Sekar has lost his mind being forced to witness the betrayal by his lover and his friend as they get married though the situation was manipulated by his friend Sukumar. She kills herself on the stage by setting herself afire, driving him insane.
The family property remains in his name and is enjoyed by the rest of the family who treat him badly but keep him alive so that they can enjoy it. When forced to get a nurse, they instead get Radha, a courtesan, and present her as a nurse. However, her tender love and affection slowly turns Sekar back into the road of sanity. Seeing that he is getting better, they venture to fire her. One thing leads to another and in the end, Sekar manages to save Radha from fire, thereby redeeming himself from his earlier failure to save his lover and getting sane again. They get married and forgive the relatives.
Ganesan's home, Annai Illam, features in the film.[4]Padmini was originally chosen as the lead actress; since she had to go to the United States, she was replaced by Jayalalitha.[5]
Engirundho Vandhaal was released on 29 October 1970, alongside another Sivaji Ganesan starrer Sorgam.[7][8]The Indian Express wrote, "There are some touching scenes. The music by M. S. Viswanathan is passable. Comedy by Thengai Srinivasan and Nagesh, though unwarranted, is enjoyable."[9] The film became a silver jubilee hit,[10] and went on to win the Filmfare Award for Best Film – Tamil.[11]