Kalamandalam Kesavan

Gayathri (Samyuktha Varma), angry at unmerciful loan shark Govindan (Jayaram) for having bankrupted her family, after her father Lakshminarayanan (Kalamandalam Kesavan) borrows money from Govindan & fails to pay it back, takes up a job at Govindan's jewellery store, feigns love to him, & under the pretext of making him change over a new leaf, makes him spend his money.

Kunhikuttan (Mohanlal), a renowned but low caste Kathakali artist, struggles to come to terms with his unhappy marriage & the rejection of his upper caste father who disapproved of him. While performing as Arjuna one day he meets Subhadra (Suhasini), the daughter-in-law of the Travancore Diwan. Defying the norms of India's rigid caste system, they get close & have a son, but it soon becomes clear that Subhadra loves the character Arjuna from his stage performances, and not Kunhikuttan himself.

Mahadevan (Jayaram), a contest junkie, gets lucky when he wins a new car in a contest, but soon his luck turns sour when a crook goes on the loose, in a car of the same make, color & license plate, & the blame for his actions fall on Mahadevan. Maya (Sree Lakshmy), Mahadevan's object of attraction, turns out to be the miscreant's target while Mahadevan & his crony Kumar (Janardanan) go on the run from goofball cops Cherian (Kalabhavan Mani) & 'Idiyan' Vikraman (Indrans), who were out to get him.

Padmanabhan Nair (Kalamandalam Kesavan), is the patriarch of the big joint family of Payyarath, where the old matrilinear system of inheritance is still practiced. Into this walks Nair's by-blow & helper Shankunni's nephew, Ramanathan (Jayaram), the son Nair never knew about. Ramanathan forges a deep friendship with Nair & joins Payyarath as a manager. But when later, Nair refuses to publicly accept Ramanathan even after learning the truth, a determined Ramanathan vows to make Nair accept him.