The film is set in the time of Madakari Nayaka, a palegar of Chitradurga. The story revolves around a young Hindu Lingayat boy who falls in love with a Muslim girl of an enemy kingdom whom he meets at the war-ruined area.
Kotreshi Kanasu is set in the backdrop of the Indian caste system, it says the dreams and desires of an innocent boy of a lower caste, caught in the web of a discriminatory society. The film became a forum for discussion for its focus on the problems created by caste discrimination.