renjani (ria irawan), a former ballerina and rape victim who aborted the resulting foetus, and wid (jajang c. noer), a doctor and daughter of a prostitute, are two women who volunteer at an orphanage for children with several disabilities in yogyakarta. one day, while practicing her dancing, renjani notes that dewa (dicky lebrianto), a tiny eight-year-old with autism and brain damage, is responding. this convinces her that music therapy could promote healing. renjani later asks bhisma (nicholas saputra), a violinist that she met by chance, to assist him; they later fall in love. after bhisma writes a song, "biola tak berdawai", for dewa, he prepares for a recital. renjani and dewa attend the recital, but renjani faints and is rushed to the hospital; the cause is later discovered to be cervical cancer. after a week in a coma, renjani dies; at her grave, dewa plays "biola tak berdawai" as bhisma listens.