AVM Productions is an Indian film production studio. It is the oldest surviving studio in India. The filming studios are located in Vadapalani, Chennai. It has produced over 170 films in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam and Bollywood cinema. AVM has introduced numerous actors in the Tamil and Telugu film industries, some of the prominent actors are Vyjayanthimala, Sivaji Ganesan, S. S. Rajendran and Kamal Haasan. The AVM Studios besides the shooting floors, has recording, dubbing and a preview theatre with state of the art equipment. The complex also houses facilities for production and post production processing.
Mohan (Nagesh) is a tailor who lives with his younger sister Vimala (Jayalalithaa). Orphaned at a very young age, Mohan goes through a life of hardship and fulfill all his sister's wish. Womanizer Rajinikanth (A. V. M. Rajan) lures Vimala and cheats on her. Unable to face her brother, she commits suicide. Mohan confronts Rajinikanth and in a fit of rage kills him. A wild search is on by the cops and the fugitive hides in 'Major' Chandrakanth (Major Sundarrajan) house. Mohan is amused and fascinated by Chandrakanth virtues and how he manages to live though he is blind. Mohan reveals why he is on the run from law and ironically the deceased happens to be Chandrakanth's youngest son. Chandrakanth feels humiliated for nurturing Rajinikanth and is sorry for Mohan's plight. In the end Inspector Srikanth (Muthuraman), eldest son of Chandrakanth arrests Mohan along with his father for his hospitality to a criminal.
Sundaram (Nagesh), a poor man, comes to Madras with aspirations of becoming a film actor. However, he ends up getting a job in a restaurant called Greenlands Hotel as a waiter. While catering for a group of people who go on an excursion to Mahabalipuram, he meets Radha (K. R. Vijaya), the daughter of his restaurateur, Chakravarthy (Major Sundarrajan). He misinterprets her friendly nature as love and falls in love with her. In the meantime, Sundaram happens to meet his friend Raghavan (R. Muthuraman), an influential businessman, in the restaurant. During their subsequent meetings, Sundaram tells Raghavan about his ambition to become an actor as well as about his love for Radha, without mentioning her name. Raghavan genuinely believes that the girl reciprocates Sundaram's feelings and motivates Sundaram to express his love.
Narayan (Nana Palsikar) works as a laborer on a farmland owned by businessman Ratan Kumar, in Ramnagar. Although Narayan was an ex-convict, Ratan had assisted him getting a job, some land, and a small house where he now lives with his grown daughter, Gayetri (Meena Kumari), who used to work as a teacher. To his complete shock, Narayan finds out that Gayetri is pregnant. Ratan asks Narayan to take some money and relocate, which Narayan gratefully does. Gayetri gives birth to a baby boy, and Narayan takes him to an orphanage donated by Ratan himself, and informs Gayetri that her child was still-born. Gayetri and Narayan eventually return to Ramnagar, and as luck would have it, Gayetri finds a job as a teacher in the orphanage that her son (now named Shyam) lives in. When Ratan's son, Kamal (Sunil Dutt), returns from Singapore, he meets Shyam and likes him, but when he finds out that his school-teacher is Gayetri, he demands that Gayetri be fired as she is not of good character. Who is Shyam's father, why Gayetri remains silent about her child's identity, and what Kamal knows about Gayetri's background are the questions to be discovered later in the film.
Balu (Sivaji Ganesan) and Velu (Gemini Ganesan) work in British Indian Air Force and are fighting with allied forces in World War II. Their plane crashes due to bombs dropped by Japanese. Velu is grievously injured. Balu carries him 50 miles to a village in assam. There Velu regains consciousness and his health starts improving under the care of Indroma (Savithri) and her father, in whose house they are staying. Japanese soldiers come in search of these two. Balu hides Velu and when Japanese are about to discover Velu, he gives himself up to save Velu. Velu recovers, and marries Indroma, teaches her Tamil and calls her Indra. velu is found my members of British Indian army the day after his wedding and has to leave with them, leaving his wife behind. Indra is pregnant and gives birth to a child, however, their village is bombed and she loses her eyesight. When Velu comes in search of his wife, he only sees the ruins of the former village and grieves thinking his wife is dead and goes to Chennai to his maternal uncle.
Three children adopted from their by birth homes and raised by foster parents grow up in Muslim, Christian and Hindu households. But will they ever reunite with their original families?
Rajalingam (Gemini Ganesan) is the only son of Ramalingam (T. S. Balaiah), the zamindar of Kalathur. Kannamma (Savithri) is the daughter of Murugan (S. V. Subbaiah), a farmer of the same place. On the zamindar's advice, Murugan sends his daughter to Madras for higher education. While returning from Madras, Kannamma meets Raja in the train. Noticing her respect and awe for the zamindar, Raja calls himself an electrician visiting the zamin palace. They fall in love. A few days later, Kannamma learns the truth and to reassure her, Raja marries her secretly in a temple.
Rakshas King Ravana decides to invade Amaravathi, the capital of the heavenly kingdom of Indra. Scared of Ravana's plans, Indra asks Narada for help. Narada informs Indra that Ravana's strength comes from the worship performed by Kaikasi, Ravana's mother. He then suggests that Indra sabotage Ravana's mother's worship of saikatha lingam, a sand sculpture representation of Lord Siva. Ravana decides to perform penance and bring Lord Siva's Atma Lingam for his mother to worship. Hearing of Ravana's plans from Narada, Goddess Parvathi, Lord Siva's consort, appeals to Lord Vishnu. When Lord Siva appears to Ravana to grant his wish, Lord Vishnu manipulates Ravana's mind and makes him wish for Goddess Parvathi. As Ravana proceeds home with Goddess Parvathi, Narada meets him midway and tells him that his companion is fake Parvathi. Dejected by the subterfuge, Ravana returns Goddess Parvathi to Lord Siva. During his return journey, he meets Mandodari, the young princess of Pathala, and believing her to be the real Goddess Parvathi, marries her. Eventually, he realizes what happened and appeals to Lord Siva for forgiveness by presenting his severed head. Lord Siva presents Ravana with Atma Lingam and warns him that, if the Atma Lingam ever touches the earth, it can never be moved again. Narada instigates Lord Vinayaka to trick Ravana into grounding the Atma Lingam at what later became known as Gokarna Kshethram in Karnataka.
Kammo (Nargis) lives a very wealthy lifestyle with her widowed multi-millionaire dad, Girhdarilal (Gope), who would like her to get married to someone who is not after their wealth. To his dismay, she chooses to marry a pilot named Sumankumar (Pran), who is known to womanize and for his greed. When he disapproves, she runs away. He advertises for her safe return and offers to pay Rs.1.25 lakh to the finder.
A rich businessman, Dayashankar Kumar (Shivraj) who is a widow, lives with his two young sons Ashok and Raj. When he catches the younger boy Raj stealing money he punishes him and threatens to cut off his fingers. A frightened Raj runs away from home. Years pass and the older brother Ashok (Ashok Kumar), becomes the owner of his father's business and property, running Superior Motors, which also extends to Bombay. Ashok is married to Lakshmi (Nirupa Roy) and is a caring and loving husband. They have a young son, Munna (Daisy Irani).