bombings, Murali leaves Bombay and disappears again.
Years pass and Venu continues directing films, yet the search for Murali remains fruitless. Then, after half a century, fate brings Murali back into his life. Murali urges Venu to return to the film world, and together they plan to produce the music for a new project. Annie and her husband John Asif Ali encourage Murali to join, and at Indra Dhanush’s funeral—remembered primarily for Murali’s song—the duo encounters a young director named Pradeep. With renewed energy, Venu and Pradeep assemble a fresh crew for Jeevithagaadhakale, mostly casting new faces, save for the eccentric Nithin Molly Mulanthuruthy Nivin Pauly. When producer Keshavadev’s son Jayan falls seriously ill, Murali disappears again, and paparazzi footage of Nithin Molly in a drunken tirade sparks a wildfire of hype around the project, ensuring a strong reception for the film.
The premiere culminates with a ride of possibility as Venu hires a taxi and travels to Tamil Nadu, where Senthil AR Raja Ganesh guides them to Karpagam, a village near Salem, where Murali lives in a Carnatic music sabha. News of their first collaborative film has reached them, and the pair heads to a theater in Coimbatore to gauge audience reaction, hopeful that their long journey might finally bear fruit. Along the way, the film’s legacy and the friendship at its heart reveal themselves with quiet gravity, painting a portrait of talent, pride, heartbreak, and the stubborn, enduring pull of art.
