Journalist Shurik arrives in the Caucasus in order to study local culture and folklore, the ancient customs and traditions of the people in this region. Per chance he meets and befriends a girl in a mountainous town, the beauty Nina, which the gouvernor, wealthy and powerful local Saakhov, is planning to marry — if not willingly then by force. Using the gullible journalist as a strawman, Saakhov and his henchmen (the "Coward", the "Fool", and the "Pro", a trio of comic antiheros) are able to kidnap Nina, all seems to work according to plan. But realizing that he had been deceived, Shurik, who fell for Nina, rushes to rescue his beloved one, for a happy ending.

In the late 70s, the popularity of the Cornflowers screen ensemble was growing rapidly. Lena, a journalism student, gets to know the group and falls in love with the leader, Yuri Vasilkov. But suddenly the "Cornflowers" disappear from the scene. Forty-five years later, Lena's daughters and grandson Roma embark on a journey to find the missing musicians in order to collect "Cornflowers" at a teleconference on December 31 and thus fulfill the only condition in Lena's will.