Gopalsamy, a poor graduate, travels to Madras to financially provide for his mother's eye surgery. Struggling to earn money, he encounters a Brahmin priest who coaxes him to impersonate a Brahmin to sell food in the neighboring agraharam. Being a non-Brahmin from a backward caste, Gopal finds it morally reprehensible to wear the sacred thread, but with no other options in sight, he sets off to perform Ganapati homam with three other priests...

When Sundaram, an innocent man, is accused of murdering his brother's wife, his attorney asks Raja, an eminent lawyer from Delhi, to fight his case.