In 1953 in a remote village in Andhra Pradesh, Subhramanyam (Chandra Mohan) is teaching dance to his daughter Pournami. He tells her a story of how in 1507, the village was suffering from a long drought. A woman (Veda Sastry) from a traditional family came forward to dance in the temple and ask Shiva to bless their village with rain. She danced continuously for seven days and nights until she died of exhaustion. Then it rained, and the drought ended. Since then, there has been a tradition in the village that a girl from that dancer's family, like Pournami's mother in 1951, should dance in Shiva's temple every twelve years on that auspicious day.
Ten years later, in 1963, the villagers are expecting Pournami (Trisha) to dance. Unfortunately, eight months before the festival, she goes missing, and everybody thinks she eloped with someone. Then, everyone's attention turns to Pournami's younger sister, Chandrakala (Charmy), who they believe should dance, but Subhramanyam disagrees. Meanwhile, Chandrakala's stepmother (Manju Bhargavi) rents out their penthouse and courtyard, where Pournami used to dance, to Siva Kesava (Prabhas), a western-style dance instructor.