Chidambaram is based on a short story by noted Malayalam writer C. V. Shriraman. The film is a deeply symbolic exploration of the man-woman attraction leading to betrayal and eventually to the purgatory of guilt.

Ravi, an unemployed young man, faces a series of encounters during his search for a job.

The story proceeds in flashbacks as the protagonist, Dr. Gopi, who has had a nervous breakdown, relives his past under psychiatric probing.