The movie is based on the play Saahukaara written by B. P. Dhuttharagi. The film was a musical blockbuster with all the tracks composed by G. K. Venkatesh considered evergreen hits. Rajkumar became popular as a playback singer with the track Yaare Koogadali from the film which became an instant hit among the audiences. He would then go on to sing regularly for his films. The film was remade in Telugu in 1975 as Thota Ramudu starring Chalam, in Tamil in 1975 as Pudhu Vellam starring Sivakumar and in Malayalam in 1976 as Themmadi Velappan starring Prem Nazir.

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.

Mayura challenges an arrogant wrestler and defeats him. Though never formally trained he has only learned techniques of wrestling by observing others. As a Brahmin he is required to study Vedas yet he is deeply interested in martial arts. Ranga Jetti, the premier wrestler in Kanchi, takes him under his wing and trains him. One day while observing the training of Pallava princes Mayura gets into a fight with and thrashes Vishnugopa, the Pallava prince, earning his enmity. Mayura has to flee Kanchi as per the advice of Ranga Jetti to escape from pursuing Pallavas. He also then learns that he is in fact the son of Raja Chandravarma, the Kadamba king who was deceitfully killed by the Pallava king, Sivaskandhavarma. Upon learning of his illustrious lineage, Mayura dedicates himself to overthrow the Pallava yoke. Returning to Banavasi in the guise of a merchant Mayura builds an army and conquers both Banavasi and the Telugu speaking regions around Srishaila, thus building a vast kingdom.

A trend-setting Kannada hit, loosely based on William Shakespeare's The Taming Of The Shrew