Ethirpaaraathathu narrates the story of star-crossed lovers Sundar (Sivaji Ganesan) and Sumathi (Padmini) in whose house Sundar, a college student, lodges.
The story takes plays during the annual Good Friday pageant in a tiny Italian village. Local priest Don Vincenzo faces a crisis when the girl selected to play the Virgin Mary shows up pregnant.
Anu and Binay love each other and wish to get married but face opposition from her greedy uncle. They decide to elope but are caught and separated due to unforeseen circumstances.
Two small boys are playing in a wood. The younger boy has a revolver and, not understanding that the gun differs from his toy pistol, plays 'highwayman' on the road and holds up a cyclist; the gun goes off, killing the cyclist.
Southern California teenagers join the Mobilgas "Safety and Economy" competition, driving from the Los Angeles area to the Inland Empire, the desert, to Las Vegas, Nevada and Hoover Dam, then back home again.