The setting is the small town of Siripuram in Andhra Pradesh in the 1990s. Tripathi (Samuthirakani), the owner of a chain of private colleges, adopts some government colleges and sends some of his faculty members there. Since Tripathi knows that his faculty members aren't up to snuff, he wants to eliminate all public institutions of intermediate college education and force students into his private institutions.

But it turns out that one of the lecturers, Balu (Dhanush), is not only qualified but also ensures that all of the freshmen at Siripuram government college get first class.

An incensed Tripathi reprimands Balu for derailing his scheme, prompting the latter to not only leave his job, and also takes a challenge of getting EAMCET ranks for these students.