Set between 1945 and 1951 in the pre-Independence state of Hyderabad, the film tells the story of a young peasant, Ramiah, who rebels against the corrupt rule of the Nizam. Baring witness to the oppression and hardship faced daily by those around him, Ramiah leaves his village. However, after befriending a Marxist activist and participating in the Independence struggle, he eventually returns to wage guerilla warfare against the landlord class.

The story is of Kamalakshi (Archana), a bonded woman known as Daasi in Hyderabad State in the 1920s in Telangana region. She has been sold by her family for money to be the servant of a wealthy couple. She is expected to do every chore imaginable in their house. She is also required to be the sexual toy of the man of the house (Dora) and his guests - anywhere and at any time of the day or night. When she becomes pregnant, she endures and hopes to keep the baby. However she is forced to have an abortion.