Chirammal Enashu Francis, a.k.a. Pranchiyettan (Mammootty), is a successful businessman based in Thrissur. He is a devotee of Saint Francis of Assisi and often indulges in fictitious conversations with the saint. His ancestors were rice traders, but he had grown from that small rice shop to expand his business into jewellery, real estate, financiers, shopping complexes and lot more. Even with his successful and wealthy life, he is unhappy with his name and wants to become a celebrity. He is called Ari ("rice") Pranchi by everybody, citing his ancestors' business. He wants to change his image from Ari Pranchi to something great and is ready to spend any amount of money for it. The movie deals with how Pranchi tries to get a good name and what changes that brings to his life.
The story starts with Francis talking to Saint Francis of Assisi about his own life. It starts with a short flashback to a quarrel between Francis and Jose (Siddique) over their lady love Omana (Khushboo) when they were in school. Francis had an affair with Omana but he had to surrender because of some malpractices done by Jose. Now Jose and Omana are married and are leading doctors in the city.
The story progresses with several humorous incidents when Francis, a.k.a. Ari Pranchi, tries to get a good name for him. He competes in a local club election but gets defeated by Jose; he then arranges a felicitation for the Oscar award-winner Gafoor Chekutty, but instead of being seated in the front row on the dais is asked to give up his seat for a Padmashri recipient; he helps the needy but fails to get noticed for it; he tries to write a biography, etc. At last he decides to grab a Padma Sri award because that may help in changing his name Ari Pranchi to Padmasree Pranchi. He bribes officials with 1.5 crore to get a nomination for the Padma Sri, but the corrupt politicians dump him.
Dejected, he withdraws away into his his house when a young pretty lady named Padmasree (Priyamani) comes to invite him for an inauguration. Both become good friends and Pranchiyettan develops a love for her. He helps Padmasree to get hold of her Tharavadu from selling off, but is unable to express his love for her and she returns to Mumbai.
Now Pranchiyettan decides to help his friend Antony Mash's school. The problem is that the school fears that it will not get a 100% result due to a single student called Paulie (Ganapthy). Paulie's parents are poor and cannot help with his studies. Pranchiyettan brings the boy to his home, and arranges for a special tutor, Pandit Deenadayal (Jagathy Sreekumar), to teach him. Pandit Deenadayal discovers that the boy has immense talent but lacks concentration due to some personal problems. He tries to teach him using modern techniques like a Rubik's Cube, etc., but the boy in turn mocks him by asking several questions, and performing some gimmicks that the teacher cannot do. Eventually the boy fails in the SSLC examination. Annoyed, Pranchiyettan goes to the boy's home to drop him off, but finds out several unknown facts about the boy. The remaining Part of the movie deals with how the boy changes Pranchiyettan's life.