On his wedding day, Shiva discovers that his cousin and bride, Aruna, has run away because she does not want to marry a cook. However, he takes it in stride and moves to Chennai with Aruna's brother Prabhu to look for a job. One night, Sandhya is rescued by him from a group of goons, and in a moment of gratitude she kisses him. Shiva begins to fall in love with her, and after several chance encounters, he harbors a hopeful belief that she might feel the same about him.
However, at [Sandhya] birthday party, she announces her engagement to computer engineer Pratap. Shiva is devastated by the news and quietly leaves the room. [Sandhya] finds him standing alone by the swimming pool and asks his opinion of Pratap; he confesses that he loves her, leaving her stunned. She clarifies that she only feels friendship toward him and tells him to stop loving her.
After receiving a urgent telephone call, Shiva goes to the police station and locates Aruna. She had eloped with her would‑be lover, but he abandoned her and left her penniless. With no one to turn to, Aruna attempts suicide. Shiva brings her back home to care for her, and even though Prabhu remains angry and contacts their parents, Shiva speaks up for Aruna and helps the family forgive her. Before returning to the village, Aruna encounters Pratap and realizes that [Sandhya]’s fiancé is in fact the lover who abandoned her.
On the eve of [Sandhya]’s wedding, she finally understands that she loves Shiva and tells her father that she does not want to marry [Pratap]. Her father refuses to cancel the wedding and instead hands Shiva a cheque for 10 million to persuade him to leave Sandhya. Sandhya runs away on her wedding day to search for Shiva and confesses that she loves him too. She longs to elope with him, but he brings her back to the wedding venue.
Before the ceremony starts, he calls Pratap into a room and closes the door. When the door reopens, Shiva and Pratap have swapped clothes—Shiva in the groom’s attire, and Pratap in ordinary clothes. [Shiva] marries [Sandhya] in the end. On their wedding night, Shiva reveals what happened in the room: he offered [Sandhya]’s father’s cheque to Pratap in exchange for calling off the engagement, which Pratap accepted. He also explains that he anticipated the father would later cancel the cheque, thinking that Shiva was cheating him, and that this indeed comes to pass.
