The film is set in the Nelakondapalli village of khammam district in Nizam Princely State of Hyderabad of the late 1940s. The feudal society is under the vice-like grip of an aristocratic family and its head, a Dorasani (Shwetha Menon). Mallamma (Baby Annie) is the darling of the village, who is living in perpetual humiliation. They seek solace in her songs. Brought up by Sambayya, an old man, she develops a mysterious attachment to a basil tree which is regarded as holy by the entire village.