Overcome by emotions, he recollects, along his trip, bits and pieces of memories from his younger days with his father.

Muthaiah runs a printing press and works really hard to make ends meet, but he still has to borrow money from the exploitative local moneylenders to give his sons a good education.

The story then moves to the teenage years of the children, where they find it hard to resist the temptations of the adolescent stage of life.

Ramalingam is a good student and gets admitted to an engineering college, where he gradually falls in love with his classmate Vasanthi.

As time runs out, Ramalingam and Vasanthi elope to Chennai, unable to reveal the truth about the pregnancy to their respective parents and face a very uncertain future.

Vasanthi eventually gives birth to a daughter, but Ramalingam struggles to pay for medical expenses.

After Saradha's final rites, Muthaiah decides to stay in the village to relive the days that he spent with his deceased wife.

[2] Sify wrote "Cheran has kept the flag of uncompromised cinema flying and is one of the handful of directors, whose calling card remain his artistry over the medium.

He noted Cheran should be appreciated for giving more importance for Rajkiran than himself while also portraying his and his brother's character as weak people.

He concluded saying Cheran as a director should continue to give such films and added Thavamai Thavamirundhu is not just a kurinji flower of Tamil cinema more than that.

[6] Malini Mannath of Chennai Online wrote "Thavamai Thavamirundhu is a must-watch film, an enriching experience on celluloid!".