The Apprenticeship of Ted Kotcheff

Love story of Sankaran a sculpture and Parvathi a girl selling bangles and pearls on sea shore. Sankaran a sculptor, who comes to Kanyakumari to work under a contractor and a group of tourists who reach the place. Sankaran falls in love with a poor vendor of necklaces made of sea shells Parvathi. An orphan Parvathi is brought up by Kannamma her maternal grandmother. Veerappan the foster son of Kannamma, keeps tormenting Parvathi, destroying the necklaces she makes. Sankaran decides to marry Parvathi once his work is complete. He hopes to leave Kanyakumari with Parvathi. In the meanwhile, Veerappan attempts to sell Parvathi to Frederick, a depraved sportsman camping at the guest house on the beach. Parvathi manages to escape this attempt. Jayan son of a rich businessman, comes to Kanyakumari seeking solace. He happens to meet his lover Rajani, now wife of Somasundaram, a wealthy businessman. It was this broken love affair that turned Jayan into a wreck. Rajani was forced to marry the old businessman man to save her family from a financial crisis. The immoral relationship between Frederick and the young wife of a North Indian businessman forms the sub-plot of the film. Jayan who happens to see this is threatened by Frederick and is warned not to interfere in his personal matters. Jayan makes friends with Swami, an itinerant sanyasi. Both of them take pity on Parvathi and they try to save her Veerappan and Frederick. Events take a cruel turn. One night, Frederick accosts Parvathi while she was alone on the beach and rapes her. Sankaran who hears her screams rushes to the spot. He hits Frederick with his sculptor's hammer killing him at once. Sankaran taken away by the police and Parvathi staring at him with eyes full of tears.