Despite a good-looking hero, top notch actresses and beautiful outdoor locales, Phalitamsha remains one of the few flops of ace director Puttana Kanagal's career.

In his hometown, our hero (Jai Jagadish) develops a crush on the beautiful Chelvi (Shubha), an innocent village belle, whose adoration, he mistakes as love.

Chanchala, a rich girl who pilots her own plane for a hobby, befriends our hero only because he is a successful football player at the college level.

After finishing college, our hero takes up a bank job and once again mistakes the friendly overtures of his colleague Sarla (Padma Kumata) a simple middle-class girl.

How the level-headed Sheela makes him understand the true meaning of love forms the second half of this avant-garde film.