After completing his studies Mohan (Akkineni Nageshwara Rao) comes back to his village, where he has an extended family, comprising of his wife Susheela (Krishna Kumari), 5-year-old daughter, mother Jayamma (Hemalatha) 3 sisters and 2 brothers.
Mohan comes to know they have the lot of debts which they have incurred in order to pay for his education. Desperate to earn money to support his family, Mohan becomes entangled in a web of deceit, when he tells a lie that he isn't married in order to obtain a secretarial job in the city with the wealthy Raja Rao (Gummadi).
Raja Rao has a daughter Radha (Jayalalitha) with a heart problem. In the beginning, of the film she uses a wheelchair, but Mohan has more than a mild therapeutic effect on her. She is soon up and running - running after him.
Meanwhile, back in the village, the money he has been sending home is being filched by his greedy sister Kanaka Durga (Suryakantham). Soon Mohan's mother, wife and a flock of children come looking for him and Mohan finds himself leading a double life in an increasingly desperate effort to avoid all parties learning the truth.