Life is a constant struggle for Malini, a poor young woman with an ailing father. She reluctantly accepts stage actor-friend Sundari's suggestion to go on stage, and joins her theatre group, Kala Mandhiram. Success smiles on her and she soon becomes an idol of the masses. Sampath, a suave swindler, befriends Malini and takes control of her life. How she manages her life as a puppet in his hands, forms the rest of the plot.
