It is hard to believe that the man behind this movie is the same director who just one movie later, gave us the classic Mouna Raagam. This is a rather generic tale of a village under the grip of a rich man and a youth who rescues the villagers from their life of servitude.On its own, the story is strong and told quite well but knowledge of Manirathnam's later efforts makes us view it with a different eye. The subtleness and class evident in his later movies are nowhere to be seen and only Satyaraj's effective and measured performance saves the movie from being completely forgettable.

Selvam(Murali) is an irresponsible, unemployed youth leading a careless life. His mother's illness jolts him back to reality and he becomes a loyal servant to the rich man in the locality, Devarajan(Satyarajan), who helps save his mother's life and also offers Selvam a job. So Selvam turns a blind eye to Devrajan's unlawful activities and becomes his henchman. Robert Manohar(Sarathbabu), the town's new police officer who is not swayed by Devarajan's influence or bribes, quickly becomes a thorn in Devarajan's side. Meanwhile Selvam falls in love with Jyothi(Revathi), Robert's sister.

Almost the reverse of Manirathnam's later style can be witnessed here. Movies like Agni Natchathiram and Idhayathai Thirudaathey, had one-line stories propped up by engaging screenplays that literally crackled with excitement and fun. Here, the story is quite meaty with lots of important characters and smaller sidestories but the screenplay fails to make use of this and lags noticeably at several places. Cliches abound, especially in the acts and dialogs of Satyaraj's sons, and sentiments are loud and overt.

Inspite of the so-so quality of the end product, there are several moments in the movie which remind us that it is Manirathnam who is wielding the camera. The romance between Murali and Revathi is cute in the initial portions when he poses as a blind man. And Revathi's actions and dialogs when she dislikes Murali remind us of her actions towards Mohan in Mouna Raagam. The romance between Sarathbabu and Radhika is the exact opposite and is mature and polished. The way Sarathbabu expresses his feelings to Radhika strikes the right note. But Radhika's flashback is quite routine.

Manirathnam's luck with hit soundtracks is evident right from here. Though not all songs are good, unlike his later movies starting right from his next one Idhaya Koil, Poomaalaye... is a memorable song and arguably one of Ilaiyaraja's all-time best. This song is also picturised in a very lively manner. Myna Myna... is a fun song that also provides a nice background score for several scenes between Murali and Revathi while Vaaraayo Vaanmathi... is a slow but melodious number.

Satyaraj steals the movie with his performance. He never raises his voice and is an affectionate family man but cold-blooded when it comes to dealing with his enemies. The climax further elevates his character. Murali plays the fiery youngster well while Revathi looks very pretty and comes up with a good performance too. Koundamani is loud and the comedy sequences involving him are vulgar and painfully unfunny.