The rhythm of life, even for a master drummer, can be disrupted as well as harmonised by love, passion, jealousy, hate and spite. Unni, a masterful chenda (a drum) player, is drawn to dancer Nalini by an intense force that transcends their devotion to the arts. However, their passion cannot hold up against the tumults in Unni's life, all of which hasten a mental imbalance, rooted in Unni's childhood, to an inevitable dark end.