| Director | Adoor Gopalakrishnan |
|---|---|
| Budget | $39,000 |
A newly wed couple, Vishwam and Sita, have married against the preference of their families, and left their hometown. Both want to start a new life at a new place. Initially, they stay in a decent hotel but soon due to financial reasons they move to another, ordinary hotel.
Vishwam, an educated, unemployed youth, is an aspiring writer and had some of his short stories published in the newspapers earlier. He dreams of having his novel, titled Nirvriti (Ecstasy), published in the newspaper. He meets one of the newspaper editors, who agrees to read his novel but declines to publish it, stating the novel is too sentimental. Sita is offered a job as a sales girl but cannot accept it because she is unable to pay the required security deposit of 1,000. With several unsuccessful attempts to get a job, the increasing financial pressure forces them to shift to a slum. With an old lady named Janaki and a prostitute named Kalyani as their neighbours, things do not work as desired for the couple and they end up selling Sita's jewellery.
Vishwam takes a job as a zoology teacher in college but soon loses it. He then accepts a job as a clerk in a timber shop with a meager salary, replacing one of the dismissed employees. Vishwam and Sita try to set up a happy home with their newborn baby, but soon their dreams fade as they struggle on precariously. When Vishwam falls ill, Sita tries for his betterment with all her capabilities but is unable to afford the medicines. She finally decides to call a doctor. However, Vishwam dies, leaving her alone with their infant baby. When Sita is advised to return to her parents after Vishwam's death, she declines. The film ends with Sita feeding her baby and gazing at a painting on the from an Indian Hindu epic, Ramayana, depicting Sita Swayamvara and determinedly at the closed door of their house.