Sakalakala Sammandhi

Kumbakonam Temple Dharmakartha (Delhi Ganesh) and his wife Lakshmi (Manorama) get their son Anand (Dilip) married to Mayavaram Malayappan (Visu)'s daughter Saraswathy (Madhuri). Anand has two brothers Satyamurthy (Chandrasekhar) and Vasanthan (Pandiyan), and one sister Uma (Saranya). Anand is a straightforward and honest man and shares all his past life secrets with his wife. Satyamurthy's wife Durga (Aruna) is a school teacher. Vasanthan goes to a body building training place to pursue his ambition of joining the police force. His trainer is (Meesai Murugesan), whose daughter Jhansi (Ranjini) shows interest towards Vasanthan.

Malayappan is shocked to find that nobody has told him about Uma, who wasn't invited to the wedding of his daughter. He later learns that Uma, who is only twenty four years of age, lost her husband in a scooter accident in Mannarkudi just eight months after she got married, and is now a widow. She doesn't come out of her room much, or talk to people much, and is isolated and lonely. When Malayappan enquires about what their family has been doing to keep Uma happy, Dharmakartha says that he buys religious books for her to read, Vasanthan says he has been trying to ask her to come to his friend's house and spend time with his friend's sisters, Anand says he has been trying to insist her to go the Sabha and Clubs to see drama and music programs, Satyamurthy says he asked to go to type-writing classes, but none of their efforts were fruitful, and they have all left Uma's fate to god.

One day, they all find a baby outside their house. There is a letter with the baby that says the baby belongs to one of the members of the family. Lakshmi suspects her husband of being the father and having an affair with the vegetable seller Vellaiamma (Kutty Padmini). Durga suspects Satyamurthy of being the father and having an affair with another woman. Vasanthan suspects Jhansi of playing a prank. Anand suspects Saraswathy of having had an affair in the past with a man (Ilavarasan), who randomly follows Anand and Saraswathy on multiple occasions asking the address of a place called Amir Mahal. Meanwhile Uma starts taking care of the baby, until this problem is solved.

Anand starts drinking to overcome this stressful situation, Vasanthan is sad and lonely after Jhansi leaves the city, Dharmakartha is spending time alone in temples, Satyamurthy decides to adopt the baby which causes Durga to leave him. Malayappan meets each of them during this difficult situation, and asks Vasanthan why he didn't go to his friend's house to relax if he is sad, and asks Anand why he didn't go to Sabha and Clubs to see drama and music programs to relax, and asks Dharmakartha why he didn't read religious books to attain peace, and asks Satymurthy why he didn't do anything for the twenty four year old baby in his house and is instead focussing on the newly arrived baby. Finally they all realize that despite societal hindrances and cultural restrictions in those times, they need to reconsider getting Uma married a second time, and rebuild her life which has been lonely and unhappy, and make her happy again. They also slowly start renovating Uma's dull and empty room by making it more lively with colorful artifacts.

Malayappan visits Durga at her mother's house, and comes to know that Durga had already told Satyamurthy before she got married, that she does not wish to have kids, until her two sisters graduate from school and start earning money, and that she would give all her salary to her mother to take care of her two young sisters. This is the reason why Durga has not been having any physical or carnal relationship with Satyamurthy, to avoid getting pregnant. Malayappan beautifully explains the importance of a physical relationship between a husband and wife by equating it to drinking coffee and explaining its significance. He convinces Durga that Satyamurthy is a good man and takes her back to Satyamurthy's house. Malayappan confesses that he sent Ramesh (Ilavarasan) behind Saraswathy in order to create a rift between Anand and Saraswathy, so that Anand will understand how Uma feels without a husband. Malayappan finally confesses that it was he who placed the baby outside their house in order to create a confusion, and make them all understand Uma's needs.

Malayappan tells the whole family that he will take the baby to an orphanage. But Uma says she will take care of the baby, until its parents are found, as she has developed a liking for the baby. At this point, Malayappan introduces Ramesh to all of them and reveals that the baby is infact Ramesh's baby. Ramesh is a single father and well settled man, who has lost his wife during child birth. Ramesh has been looking to marry a woman who has also lost her husband. Malayappan insists that if Uma wants the baby to be with her, she needs to consider accepting Ramesh in her life. Uma is initially angry, and says her life was over when her husband died, and she doesn't want any new happiness. But after the baby starts crying, she is overwhelmed and decides to accept the baby, and also agrees to marry Ramesh, thus starting her new life. The movie ends with a happy note, when Jhansi also returns and Vasanthan and Jhansi get married on the same occasion.

• Visu as Mayavaram Malayappan
• Delhi Ganesh as Kumbakonam Temple Dharmakartha
• Manorama as Lakshmi
• Chandrasekhar as Satyamurthy
• Saranya as Uma
• Pandiyan as Vasanthan
• Dilip as Anand
• Ilavarasan as Ramesh
• Ranjini as Jhansi
• Meesai Murugesan as Body Building Trainer
• Madhuri as Saraswathy
• Kutty Padmini as Vellaiamma
• Aruna as Durga

The music was composed by Shankar Ganesh and lyrics were written by Idhayachandran.[2]. Puliyoor Saroja was the dance trainer for the songs in the film.

The film highlighted how widowed women continued to be ostracised in society even during the late 1980s. The film was also noted for the famous scene of Visu's character explaining the necessities of a physical relationship between a husband and wife in bed, by comparing it to the basic need of drinking coffee. This scene was well received amongst the audience, as until that point there had been very few or no films in India which spoke about the importance of how a physical relationship should supplement an emotional relationship between a married couple.

• "Sakalakala Sammandhi".