Kathiresan (Kathir) is a wastrel and a brute in the village Singampatti, he dropped out of school at an early age whereas Arukkani (Arundhati) is the village belle and a hard-working student. They are cousins and madly in love with each other since their childhood, as per the village's custom, they have the right to marry. Arukkani's father Marudachalam (L. Raja) hates Kathir to the core and wants his daughter to marry an educated groom. One day, the short-tempered Kathir cuts off the hand of Arukkani's cousin Karuppusamy (Vishwanth), for misbehaving with his lover Arukkani. Kathir was then sent to jail for this crime. When he emerged from prison, Kathir continues to date with Arukkani. Marudachalam, therefore, arranges the marriage of his daughter with another man but Kathir cancels the marriage. Marudachalam was very frustrated with what was going on, so he lets his daughter go with her lover. To everyone's surprise, Arukkani refuses to marry him now. She asks him to get a job and to be financially stable then she will marry him. Kathir leaves his village for the city to look for a job. In Chennai, Kathir finds the life difficult and could not find a job. He then decides to wash the cars' windshields at the traffic lights and earns some money to eat. He then meets the petty thief Arumugam (Muthuraj) and befriends him, they later find a job in a college canteen. Thereafter, he befriends with the college students Janani (Archana Sharma) and Ramya (Pavina), the two sisters are the daughters of a rich businessman. The years went by and Kathir went through highs and lows, but he never gives up. Janani helps him to get a loan to open a restaurant. Kathir eventually becomes a successful restaurant owner. After many years of hard work, Kathir finally returns to his village. In a twist of fate, Arukkani was forced to kill the village bigwig Rasu Minor (Karate Raja) who attempted to rape her. Arukkani is then arrested for the murderer and is taken to jail to serve her sentence. The film ends with Kathir and Arukkani getting married upon her return from the prison.