Swayamvaram 1972

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 in a new place. Initially, they stay in a decent hotel, but due to financial reasons they move to a more modest, ordinary hotel.

Vishwam, an educated, unemployed youth, is an aspiring writer who has had some of his short stories published in newspapers before. He dreams of having his novel, Nirvriti (Ecstasy), published in the newspaper. He meets one of the newspaper editors, who agrees to read his manuscript but declines to publish it, deeming the work too sentimental. Sita is offered a job as a sales girl but cannot accept it because she cannot pay the required security deposit of ₹ 1,000. After several unsuccessful attempts to find work, the couple sinks deeper into financial pressure, forcing them to shift to a slum.

With an old lady named Janaki and a prostitute named Kalyani as their neighbours, things do not go as hoped for the pair, and they end up selling Sita’s jewellery. The dismissed employee is introduced when Vishwam takes a job as a clerk in a timber shop, stepping into the vacancy left by the dismissed worker. In the meantime, Vishwam also becomes a zoology teacher at a college, under the watch of the Principal, but soon loses that position as well. The couple continues to struggle to make a home for their newborn baby, their hopes dimming as hardship mounts.

As financial strain persists, Sita fights to keep her husband alive; she seeks help for his illness but cannot afford medicines. She eventually decides to call a doctor, yet despite her efforts, Vishwam passes away, leaving her alone to raise their infant. When asked to return to her parental home after his death, Sita declines, choosing to remain with the child.

The finale lingers on Sita feeding her baby, her gaze fixed on a painting from the Ramayana that depicts Sita Swayamvara, and her resolve hardening at the closed door of their home, a quiet testament to endurance in the face of relentless adversity.