Vyjayanthi (Vijaya Santhi) is an Assistant Superintendent of Police and a sincere cop who strives to confront a corrupt local leader Muddukrishnayya and his son's atrocities. Karthavyam is about how she is committed to her duty and goes till any lengths to prove Muddukrishnayya's son Chakravarthi guilty for an assault he committed on a girl and the hardships she faces in the process.

A man impersonates a dying man and finds family, love and purpose in life A dying man tells Bose (Venkatesh) that he ran away from his village as a child. He asks Bose to impersonate him. He agrees, disappointing some relatives eager to get hold of the dying man's property. Just as he finds a family and falls in love, a blackmailer surfaces.