Chandrakanth, a morally upright blind major, gives asylum to a man who is a fugitive, having committed murder.
The murdered man was Rajinikanth, the lover of the fugitive's sister; he had cheated her on promise of marriage, leading her to commit suicide since she was unable to bear the shame.
Chandrakanth's elder son Srikanth, a police officer, is tasked with finding the murderer.
[1] When working in the Accountant general's office in Madras (now Chennai), K. Balachander wrote and starred as a blind major in a play titled Courage of Conviction.
[3] He later decided to expand the play into a full-length script for his friend P. R. Govindarajan's troupe Ragini Recreations, this time in Tamil and with the title Major Chandrakanth due to the limited scope for English plays in Madras.