A high dose of realistic violence and bloodshed marks this otherwise well-made movie. It looks like a portion of the movie was dubbed (from telugu) while the scenes involving Parthiban were remade.

After a quick romance between Banumathi(Soundarya) and Prakash, the scene shifts to a village in India, where Prakash's father (Prakashraj) and his uncle's son(Mansur Ali Khan) are involved in a violent tale of revenge. Each killing on one side prompts another from the other leading to non-stop murders while the police remains a mute spectator.

Prakash is killed too and Banu tries to leave the village with her son. This is prevented by her father-in-law who wants his grandson to grow up in the village and avenge his father's death. She escapes and enlists the help of Dubai Pandiyan(Parthiban), who agrees to help her for a fee which would help him leave behind his life of poverty and escape to Dubai.

The violence is of a kind not usually seen in tamil movies. The clashes seem real and the remnants of a bomb blast, which happens right when Banu enters the village, churn your stomach. But the gruesome violence does serve its purpose of making Banu's later attempts to get out of the village, more urgent. We sympathise with her predicament and find ourselves hoping that she makes it to safety. These final scenes are filmed efficiently by the director and he manages to infuse the needed tension when Banu is on the run with men from both sides of the conflict chasing her.

Soundarya comes up with a splendid performance that shows just how much she was wasted in Padaiyappa. Her pleas to Prakashraj to let her go are heartbreaking and her angry outbursts when her son is endangered are quite convincing. Prakashraj matches her in a role that is predominantly villainous but has some good too. His makeup and gruff voice add gloss to his characterization. He effortlessly earns the audience's revulsion in the scene where he slaps around Soundarya after learning that she tried to escape.

Parthiban appears late in the movie in a scene-stealing performance. With his trademark cynicism and sly dialog delivery, he invokes spontaneous laughter in even violent situations. A far cry indeed, from his subdued role in Housefull. Mansur Ali Khan plays the other villain with ease while Simran appears in another single song sequence after Edhirum Pudhirum.

Ilaiyaraja's background score enhances the atmosphere. But none of the songs impress.