Aval Oru Thodarkathai (1974)

Bold and insightful, this family-oriented social drama follows the life of Kavitha (Sujatha), a working woman in a middle-class family. She works hard to support her widowed sister, unmarried sister, her blind younger brother, her mother, her drunkard brother Murthy (Jaiganesh) and his family. Her father abandons the family and becomes a saint.

Her brother not only does not take responsibilities, but also creates additional problems for her. She has a longtime boyfriend, Tilak (Vijayakumar) who wants to marry her, but she doesn't because of her commitment to her family. His eyes now wander to Kavitha's widowed younger sister Bharathi (Sripriya) who reciprocates his feelings. Kavitha, after reading her boyfriend's love letter to her sister, arranges for them to get married, thus giving up her chance of having a life with him.

Meanwhile Prasad (Kamalahasan) loves Bharathi Kavitha's sister but when he comes to know that she loves Tilak he sacrifies his love for her and he marries Kavitha's distressed friend, Chandra (Fatafat Jayalaxmi). Kavitha eventually accepts a marriage proposal of her boss (Gokulnath), when she realizes that her brother has become responsible enough to take care of her family. She decides to resign from hard work, but will circumstances allow her to settle into a happy married life?