''Kandukondain Kandukondain'' opens with military personnel Major Bala (Mammootty) fighting in a war and losing his right leg in a grenade explosion. After the opening credits, Sowmya (Tabu (actress)) and Meenakshi "Meenu" (Aishwarya Rai) are shown as the adult daughters of Padma (Srividya) living in a Chettiar mansion in Karaikudi, Tamil Nadu with their maternal grandfather Chandrasekhar (Unnikrishnan Namboothiri), maidservant Chellatha (S. N. Lakshmi) and younger sister Kamala (Shamili). Sowmya is a school principal while Meenu is passionate about classic Tamil literature, Music of Tamil Nadu and Dance forms of Tamil Nadu. Major Bala, one of the rich men in their village falls in love with Meenu, but Meenu falls in love with Srikanth (Abbas (actor)). Manohar (Ajith Kumar) is a film director who comes to Meenu's house for a film shoot. Sowmya and Manohar fall for each other but an issue crops up between the two and whether Manohar manages to win her back forms the rest of their part of the story.