Rudra Tandava follows a timid young man who has a loving family. When his brother, a government official, is murdered, the protagonist and his father plans to take revenge in their own separate ways.

Shivaraj (chiranjeevi) is a happy go lucky guy and his father (girish karnad) is a retired government employee. Their lives take a turn when Shivaraj's elder brother is killed by the Kolar don Narasimha Reddy (ravishankar) but it is projected as a drunken drive accident case. From thereon, both father and son start making plans to eliminate Narasimha Reddy in their own way. Who among them is successful and whether that happens or not forms the rest.