Merku Thodarchi Malai revolves around the life and times of a group of landless workers living along the foothills of the Western Ghats. It depicts the good-hearted village people and shows how the introduction of commercialization creates conflict in the village.
Rangasamy (Antony) is a daily wage laborer who makes a living carrying cardamom sacks from the mountains to the foothills in the interior of Tamil Nadu. Chacko, a communist from Kerala, unionizes these workers to prevent the estate owner from exploiting them. As a result, there are frequent clashes between the landlord and union members.