Cast

Credited cast:
	Vadivelu	...	Tenaliraman
	Manobala	...	One of the ministers
	Radha Ravi	...	King Parasbaram

Storyline

The movie opens to a prologue, where King Parasbaram (Radha Ravi), ruler of a rival kingdom and 9 other men, who are the ministers of the Kingdom of Vikata Nagaram, on their way to a Chinese merchant\'s house. They are warmly welcomed once they reach there. The Chinese merchant wishes to do trade with the people of the Kingdom of Vikata Nagaram and reap the benefits for themselves and strike a deal with Parasbaram and the ministers to help them, promising them a huge share of the benefits. One of the ministers, Nandivarma Rayar (Joe Malloori) objects to this, saying that he doesn\'t want to betray the King and his people for money. The Chinese, Parasbaram and the ministers kill him.

The film then opens to Tenaliraman (Vadivelu as the common man) who captures a gang of thieves (led by \"Besant Nagar\" Ravi) and teaches them a lesson. He then takes off for Vikata Nagaram. Here, he first meets the feisty Princess Maadhulai (Meenakshi Dixit), daughter of the King of Vikata Nagaram, and defeats her in an arm wrestling competition.

The film\'s plot then shifts to the Maamannar (Vadivelu again, as the King of Vikata Nagaram), the King who is ruling over his kingdom along with his nine ministers, whom he claims to be the Navarathnams (nine jewels) of his court. The most interesting aspect is that the King has a rather large family including 36 wives and 52 children and he is confined mostly to his palace and believes his people are happy based on the sayings and reports of his ministers (in reality, the people are being robbed and cheated by the corrupt ministers and are living in poverty). During his administration hours, he realizes the absence of Nandivarma Rayar and asks about it to his ministers, who reply that he had passed away. The King then declares that a new minister be appointed in Nandivarma Rayar\'s stead. The guards then announce the news in public. Tenaliraman overhears the news and goes to the palace as a candidate for Nandivarma Rayar\'s post.
After a display of his all-round talents (singing, dancing, wit and humour), Tenaliraman impresses the King very much and soon becomes a very integral part of the King\'s court and an even closer adviser to the King than the ones who are already there. In the meantime, love blossoms between Tenaliraman and Princess Maadhulai. Tenaliraman, in reality, is a rebel who is sent by his comrades to kill the King, whom he believes at first, is responsible for the poverty of the people. Later, while having dinner with the King and the ministers, he discovers that it is the ministers who are at fault and not the King. He tries to warn his comrades of this, but his pigeon who carried the warning message, is captured by one of the ministers (Manobala). He informs the other ministers that Tenaliraman is a rebel and they twist Tenaliraman\'s message to the rebels, saying that the King will be killed that night. Tenaliraman\'s comrades believe the twisted message sent to them and raid the palace, only to have them and Tenaliraman get captured by the King. On learning the truth, the King banishes Tenaliraman from his kingdom.

After a few months, many changes have taken place in Vikata Nagaram. The Chinese have entered the fray and are trading with the Kingdom. Unbeknownst to the King, the are reaping the rewards for themselves, leaving the people even more poor. Parasbaram and the ministers get their share and are enjoying themselves. The King is now very sad thinking of Tenaliraman and misses him. Princess Maadhulai then tells him that Tenaliraman could not have done such a thing and comforts her father. He learns from Tenaliraman\'s comrade, Kaaliappa (Bose Venkat) that the rebels were wrongly informed and that Tenaliraman was not at fault. The King goes and successfully brings back Tenaliraman into the Kingdom.

Tenaliraman then informs the King in private, that all the rules and regulations and schemes organised by the King on the trade with the Chinese merchants are being carried out in such a way that it only benefits the Chinese and the ministers and not the people, who live in utter poverty, and since the King confines himself mostly to his palace and believes the words of his ministers and that he has lived a rich and prosperous life all along, he cannot mingle and live with the people of his Kingdom even for one day. The King then bets Tenaliraman that he can live with his people incognito for 10 days, and at the same time, find concrete evidence that the people are being robbed and cheated by the Chinese and the ministers. Leaving the care of his Kingdom to Tenaliraman and lying to his wives that he will be going to a nearby Kingdom for administrative purposes and for attending a feast, the King begins his mission.

During his mission, the King learns about the plight of his people from various persons. Soon, he comically finds himself in a hunger strike that is organised against him. When Tenaliraman meets the King in private and converses with him, one of the citizens (Devadarshini) overhears the conservation and discovers that it is the King himself who is among them incognito and reveals it to the citizens of Vikata Nagaram.

In the meantime, Tenaliraman is ruling in the King\'s stead with an Iron grip and because of this, the Chinese, the ministers and Parasbaram fear that they might get caught. But, Parasbaram learns from his spies that the King is in Vikata Nagaram and not elsewhere. He reveals it to the Chinese and they issue orders to find the King and kill him. The King, with his citizens, have started a riot in Vikata Nagaram and the King is captured by the Chinese. Parasbaram, who wanted the throne of Vikata Nagaram for himself, is then killed by the Chinese, who divulge his intentions. The King is then imprisoned and taken to a secluded place to be executed. But, the leader of a Cannibal tribe stops them and orders the King to be handed over to them. The King, initially frightened, asks the Cannibal who he is. The Cannibal is revealed to be none other than Tenaliraman and that the men surrounding the Chinese and the ministers are dolls made of haystacks. The Chinese and the ministers, realising that they have been duped, go after the pair, but Tenaliraman, in his style, chases them out of Vikata Nagaram forever using the same bag of tricks that he used on the gang of thieves earlier.

The film then ends with new people replacing the posts of the corrupt ministers. Coincidentially, most of these new people were involved in comical encounters with the King during his 10-day plan. In the end, the King selects a post for himself, on Tenaliraman\'s suggestion, as the child welfare minister and Princess Maadhulai is selected as the extra curricular activities minister.
The film signs off with the tagline \"Iniya Payanam Thodarattum.....Dum!\".
  

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