The story is set in the picturesque locales of Masappadi before moving to the bylanes and music industry of Thiruvananthapuram. Madhu, who had just returned from England after studying in the Royal Academy of Music, and Paravoor Barathan, his father, have a constant tiff as Madhu wants to make music making his career, while Bharathan wants him to carry on with his civil contracting business. Things worsen when Jayabharathi comes to meet Madhu. She coaxes him to go to Thiruvananthapuram and prove that he can make a successful career in music also. Madhu becomes successful, but falls prey to the machinations of a dancer, who breaks all links between Jayabharathi and Madhu. He goes to see Jayabharathi, but she was being married to Sudheer (the only weak link in the story). A dejected Madhu comes back and takes to drinks. When Jayabharathi comes to know of the truth, she comes to Thiruvananthapuram to stop him from ruining his life and career. On the day when Madhu has won a major award for his work, both Madhu and Jayabharathi have a confrontation, later joined by Sudheer, who dies in an accident, and the two lovers are united.
Madhu gave a scintillating, and restrained, performance as a lover and later drunkard. Jayabharathi, as usual, was superb. G.Dhevarajan gave a memorable and haunting musical score in this film as well. His experiments of giving new ambiance to the duets in Malayalam Film Music, which started with films like "Kaalam Maarunnu", "Chathuramgam", "Bharya" etc., continued in this film, and he gave three lovable numbers in "Ayalathe Chinnamma", "Purushagandham Sthree" and "Swarnamurukkizhozhi". His continued experimentation to give a different form to comic number was evident in P.B Shreenivas' "Zindabad Zindabad".
