"Atheetham" is the story of the spiritual journey by a young man who seeks liberation, both emotional and spiritual. Anandan, an idealist youth, is about to be ordained for monkhood after years of vedic studies and meditation. But like Siddhartha, who turned to Buddha, he comes across an act of injustice in the form of the murder of his friend’s brother by the police, for waging a strike. This incident makes him realize that he was cut off from the real world outside. He decides to realize himself in this outer world by joining a revolutionary movement. He plunges himself into it wholeheartedly, but he eventually finds that the movement too is after power, and not for ideals or human liberation. Disillusioned with the movement, he begins his solitary journey of intoxicated abandon. His restless journey takes him to Varanasi, the holy city and the great graveyard. There he meets with various seekers and seers, as well as the representatives of decay. But this journey into the world turns into a journey into himself and ultimately, realization dawns on him. And he gets ready to make a final attempt to redeem his life and hopes of liberation.