A middle-aged psychiatrist decides to marry Vasanthi, his recovering patient. Trouble ensues when his nephew also falls in love with her, which drives him insane. Influenced by George Bernard Shaw's 1913 play Pygmalion.

Ramachandra Rao, a professor, is forced to marry Gowri at his family's behest despite being in love with Lalitha. He fails to get along with his wife and broods about his lost love. The movie is based on the novel of the same name by Vani. The film is considered as one of the greatest romantic films in Kannada noted for the strong performances of lead actors Rajkumar and Kalpana.