In the past, the young Seethalakshmi became pregnant but she didn't reveal the father's identity. To punish her, the village chief Periya Ayya ordered her to live alone in a small hut and after the childbirth, he took her newborn son. Whereas, Dharmaraj and Varalakshmi got married. Periya Ayya then sent the baby to another village. Many years later, Sakthi comes back to his village and he becomes the manager of the village's temple. Sakthi thinks that he is an orphan. Afterward, Sakthi and Raani fall in love with each other. Soon, Varalakshmi's brother Sethupathi tries to rob the temple's costly things. On his first attempt, Sethupathi's henchmen fail because of Sakthi. The second time, he robs the temple's Kalasam. He then traps the innocent Sakthi and Periya Ayya dismisses him. Sakthi finally comes to know the identity of his parents : Dharmaraj and Seethalakshmi. What transpires later forms the crux of the story.
Rajini is working as a coolie in a factory. He is asked by three brothers to act as a foreign-returned rich man the heir of a property. Rajini acts but always escapes as he doesn't want to face consequences. But then he comes to know that he is the heir to the property, his father was killed by three brothers to take away the property and mother became a mental patient. He avenges the death of his father by killing the villains. At last, he says he doesn't want to be an heir to money and always remains as a coolie.
Poikkal Kudhirai is a 1983 Tamil-language Indian comedy feature film directed by K. Balachander and produced by Kalaivani. Starring Viji and Raveendran, the film had Ramakrishna and lyricist Vaali making their acting debuts. Kamal Haasan appeared in a guest role. Poikkal Kudhirai was based on Crazy Mohan's play Marriage Made in Saloon. Poikkal Kuthirai is an hilarious depiction of how Sambandam (Vaali) — who bets on each and every small thing and wins — and Indu (Ramakrishnan) enter into a bet at a saloon owned by Muthu (Ravindar). The bet is that Indu will win Sambadam's daughter Janaki's (Viji) heart and marry her. If Muthu is successful in his mission, Sambandam will shave half of his moustache for their marriage. If he fails, Muthu will shave his head. Who wins the bet is the film's narrative.