Saraswathi is a woman separated from her husband. She and her daughter Thilakam take refuge in her sister's family in Tiruchi. Saraswathi wants her daughter Thilakam to be married to her brother Sekhar. But her uncle Sambasivam wants to marry Thilakam to a rich but old man in Bombay. Sambasivam's son Gunasekharan is against this plan and wants Thilakam to be married to Sekhar.

Nallathambi (NSK) a simple rural man inherits an estate from his deceased Zamindar relative. The Zamindar's daughter Pushpa (Bhanumathi) falls in love with Nallathambi. However he loves another girl (T. A. Madhuram). Bhoopathy (Sahasranamam) the estate manager has his eye on the wealth and tries to cheat Nallathambi out of it. He goads Pushpa into filing a suit that Nallathambi is mentally insane. In the end Nallathambi defeats Bhoopathy's machinations.

Poori (Daisy Irani) does not know who his parents are, and has been looking high and low to get back to them. Seated in a park bench beside Sundararajan (Gemini Ganesan), Poori asks his name and as soon as he replies, he proclaims that Sundararajan is his father. This creates complications in Sundararajan’s life and ruins his plans of marrying his lover Latha (Savithri). The president of a hospital for the mentally ill with a not-so-mentally-strong daughter creates more problems for the hero. After many interesting twists and turns, the truth emerges — Poori is the illegitimate child of a soldier (Mustafa) and the abandoned mother commits suicide, leaving the child behind. Sundararajan ro and Latha are so attracted to Poori that they decide to adopt him.

Mahakavi Kalidas Directed by R. R. Chandran. Princess Vidyotama vows to marry the man who defeats her in debate, but she wins every time. Through a ruse, her spurned suitors manage to marry the princess to the simpleminded Kalidas. Ashamed of his ignorance, Kalidas becomes a seeker of knowledge and is bestowed with wisdom by the goddess Kali. This moving story of love and enlightenment is based on legends surrounding real-life poet Mahakavi Kalidas.

Rajendran is left with the responsibility of looking after his family after his father's death, and uncle's deceit. However, his troubles do not seem to end due to several misfortunes.