The film begins with the friends and family of an old man (Sivaji) waiting for him to die, as he lies ailing alone in an outhouse. The film goes back in flashes through his life, especially the events following the entry of a boatman's daughter Kuyil (Radha). Unhappily married to the shrewish Ponattha (Vadivukkarasi), he takes solace in a friendship with Kuyil, which is socially awkward, and complicates things for both.