Shanmugakani (K. Bhagyaraj) arrives in the village of Thaayamangalam as the new school teacher and soon falls in love with a local damsel Jothi (Rati Agnihotri). The village head called as "Periyavar" (played by G.Srinivasan) is a lecherous and sinister man who has a lustful eye on Jothi. Amavasai(Goundamani) is Periyavar's stooge who also has a long-standing desire to marry Jothi. Periyavar frames Shanmugakani for the rape and murder of a woman social activist and gets him evicted from the village and gets Jothi married by deceit to Amavasai. He asks Amavasai and Jothi to stay with him in order to satiate his lust with Jothi. What happens afterwards forms the rest of the story.